The Observer Effect

by MeepMeep7913

Viltrumites had believed in strength for so long that the few scientists among them were respected just for that. Vigil is on Earth for why events took such a turn - why Nolan had departed, the contradictions of Mark Grayson and why Earth was proving to be anomalous. Before Thragg burnt it all away, but in his observation of Mark Grayson, he was no longer sure it would be Thragg.

7. Ch7: Airport Siege

"Listen up." Cecil's voice crackled into the ear of the five heroes within the GDA helicopter transport inbound to the JFK airport in New York. "You're only a couple of minutes away now, and several things have changed." Bulletproof shifted in his seat at that, evidently paying full attention as even Rex had a frowning expression in full seriousness, Kate being the calmest of all gathered as she stayed perfectly still with a hand to her ear to listen in. Mark's expression had been decisively neutral the entire flight. "Terminal four has been turned into a goddamn fortress, complete with the now confirmed over four hundred hostages. There is also over ten exosuit subordinates with them and there is reason to believe there's a fourth super, complete with bombs riddling the building. We think it's a political demonstration mixed in with the demands - whoever's funding this, they want it seen. Make sure they see their failure."

His voiced crackled out then as a few seconds past with no more said, before Rex leaned back into his seat with a sigh. "Hostages, huh?" He stated in a more subdued tone than any on the Guardians team had ever come to expect from him. "You'd think thugs in million-dollar suits would just skip all the effort and do a heist or something."

Bulletproof gave a grunt, adjusting the yellow mask shielding his eyes as he spoke. "You heard Cecil. They want attention, with something inside that terminal likely recording every second of this."

"Great." Shrinking Rae stated, her tone harder than it should've been, with it being easy to see why as Duplikate saw the stress in her clenched jaw. "We're being livestreamed now."

The hum of the engines and whine of the rotors filled the tense silence. Dupli-Kate sat calm and composed, but with an alert tension to her closed eyes which showed they were ready to snap open. Shrinking Rae was silent, a slight troubled downturn to the thinly held expression. Bulletproof was sat straight in his seat, arms crossed as the neutral expression on his face was not a frown as it was a regarding look analysing all present. Rex had sat opposite Invincible, his knee bouncing as he pretended not to look at the caped yellow-and-black suited hero.

Mark was the only one standing, as he just gazed out one of the windows. Bulletproof did not know how Mark's flight worked evidently, as his own would not have allowed the perfect stillness that the Viltrumite hybrid was managing despite the turbulence of their transport.

"Well, we're dealing with half the low-rent supervillain registry and more than ten walking tanks." Rex suddenly quipped, drawing a couple of eyes to him. "Any idea how we should bust them?"

"Low-rent?" Rae responded with a half-joking smile, as the others could see the other half of it was stressed. "Come on, we've been hit by Kursk before. Feels like your bones are trying to vibrate out your skin."

Dupli-Kate said nothing, the frown on her face just deepening as none of them had bothered her the entire flight. It was easy to guess at, given that most there were privy to the fact that Multi-Paul was here brother. She was likely dealing with an internal conflict on how her brother could have ever become involved in taking hostages, but they trusted her to be right when the bullets started flying.

"Focus." Bulletproof chided as he leant forward then, his arms now resting on his knees. "That was a good question. Cecil was right in we prioritise keeping the civilians out of harms way and shielding them as priority, only aid in evacuation when it is feasible to do so. It will be the main job of law enforcement to evacuate them behind us, so move through and keep the criminals busy. It's the main job of Invincible to act independent and take out the supers and exosuits."

"OK." Rae responded with a cautious sounding exhale. "Team formations?"

"Rae, you can attract the least attention. Move ahead as far as you can, you're on bomb duty - neutralise where possible, mark on comms when you can't." Bulletproof began to strategize as Rae nodded to him. "Rex and I will focus on shielding the largest groups of civilians we can find until they're evacuated by law enforcement. Dupli-Kate, please use your abilities to scout ahead, also shielding but also evacuating where you can. Invincible, I believe your role should be obvious." Mark did not regard the man with a look unlike everyone else, as even Kate had opened her eyes whilst he just stayed standing. "If this goes sideways, civilians are going to be caught in the middle unlike anything we've done before. Stay alert."

Silence returned for a few moments as everyone digested their roles, before Rex finally looked over to Mark, not bothering to hide the scrutinising expression. "You sure you're up for this man?" He asked aloud. "You look like hell." It wasn't in the suit Mark wore, given it had been attended recently and actually looked pristine, but rather the stiff way his spine and shoulder were held. The side outline of his eye that looked heavy but so-very focused.

"I'm fine." Was the answer he got after a moment. Invincible had still not bothered to look away from the window, now seeing the red perimeter lights of the airport coming into view.

For the first time that flight, Dupli-Kate spoke and it was with a scoff and a disdainful frown. "You haven't been 'fine' for weeks." She spoke with a bitter tone. "We're not blind."

That got Mark's attention, as a slight bristle seem to crawl over his skin before he slowly looked over to Kate, then tilted his face to Rex. "Then maybe stop staring." He just remarked simply, the tone as equally as flat as the basic statement.

"Love-ly." Rex drew out his sarcasm as he spoke, before pointing a finger at Invincible. "You always this charming before a mission, or is that part of the new attitude?"

"I'm not here to charm anyone, Rex." Mark responded in the same, flat tone still as his head stopped tilting to stare fully at him. "I'm here to do what none of you seem willing or able to do."

"You mean kill them?" Dupli-Kate snapped out then, the frown on her face down-turning further. "Going to do it again? Just go round deciding who lives and dies, like it's just results on a scrap of paper?"

"Results should be enough." Mark countered with a tone of conviction. "You think they care how many people they kill? You think they hesitate? Or..." Mark's voice dropped a decibel as he picked up the proverbial knife and stuck it in. "Are you just worried your good-for-nothing brother may be the only casualty tonight?"

"Enough." Bulletproof cut in before tempers flared, his voice calm and assertive as unlike the grimace of rage that passed over Kate's face. "That was never the point, Invincible. We have boundaries for a reason, to ensure that we minimise collateral damage to civilians and be better than the people holding bombs to them."

"No.Youwant to be better." Mark threw back Bulletproof's words into his face as he stepped closer to the man. "I want to stop them - permanently. So next time, rather than a thousand over four hundred, it's none at all. And if that makes me worse in your eyes, fine. I'll still be the one keeping more people alive than all of you ever will."

"You're talking big for someone not long in the hero game." Bulletproof spoke with a quieter voice himself. "You know, when you cross a line, there's no crossing back. You understand that, Invincible?"

Holding the gaze of the other flight-capable hero there, Mark just gave a small nod. "But I've already crossed it according to everyone around me, haven't I?" He just let out flatly.

There was silence as the air grew heavier then. The tension felt real - not just nerves before a flight, but unease about the man beside them. Rex's muttering under his breath was the only thing audible beside the engines.

Dupli-Kate's voice broke the silence then, her voice softer as she just glared at Invincible. "You used to care what people thought about you." Her statement was rhetorical, factual.

And yet Mark responded to it all the same, his tone now turning colder. "Trust doesn't win fights. Action does."

The frown on Bulletproof's face showed he didn't have an answer to that, just shaking his head softly at how wrong he felt that must've been as he just leant back again.

Another crackle entered their earpieces then, as the pilot spoke then. "Landing zone has been designated as a parking area closest to a set of fire doors leading to the largest gathering of hostages. Touchdown in twenty seconds, likely hot with several exosuits in attendance. Invincible, you are cleared to depart before."

There was no need for any more encouragement as the pilot stopped speaking, Mark grabbing hold of the inner handle to the helicopter door and slamming it open so the roaring noise of rotor winds flooded the inner cabin. Stepping onto the edge as the helicopter lurched in its now diving descent, he waited five seconds without ever looking back for the designated point to come into view. The wind which whipped at his cape contorted briefly, emitting a small boom as Mark then launched himself into the night.

TERMINAL FOUR

The central area of the terminal was large and spacious, filled to the brim with uncomfortable plastic seating barely padded with plastic as it would see tens of thousands arrive and depart over any singular day. Restaurants and shops surrounded the central seating area, squared in a frame to maximise business across the two floors where the platform above overlooked the seating area. All arranged to take advantage of the large glass skylight above the seating area, to make it feel more open with the cramped seating and maximise customer satisfaction against delays.

It was through that same skylight Mark soared right through, shattering the glass in an instant as he descended faster than the glass shards did in a deliberate dive of speed faster than a speeding bullet. Hitting the ground hard in front of one of the exo-suited criminals, they had only time to part their mouth in surprise from the loud racket that had just reached them of the shattering glass before Mark's fists hit them. Speeding downwards with all the force of a descending meteor, his fists caved in the armoured alloys covering the rebar and mechanical joints that gave them their strength as easily as if they were paper.

Suffice to say, it flattened the metal alloys and crushed them into the piloting bodies they were attached to, shattering bone in an instant and even caving one of the criminal's arms entirely from how Mark's hand had unfortunately descended right through their shoulder. Screaming from the pain that flared hotter than anything they'd ever felt in their lives; the criminal fell to the floor from the force flooding through them from Mark's strike which sent them crashing down. A simple stomp over the criminal crushed the machine gun attached to the other hand to deal with the dual wielded guns embedded in the armoured exoskeleton, taking the hand with it. The criminal was left broken and battered, actually embedded inches deep into the shattered and hardened floor that had a foundation of concrete, despite the exoskeleton that should have kept them upright and able to lift cars.

Another exosuit was dealt with even simpler, as the fellow suited partner to the criminal mere metres from them had had time to quickly turn and try to lash out with a devastating punch to Invincible's back as he crushed the other's gun. That held no such similar lack, as the roar of licking flame and propelling metal slamming into Mark's back with the thunderous discharge of the criminal's gun parallel to their punch just rebounded off his back. Despite the ear-splitting noise and hundreds of newtons of force per bullet, of the dozens of bullets colliding with Mark's back in that singular second, it all rebounded.

Casings and bullets alike just arced off his turned figure, the punch only just tapping his back before Mark reacted even faster than any of the individual bullets had. His yellow boot lifted off the ground as the other one had just crushed the gun beneath his body, lifting up and then lashing out with a bit more effort than he usually gave to be sent right into the frontal plate of the exosuit armour. In the slow motion of his senses as his head looked round to the criminal that tried to backstab him, he saw the rippling of the metal armoured plate as the shockwave passed through it and even slower began to be flattened from the impact zone.

All as the criminal began to jolt into the air with a silent scream, as the over seven hundred pounds of weight of man and metal were slowly lifted up quietly in the distortion of time Mark's senses granted him. Allowing it to resume, the 'bit more effort' he'd put in as a fraction more of the strength he should've really applied resulted in them blasting straight back and through the solid wall behind them. The impact of a second wall being broken through sounded out behind that one, before another boom broke out into the central seating area as Mark blurred right after them, shattering the wall he broke through on impact to leave a large hole in it.

All that occurred in five seconds, leaving the other criminals around him no time to react as they had only grabbed their guns just before he'd shot right through the wall and out of the area. The over two hundred hostages gathered in the area, forced to stay seated in the open area as twenty armed thugs with an extra five exosuits had surrounded them. Five more criminals were on the upper level, just watching them from above as any attempt to breakout would have resulted in a massacre from that alone, let alone the machine guns embedded in the armour of the exosuits.

But it was useless if the threat came and went in mere seconds, leaving only scrambling criminals and screaming hostages in his wake as Mark had shot through. That was what the Guardians members arrived to as Mark had decisively dealt the first blow, as the double fire doors they used as an entrance was blown open by a controlled discharge by one of Rex's thrown pellets. Leaping literally into the fray as he was first through with a propelled leap, Rex only made a ducking roll across the ground to ignore the panicked burst of gunfire one thug gave off as he then sprang out of it. Hurling one of his signature discs at the closest exosuit which had turned to the noise, he let out a whoop as he pulled two more discs into his hands.

Bulletproof took off right into the fray as he shoulder-charged a thug that he flew right into the ground, before punching down another and leaping back up into the air. His actions made him the most noticeable, drawing the fire of over a dozen guns as bullets peppered and cracked off of his resilient body in a deliberate action. That allowed Dupli-Kate to have rushed through the doors in a number of over a dozen already at that point as clones rushed out from the original, and continued to spawn in greater numbers as they rushed for civilians and gunmen alike.

Chaos ensued as the heroes drew all the fire deliberately, allowing both Shrinking Rae to remain out of sight as she shrunk down to begin her hunt for bombs, and for the awaiting law enforcement. With the signal they'd been waiting for, police and national guardsmen alike rose from their hiding places from around the outside of the terminal buildings with rifles at the ready to immediately begin aiming down their sights and engaging. With pre-authorised orders to fire at will once it began, the many officers and soldiers that surrounded the building added their weight to the heroes that arrived to end the engagement as quickly as possible.

Rifles cracked out from vantage points through the shattered skylight from the soldiers that had snuck onto and waited on the roof, muzzle flashes also barking from outside the large glass windows of the terminal to add the crescendo of shattering glass to the erupting noise of warfare. Bullets scythed right through to the enemies that were within easier engagement and not surrounded by civilians, killing a few and forcing the rest into cover as hoped to prevent them firing onto the hostages. The five on the upper level actually found their vantage point working against them as they were easily felled by the forces on the roof.

Dupli-Kate and Bulletproof prevented the thugs ever entering the midst of the civilians huddled in the centre of the seating area, as the dozens of clones this point had fanned out and deliberately threw themselves at whoever tried. The tank of the Guardians swooped down on any movement he caught, picking up and hurling a thug who dived out of cover to pre-emptively fire their whole magazine of bullets at him trying to reach the shield offered by the civilians. Though they screamed and tried to take shelter by diving to the floor and lowering their heads, not one criminal actually entered their midst thanks to the efforts of the two heroes and the supporting law enforcement keeping the gunmen's heads down.

Rex actually grinned as he kept two of the exosuits personally busy, having knocked one of them off their feet with a lobbed explosive and throwing multiple pellets at the other. It served to blind and disorient them as they never had enough volatility in them to knock them down either, but the choking and thick smoke that erupted from them served another purpose. Keeping the two heavies busy on his own was an achievement, and he revelled in it even as he slapped the shit out of braver thug trying to brain him with the butt of their gun.

The fifth exosuit was handled by Invincible, who had quickly dealt with the second exosuit he'd faced and then burst back through the walls to re-join the fray. Given his near invulnerability and superspeed, it had been easy to go right through the perimeter the thugs had set up with a power akin to a combine harvester. A backhand to the head of one to slam them into a pillar, tanking a face full of bullets to stomp down on a leg of an enemy crawling away from him to flatten tissue and bone alike; even grabbing one enemy to knock down two others like skittles in an accurate throw. Over ten gunmen were taken down by him personally in only a few mere seconds, as the fifth exosuit finally trained their guns on him.

Having originally identified Bulletproof as the biggest threat there, they had opened fire with their machine gun into the open space above where he flew - partly why he did to draw so much fire. The second machine gun underslung beneath their right hand on the exoskeleton powering them had personally slaughtered five Kate clones as they charged them in an obvious manner from their right. Though it worked in keeping the gun trained out of the way of the civilians in the centre, the first person view the exosuit gunman had of swinging their gun round and initiating a deafening roar of gunfire showed how outclassed they were.

Invincible was then on them though, the mere couple of seconds bought from the riddled bodies of Dupli-Kate's clones being enough for him to have gone through ten other criminals and now blurring into existence behind the exosuit. Grabbing their back onto one of the bars that crossed all over the body of the guiding human, they were lobbed backwards into a wall that cracked on impact from the weight slamming into it. Mark didn't stop there, as in a blink he'd appeared before their front this time, hand on the frontal chest plate and their shoulder as he then pulled.

A ringing scream of pain clawed out the throat of the previously mechanically-enhanced human, now reduced to being crippled for life as the armour, servos and metal that had been literally embedded within them was forcibly pulled out. Invincible's face didn't change once in its expression, remaining deliberately neutral as blood plastered across his face from the geysers of blood erupting from the chest and shoulders where holes formed from the metal ripped from them. Remaining hold of the ripped off section of twisted bars and armour he held in his right hand, Mark then merely allowed the enemy in his left hand to fall from his grip as he turned.

Spotting the remaining two exosuits left, it was with a swing of his right that the now scrap metal in his hand was sent hurtling through the air. Impacting the frontal armour of one of them in a moaning render of the scraping blow accompanied by a squeal of flickering sparks, it staggered them to take several steps back from the force suddenly slamming into their front. That preoccupied them, as Mark's burst of flight had him soar right above the operator, grabbing their helmeted skull with one hand as he did. Taking an immediate 90 degrees from the straight path of flight, he dived right into the ground whilst guiding the head in his hand right with him.

Difference being, whilst Mark kicked himself back upright with a knee into the ground and a burst of flight, his opponent could not. Instead, they had been knocked right into the realm of unconsciousness with a very high likelihood of concussion and brain damage, simply due to the blow. The sheer amount of force transferring into their skull from a helmet slammed into an unyielding concrete floor by an immovable, super-strengthened hand ensured that.

Rex took care of the other one that had been knocked to the ground, a small pop of an explosive pellet calling them to cry out in agony as it disrupted their initial attempt to get up as he then dived on them. Massive amounts of mechanically-enhanced strength apparently meant nothing if your opponent disoriented you, closed one hand round your throat and then tore out the wires in the arm grabbing at you. The metal became a detrimental weight then in the arm grabbing for Rex, as he managed to then strangle them into the land of unconsciousness through air deprivation.

He sat up then, wheezing from the exertion of wrestling with the exosuit, as even if he had more strength than the average person it had taken a lot out of him. "Whew!" He let out audibly then, remaining sat on top of his knocked-out opponent for a few more moments.

Mark meanwhile, had only spared Rex a side-eyed glance as he saw the man finish up as he felt it had finished some time ago; despite that two gunmen still remained firing away from behind a piece of cover that Bulletproof was now throttling for in flight. The problem lay in just how distant he felt in that moment, with the screams of civilians still rising from the ringing blasts of gunfire. Even as the smell of panic wafted up with the burnt smells of cordite and explosives, he stayed non-plussed to it. Even as he should have been evacuating the civilians then, he instead just gently touched down from his hovering position and looked.

Walking past a mother shielding her child, he didn't even register their fear - didn't spare them a glance as he ruminated. There was no anger to be had here, and there was a reason he had always worked better on his own. He wasn't reckless as Rex had just been; he was precise. Bulletproof would have called it cold as he watched Invincible from having dispatched the two gunmen, perhaps even tactical, but Mark would have called it efficient. It wasn't about justice anymore.

All he saw were problems. And it was becoming clearer that they needed solving - permanently if needed.

Mark could feel the line, just in front of him with how it seemed to deceive him with how close it was. How easy it was to take one step. Yet, it also appeared behind him at the same time, behind his ear as it was tantalising. Whispering to him every time someone had pointed a weapon at the crowd.

"Invincible." Came Dupli-Kate's voice, making him turn his head to where she was standing in amid the hostages in the central space. Several of her clones could be seen helping them, attending to the hostages and kneeling down to survey injuries as others were escorted out. "Help us take care of the-"

"No." Mark's voice cut her off then, not even keeping his head there to see her shocked reaction as he turned back and held a finger to his ear. "Cecil, give me the next super."

"-Bulletproof, I need you and Rex to push forth and help out Shrinking Rae. She was guided through three of the four clusters of hostages we've picked up on the infra-red cameras whilst you were busy, and she's reported there's bombs at all three locations so far." Cecil's voice crackled over the communications line, ignoring Mark's input. "She can't deal with them. I need Rex's expertise to defuse them, and you to get the bombs out entirely where you can. Donald can guide you as he did Ray."

"As for Invincible, that super is a lot closer than- shit!" Cecil's tone went from a professional relay to an abrupt concern as he saw something. "Magmaniac just stepped outside and I need you there pronto!"

He didn't even have to specify exactly where, as a glow of orange shone onto the windows then drawing everyone's attention. Invincible's gaze sharpened as he turned smartly round to see Magmaniac charging out onto the tarmac of the airport, the mutated man letting out a thunderous cry as he engaged the police and national guardsmen. Streams of belching fire and fluid lava shot off the limbs that spawned from the gelatinous being, sending a scream of pain that was quickly silenced from one unfortunate soul hit head on.

Saying nothing as Invincible had already shot up into the air from where he stood, smashing straight through the glass in a moment to see exactly where the super had emerged. The darkened blob of slag, heavily similar to cooling magma emerging from a crevice that then flamed back into life every time Magmaniac moved. Bright shades of fiery orange and yellow shone from the parts of the body that stretched with each contortion that would then once more darken as it cooled, liquid fire dripping from the man's form with each glob of lava thrown. Mark observed for a moment, seeing how two police officers threw themselves to the tarmac and likely sustaining injury to avoid the spray of molten fire over their heads.

Sound emitted then as Mark engaged his super speed, moving faster than the cavitating air behind him which then erupted into a miniature sonic boom from breaking the sound barrier as he sliced through the air. His left arm swung out from his side as he did so, outstretched as he flew right past Magmaniac, scoring a clean hit right through the central torso as he passed. The left arm carved right through in a slice of friction likely hotter than the lava of the man's body as it slashed through with the likely ease of a super-heated blade.

Disengaging the power of flight only twenty metres from the man as he had crossed two hundred metres at Mach speeds, Mark's head tilted to gaze at the figure out the corner of his eye. A loud wheeze was let out from the lava figure as it collapsed upon itself with little fanfare from the clean slice through it, which was quickly sealed by the viscous properties of the molten magma falling back upon its lower half. But that didn't mean the structural properties of it had been regained as the upper torso collapsed backwards, deforming into the darkened blob which made many think it was dead.

They were swiftly proven wrong, as Magmaniac quickly restored themselves and rose back up, the glaring whites they had for eyes lashing round to stare at Invincible. "Not good enough,boy."The mutated being taunted then, a deep tone filled with cracking undertones meshed together in a barely recognisable mocking melody as if the molten rock inside was bashing together to make sound.

Invincible was saved the trouble of ever responded, as one of the hands of the national guardsmen was thrown forward then in the direction of Magmaniac. "Fire!" They shouted, signalling the initiation of fifteen rifles on the ground opening fire, muzzle flashes lighting up in pulses of yellow blips with bullets blasting into the molten man. Two automatic rifles from the roof even joined in, sending elevated arcs of whistling death crashing down onto their target as the onslaught of munitions slammed into the supervillain at a wide variety of angles. Flares of orange spewed out as whole chunks of molten rock lost their consistency from the force impacting it, small bleeds of lava arcing and pattering onto the ground with each strike.

But it was wholly ineffective, as the shooting police weren't even sure their the mutated being was pained by the hundreds of bullets impacting them, instead bringing their arms round with lethal intent. Given the way Magmaniac's arms lit up a flaring orange brighter than before, the geysers of lava that would shoot out would likely drown the area - but Mark didn't let that happen as he blurred before the lava supervillain then. A solid punch to the front of them had the rocky outer shell completely shatter, chips of rock flying out as lava rushed down in a deformed shape, but it didn't end there just as it had before.

Magmaniac reared up in a small wave of lava stretching up and falling over Invincible, who allowed it to occur as the small tidal wave washed over him in a rush of scorching temperatures and gelatinous orange fluid. Every gun from the squads around had stopped firing as that occurred, all watching on with some subconsciously fearing even if the hero had gone through worse - proven as the lava was then blasted back. Stamping a heel strike into the tarmac which sent metre-wide embedded cracks in the hardened surface spiralling out in all directions, several flying pieces of Magmaniac was sent similarly flying across the surface.

Engaging his speed once more, Mark spun round to each flying large piece forced out of the large mass of molten lava he'd curb stomped, and sent a thundering punch into each one in a blur of successive strikes. Popping the cooling rock and hardening blobs, they once more spewed into lava that still achieved his objective of flattening them and splitting them up further in smaller pieces sent tumbling over the tarmac. Rearing up and then hovering several metres in the air, he pointed to the largest mass of the blobs that slowly started to crawl back together with the evident intention of reforming. "Shoot them!" He roared out in a commanding tone that carried across the whole area, before then blurring out of sight once more.

Several officers had not hesitated in following his directive despite having no official power of them, muzzle flashes ringing out once more as four guns shot at the re-joining blobs. It was a lot more effective at the smaller size as it actually disintegrated several of the masses and forced them to try again, even more so as the rest of the law enforcements joined in as the barrage of bullets scythed into the flowing rock and lava. It didn't hold back the inevitable though, as Magmaniac re-emerged out the largest piece soon enough even as two larger masses crawled their way toward him to tag on. The white, empty orbs for eyes settled on several officers, having enough time to let out another cry and swinging a glob of orange lava at a group of three.

The three officers tried to scatter, but the lava moved faster than they did as sprays of molten fluid latched onto their arms and legs, initiating screams of burning pain as it burnt through their clothing and melted onto their very skin. Magmaniac would have continued, doing an effective job in then ignoring the bullets still cracking into him as his arm reared back for another launch of lava. That would have been effective too, had it not been for Invincible re-appearing metres above him with an entire vehicle held above him in one hand.

With a swift down plunge of that hand, the water truck that would have been used to service entire planes in one go flew do under the assistance of gravity and a super-strengthened throw. Tonnes of aluminium and water hurtled right onto the head of Magmaniac in an accurate strike, with the back of the bowser cracking right open from the acceleration meeting the impact zone; accordingly spilling out tonnes of water in a bigger flood wave than Magmaniac had achieved earlier. Suffice to say, the magma man let out a hissing moan as the sizzles of steam roared ever louder than his own emanation, clouds of steam evaporating into the night air as it washed over and forced lava to become rock.

"You got my attention." Mark muttered as he looked down upon the steaming scene, chunks of darkened rock scattered about as several police officers began to cautiously approach it. He didn't know where the still living section of it was, but that was Cecil's problem now.

WITH THE GUARDIANS

The main Dupli-Kate had remained behind in the central seating area where the largest gathering of hostages had been, with instead a dozen of her clones backing up the two Guardians going to meet Rae. The group hastened their pace from the news of the bombs, emerging into a branch of the terminal where several airport gates came into view after ramming through a set of security doors. Two bursts of rifle fire met them, scything down a clone as Rex rolled low to avoid it and dived into cover as Bulletproof just took the three bullets striking his chest and burst into flight.

Ramming right into one gunman and then kicking the other one in the face to down both, Bulletproof burst back into flight as Rex gave him a thumbs up before then running over to another pillar. With a bomb in his hand and a smirk on his face, Rex Splode burst into action as he ran out of cover then and sprinted straight for gate D24 as he saw the gathering of twenty or so hostages huddled in the seating area of it. One gunman was watching them, as he quickly turned his rifle round to send a burst a gunfire Rex's way.

Diving out the way of the bullets once more, that sprint had given Rex the opportunity to lob the bomb in his hand at his opponent's feet where it then detonated in a burst of controlled shockwave and fire. Lifting the thug off their feet and staggering them into the floor, the bomber of the Guardians was on them in no time to punch their lights out with a well-placed fist across the jaw. He allowed himself one self-congratulating gesture flashed to the hostages before seeing the rudimentary bomb device that he stepped up to.

"What. A. Hunk. Of.Junk."He stated sarcastically aloud, his eyes roaming over the improvised explosive sat in an opened suitcase that Rae had evidently opened on her way round. A pair of pliers spun into his hands as he knelt beside it, and then scoffed as he snipped a couple of wires on it. "I'm insulted! An obvious bit of bait that then triggers a secondary fuse?Bah."He let out as he then cut a third wire on the aforementioned second fuse, pulling it out entirely with one hand and letting his eyes roam over the device to check for more. "That's it? Where's my countermeasure? Spring-loaded weight? Electrified circuit? There's nothing!"

Whilst rex's ravings seemed to be honing his focus on the bomb, it certainly did not for the hostages who were forced to sit and sweat as he rambled aloud for them all to hear about the differing ways it could be set off. It also did not help when a large breakage of glass occurred then, as Bulletproof had grabbed hold of two luggage bombs and flew straight out to chuck them into the waters of the bay nearby. That left Rex, muttering to himself as he moved onto his third bomb as he congratulated himself for being quicker than the other Guardian without the power of flight. The quivering gunman on the floor which had overwatched the third group of hostages was silenced by another kick to the temple, allowing him to once more focus with his trusty pliers.

Only for two machine gun emplacements situated at the end of the hall of gates to open fire then. "Shit!" Rex swore aloud as he dived behind the check-in desk of the gate he was at, dragging the bomb along the floor with him to ensure the explosives within it didn't catch a bullet. The hostages near him cried out, allowing themselves to fall to the floor too, as Rex's eyes widened from the gunfire being trained on him also scything through the air close to the hostages too. Thinking quickly, he withdrew a few pellets that were hastily thrown to the floor that worked instantly to fill the entire space with choking, grey smoke as he tensed to run and draw their fire.

It wasn't appealing at all, given the way the smoke violently parted and contorted around each bullet trail that slammed through it, the acrid coloured gas meant to be hiding him seeming to be less effective against machine guns that could turn even smoke into Swiss cheese. It blanketed the area, certainly, but the yellow flashes pulsing in and out within the cloud of smoke dozens of times each second accompanied by the thunderous roar of sustained, high calibre gunfire was not comforting. Still, Rex then lashed out and rolled once more into the fray with more explosive pellets in hand to take the charge again and away from the hostages.

Only to find as he did so, the machines guns instantly being silenced as a flash of green at the end of the hall blinked into existence right beside their operators. Shrinking Rae swiftly made herself full-sized beside the three gunmen operating the two portable machine gun emplacements, catching the first one off guard with as powerful a punch as she could manage to the base of their skull. Slamming her heel into the ankle of the second operator to force them to stop firing with a cry of pain, they too were floored with a punch to the skull once more, but her eyes widened then as the third had enough time to react.

Grabbing up their rifle, they had tried to train it on Rae to cut her down in a hail of gunfire from a hastily squeezed trigger, but Rae's hands lashed out to seize the barrel and stop it swinging in her direction. A brief scuffle passed then as the hero tried to stop the thug from turning the barrel, a contest she slowly began winning in the seconds that passed due to her better strength training literally beginning to turn the tide, but it stopped then anyway. A miniaturised pellet tossed down the hall from Rex's kneeling position exploded with an equally miniaturised bang against the gunman. It didn't do much, but it gave them close-up burns that flared their pain receptors, forcing them to drop the gun to grab their facial skin in crying pain.

Rae took full advantage as she then dispatched the thug with a quick strike, and then letting out a huff of expended energy as she watched them collapse to the ground. Rex's grin flashed to her from down the hallway, his fourth bomb disarmed in hand as he gave a wave with his other hand. "Thanks Rae!" He called out, tone jubilant and entirely lacking its usual cheekiness. "You're a lifesaver!"

Shaking her head once and then smiling softly, Raewouldhave responded with something along the lines of commenting about 'having to save his ass again'; if it wasn't for one of the criminals crashing through the ceiling in an exosuit. Plasterboard and ceiling panels gave way in a small cloud of dust and debris as the woman in full-out metal armour and technology joined with wire and joints crashed in then. The right hand of the exoskeleton operator lashed out as they fell, the mechanically strengthened limb pile-driving right into Rae's own skull and felling her in an instant.

Rex thenwouldhave said something along the 'not again', if not for screaming Rae's name instead as he grabbed one of his strongest bombs on reflex, but the same situation occurred again. The left hand of the exosuit raised then with its machine gun attachment slung underneath then initiating in a thunderous burst of gunfire, filling it with noise, hot metal and acrid smells again for a second time. The operator then even began to advance on Rex, batting away the hastily thrown explosive sent her way as it couldn't be aimed properly from his pinned down position.

His ass was saved once more by the arrival of Invincible this time, the point of his entrance entirely unknown as he blurred into existence right in front of the exosuit operator. Almost a hundred rounds of propelled bullets impacted into Mark's chest from being in front of them for a second to take in what had happened, deliberately shielding Rex and the hostages with his body. His hand blurred out and seized hold of the left limb of the exosuit, as he closed the metre gap that had formed between them from the woman's attempted retreat in less than a microsecond as the limb was then forced up. Dozens of rounds impacted the ceiling panel above to cause plasterboard to rain down, before the woman stopped firing then and instead attempted to punch him in the stomach.

It had utterly no effect as Mark then just began hovering off the ground, dragging the now dangling exosuit with him as the woman let out yelp from being yanked off her feet, limbs now scrabbling in the air to beat at Invincible. Again, the mechanically enhanced blows had no effect as he only felt them, tilting his head before then just doing as he had done earlier and tearing off the front portion of the armour. Noticing it had contained a significant portion of the suit's electronics and would thus shut it down; he ignored the scream and blood squirting from the body he held as he did so. Dropping them like the sack of potatoes they were now closer to being, he took a second to observe the area, before then flying off in the direction the machine gun operators had first emerged from.

Mark ignored Rex's desperate plea to come back and help Rae.

TWO MINUTES LATER

Mark had continued to feel think, even as he moved. Almost as if the action of downing two gunmen with his fists alone and then kicking a bomb straight out the window away from the fourth and final separated group of hostages was on auto pilot. So many people had been taken against their will by people who themselves their better, when only the gun in their hand did. And in a way that he knew was mostly not out of concern for innocents, that pretence sickened him.

Kicking open the double doors against the way their hinges were supposed to swing, Mark flew into the luggage reclamation section of the terminal through the now permanently broken open doors. A quick sweep of the hall filled with conveyor belts and trolleys also confirmed it was filled with the remainder of the criminals, that being the remaining four exosuits and approximately ten gunmen. The three supers were there too, Kursk in the yellow suit he wore brimming with electrical energy pulsing through the gauntlets he wore. Multi-Paul stood toward the back near the final conveyor belt, a smirk of smug superiority on his face that rankled Mark somewhat. He didn't deserve to think himself superior.

But what got his attention most was Komodo Dragon crouched on a central support beam in the middle of the reclamation hall, the beige uniform he wore adding to his intimidating form as it showed off his muscle. Towering and scaled, likely seven foot if he were to stand properly, was hunched down, eyes fully on Mark with the aura of a predator ready to strike. "You picked the wrong nest, Invincible." Komodo's voice slithered out, the deep rumble emanating from his mouth.

"Do you like it?" Multi-Paul's voice rang out across the hall then. "Our friends at the Lizard League spared him in case you or the Immortal came running, and I'm glad they did now. You and the Guardians have taken down the other five groups in ten minutes. So, just in case still..." A trigger device appeared in his hand then, the miniature aerial on it evidently activating as one click of it sent out an activation signal to the bombs along the left wall where hostages were gathered. Red lights blinked in an out of existence. "Don't try anything, and fuck off."

Tension entered Mark's body as his first actual challenge of the night appeared, but the calmness in his voice didn't show it - instead speaking with the coldness he'd grown into. "I can't let you do that, I'm afraid." He announced in a soft tone, before then facing directly to Paul. "You're not going to use that."

With his enhanced eyesight, he saw the smirk tremble for a moment before it was forced solid onto Paul's face. "Wanna bet?" Was all Paul said.

Stopping his eyes from darting across the hall as they'd been doing the whole time behind the darkened lenses of his goggles, which had allowed to survey it without arousing suspicion, he looked solidly at his main target. His eyes narrowed, and then he called his bluff.

Blindingly fast, Invincible burst forward through the air to appear beside the metal grating on which a couple of the gunmen stood. Simply slamming his fist down onto the platform, the thugs on it had not had time to train their guns on him and simply screamed as it collapsed down to the floor fifteen metres below. Mark broke off a piece of metal railing as it fell by him, taking it as he once more moved faster than human comprehension to ground level near one of the exosuit operators beside an exit to the hall. The snapped-off end of the railing was shoved right through a gap in the bars and armour to be angled downward through the torso close to the neck.

Kicking the downing operator away from him, Mark then swung round to catch a punch from the second exosuit, who looked shocked as their strength utterly failed them. Forcing their hand back to stagger them off balance for a second, that moment was absolutely more than enough for a Viltrumite to land a punch right into the frontal armour plate. The shockwave that was minutely visible in the ripple over their skin showed the power transferred into the punch as Mark had held back just a fraction less, and now the exosuit operator had a chance to die in the hospital they would end up in. Most of their bone structure would not be broken, but shattered and liquified as the body within was actually subjugated to worse stress in bouncing around in what was then a metal cage weighing them down.

Taking full advantage of the exosuit's plight whilst Mark's back was turned, Komodo Dragon lunged down at him with teeth bared a snarl emanating from his throat. Claws swiped down on Mark's back, who turned and swatted the Lizard League member away from him. Staggering him and felling the hulking man for a moment, who just tanked it despite the rattle in his head still and with another snarl leapt back at him. Just like the earlier back strike, the claws did nothing on Mark's face as he allowed Komodo to close in before grabbing the man by the skull and flying up.

Punches that would have flattened other humans and damaged even other heroes did no damage to the Viltrumite, who then just tossed them down with enough kinetic momentum to crater the floor and break bones in Komodo Dragon's back. No time was given for them to stand up as the remarkably durable man likely would have, as Mark then just blinked into existence beside him again; grabbed his neck in a tight squeeze that forced the man to emit a loud coughing sound and moved. Bursting into speed which whilst not faster than sound, he moved swifter than any person there did as he forced Komodo's neck against the ground at the same time as ripping up the floor in a forward momentum. Mark then let the man go, sure that the man was unconscious when his skull collided with the wall after having been dragged physically through the floor at the neck chokepoint.

The first unexpected hit of the day came at close to the speed of light, as a bolt of electricity arced through the air and slammed into his back. A small groan through clenched teeth was unwillingly emitted from Mark's mouth, as he endured the thousands of volts sizzling through his body and setting his nerve endings aflame then. Seizing deliberate, mental control over his limbs that wanted to violently spasm for a few seconds, with only a twitch in the left arm being noticeable as he whirled round that way, Mark's mouth gnashed. Fury was clearly present in the tense lines of his clamped jaw, the drawn back lips exposing teeth and the occasional twitch that was unknown to be from the rampant electricity or his anger.

Rage had settled in Mark's mind then. His eyes took in the full view of his two last super opponents, ignoring all else as he saw Paul's finger twitch on the trigger, and Kursk take a step back. "You betterpraysomeone stops me before Ikillyou." He fully snarled out, before then disappearing again.

His first target of course being Kursk. Twin bolts of electricity slammed out again as the only attack the low-level super was capable of, when often it was so effective in disabling any target with an immune system (nearly every being on Earth). But it didn't work when you couldn't see your target, as Mark appeared on their left faster than they could blink and sent his foot thundering into their ankle. The obvious snapping noise that rang out from the cleanly crack right though the bone was followed by a backhand to their face before they could yell, lifting Kursk off their feet.

Blurring forward just enough, Mark punched the man right into a pillar that broke and collapsed as the object went straight through it. Following the man and seizing his neck mid-flight, further breaking more bones from the forced stop amidst those already fractured by the pillar, Kursk was slammed into the floor. Flipping him over with a foot, Mark felt his control slip as the vertebrae he aimed for became non-existent when his hand sank right through his opponent's back with a squelch. Withdrawing it and shaking the blood off of it that splattered around the area, Mark let out a small, dark smile to his quivering and paralysed enemy at the satisfaction that actually arose. The noise they made was drowned out as he stared with that expression on his face.

What was not drowned out was Dupli-Kate's shout, with her and Bulletproof having arrived it seemed through another set of doors to have taken care of the remaining gunmen and exosuits as Mark looked up. Bulletproof was looking to him with a masked face that failed only slightly in the downturn of horror in his mouth, at seeing the bloodied Invincible straddled over a fallen villain; complete with an obvious stabbed wound leaking blood. Kate was looking fully to her brother though, having shouted at him as soon as she had seen him and his gang of clones.

Multi-Paul had also seen what Mark had done though, the twitch in his hand now a shake as the main body stepped back, the doppelgangers wearing his face many times over closing ranks further in protection. The main Paul looked shaken at first, before a snarl overcame his visage and he yelled back to silence Kate's shout. "You touch me, and I take all of them with me! Every last hostage goes up in flames. Try me!"

Dupli-Kate's face lost colour as she saw the detonator in her brother's hand, as if she couldn't believe it. "PAUL?" She yelled back, her tone desperate. "What the hell are you doing?! You'll kill us all, yourself included!"

"You don't get it Kate!" Paul responded back with a feral ferocity, his eyes remaining squarely focused on Invincible as the man slowly stood up over the bloodied body, alive but losing life, of his downed enemy. "You weren't supposed to be here!"

Clones charged against clones then as Dupli-Kate's doppelgangers spawned out from the main body to counteract the number coming after her, heavily outnumbered as Paul's heavier numbers fell upon them after snapping first. Bulletproof stepped up and gave her breathing room to even the tide, punching and kicking down the clones that went after her, but Invincible didn't join the fray. He just lightly kicked off and began hovering over the fighting when a clone had dived at him. His eyes narrowed and focused solidly on the main Paul.

"You wouldn't kill your own sister." He spoke in a flat tone, but it still reached Multi-Paul over the fighting.

"You don't understand still, Invincible!" Paul echoed his earlier sentiment, fingers going white around the housing of the detonator he held from how tightly he clenched it. Desperation in his eyes and voice too. "They weren't going to let us go. Ihad to.Don't - don't make me do it-"

Mark's gaze didn't break in the same way Multi-Paul's voice stuttered out. His tone was deathly calm as he spoke. "Then I'll make sure you don't get that chance."

Before anyone else could properly blink, let alone react, all the fighter's visions were just filled with Invincible swooping down from above in a swift motion that crossed the gap between him and his enemy. Buffeting winds across the hall tossed trollies, luggage and mostly Paul's clones aside; and staggered the fight to a standstill after he had already grabbed his enemy by the neck. Two hands grasped Multi-Paul by the throat, held at angles to fully snap his neck round more than180 degrees - or clean off if he put even a drop more strength into the fingers that wanted to tear right through the fucker's flesh. He was held two metres above the ground.

Kate raised a hand then, tears streaming down her face as she desperately called out to Mark. "Please don't-" She stuttered out in her plea. "He's still-"

Nobody there paid attention to her as Bulletproof just silently watched, it being in Invincible's literal hands as he was sure that the man was glaring fully at Multi-Paul in his hands. Paul looked back, having a hard time even breathing from the tight grip on his throat, and the solitary thumb placed against his jaw ready to spin it round completely the wrong way. It actually was pressing hard enough that he let out a groan from the pain of his jaw bone getting ready to fracture, almost tasting the rubberised glove placed so against the other side of his cheek.

Still, he summoned the last of his courage as he raised the detonator in his hand one last time. Paul's eyes narrowed right at Mark's from the slight side point his face had been forced into, his expression twisted with fear yet defiance. "You think you get to choose who lives or dies?" His voice rasped out, most of its tone lost to its wheeze - and yet there was still the subtle undercurrent of mocking that Mark heard in that moment.

It was Bulletproof who was the only person to notice something then as Mark's jaw shifted ever so slightly, but he had only time to shout one word. "Invincible!-"

A wet crack rendered through the air. Paul's head had been violently snapped round more than straight back, in what should have been the frontal tissue of his Adam's apple now ripped open and spraying blood over his right shoulder. The crimson liquid stained the floor as Mark just silently discarded him aside, falling down the couple of metres to the floor to splatter all over it.

Mark continued to hover. Looking down. Observing the way the body twitched. His second kill.

Dupli-Kate screamed. It tore from her mouth in horrible anguish, filled to the brim then with unrelenting, full-on raw agony. She sprinted to the side of her dead brother, falling to her knees to reach out and cradle her brother's face. Hesitation shook her hands as she took in the sight of the glazed over look to the widened eyes of someone who didn't expect that, blood dripping onto her hands from the twitching death throes of the body. But she still placed her hands on her brother anyway, and began to sob. Anguish that choked her throat, and refused to release the screams of pain to her brother's body, or fury to the silent man above her.

She couldn't do anything but cry.

All three living heroes remained there for a few minutes. Only Bulletproof moved in that time, first remaining still in shock and even some muted horror. Not from the death itself, but the actions of Invincible - how callous it had seemed, how he had wanted to stand over the broken bodies of Kursk and Paul. It was then to stoop down and put a hand on Kate's shoulder as she sobbed, offering silent comfort.

Mark continued to watch.

EMERGENCY CAMP

Cecil had commandeered one of the tents set up within the camp for emergency personnel, with streams of workers moving all around still at what should have been the dead hours of the night. Noises filled the area, shouts and orderly chaos as over four hundred hostages were checked over by even more emergency personnel and the terminal thoroughly swept by still moving-in national guardsmen. Given it had finished only thirty minutes ago with the conclusion of the defeat of the supervillains, the clean-up was now entering full swing.

The tent the five people were in seemed sterile, coldly lit in its atmosphere by the otherwise bright shining LED lamp hung overhead. A single rectangular table sat in the centre of the structure, surrounded by chairs occupied by four of the five people as the fifth remained standing. Surveillance feeds played silently in the background on a monitor brought into the tent, showing the carnage still present in the terminal as three of them there just wished for it to be turned off. Cecil stood at the front, watching them all as they sat tense, occasionally darting his eyes to Mark who sat loosest of all, arms folded, staring down at the table in thought.

"Let's start with the obvious." Cecil began speaking, voice kept stable and professional in its delivery. "Over four hundred hostages were rescued, of which most can be attributed to your efforts in bombs being disarmed, supervillains neutralised and other bad guys taken down. That's a win, no matter how you look at it."

Silence greeted him - in fact, everyone barely moved. Dupli-Kate was still red-eyed, barely looking up to him. Bulletproof just sat rigid, jaw clenched with tension as his mind kept going over the scenes with Invincible in the last fight. Rex kept glancing to Mark with murder in his eyes, like he was expecting a fight. Shrinking Rae was not there.

Letting out a small exhalation through his nose, adjusting his tie a bit at his collar, Cecil's voice then became firm. "And to address the elephant in the room then to get this over with." He stated, voice deliberately a decibel higher as if he dared anyone to interrupt him. "Rae is being cared for as we speak, with a skull injury that doctors are still unsure about." Cecil's eye darted over to Rex as the man's body gave a violent twitch, with an absolutely mutinous glare sent over to Invincible this time who still didn't look back, but the director did nothing as Rex did nothing more. "As for Multi-Paul, he was seconds away from detonating a cluster of explosives. Invincible acted decisively and stopped him."

Dupli-Kate gave a hollow chuckle then, completely devoid of humour as if that had been more a reflexive action. "He was mybrother."She spat out like poison, the venom contained within a low and bitter edge fully directed at Mark as she couldn't help but glare at him too. "A person you held at the neck by someone who could move faster than sound, and still-"

"Your brother was a potential mass-murdering piece of shit about to kill over a hundred people, Kate." Cecil interrupted her, shutting down her barbs in their tracks as he glanced coldly to her. "People can't just think in the field like they can here, Guardians. I'm not going to mince my words, not when it's the truth. You all saw the feed, and how many lives were saved by an action that could only be made in a second."

Mark still said nothing.

It was at that point that Rex looked away from Cecil, despite knowing that the argument deep down was logical, was still stung by waves of anger from the earlier action in front of his face. Something he just couldn't forgive to the woman he loved. "Youenjoyedthis, didn't you, bastard?" He spat out then.

That got a reaction for the first time that debriefing session, as Mark finally looked up. The mask that hid his face contorting ever so slightly as his jaw tensed. "No. I didn't enjoy this." Mark responded, his voice being calm - empty of regret. "But nor did I hesitate."

A string of curses was promptly muttered by Rex, almost unleashed upon Invincible in what would have been a loudly audible display to the rest of the camp if not for Cecil taking a step forward. Warning clear in his eyes to Rex. But it was Bulletproof who spoke up next.

"We had options-" The man began, phrasing it as if he were still trying to make sense of the memory of Mark soaked in blood.

"Youthoughtyou had options." Mark ground out then, tone still flat and concise in its delivery. "I saw what he was about to do, the people he was about to kill. None of you were in position. He made his choice."

Cecil cut in then, hoping to stop any argument then after having ripped off the band-aid. It would not heal anything, but less resentment lingering was better than nothing. "Enough. We're no debating ethics in a vacuum." He spoke sternly, eyeing them all., "If any of you had been closer,maybeyou could have stopped him another way. But you weren't. Mark was, and his call still saved lives."

A pause occurred over the table then, before Dupli-Kate slammed her hands on the table from where she sat. "You don't get to speak about it like it's some goddamn tactical move." She let out, her voice shaking.

Fury had even sounded in her tone, but Cecil's withering glare sent her way forced her not to say more. As if the man very much wanted to say 'but it was' to her face. He instead allowed Mark to speak. "I didn'twantto kill him." Invincible responded, a cold tone to match Kate's. "I needed to. That's the difference between us."

Silence seemed to stretch for a long moment, Kate's mouth quivering then as if she couldn't believe what she'd heard. In reality, it was just a few seconds later that Dupli-Kate pushed herself up and away from the table, rising up like the fury within her. "That's not the only difference anymore." She choked out in rage, eyes watering before she stormed out the tent. Easily disappearing into the crowds outside.

Watching her leave, Bulletproof just gave a small shake of his head. "This is fucked up, Cecil." He spoke in an honest tone, blunt and to the point. "You saw the recorded feeds too; this was more than just a 'call' that was made. It happened in front of me." He jabbed his thumb into his chest as he said that. "Invincible played with Kursk, then had more than a second to deal with Paul. Lines have been fully crossed now."

Mark chuckled first, less in a tone devoid of humour but more as if he would be the only one to get the joke. "Then maybe the lines were drawn wrong in the first place." He spoke in what was then an admonishing tone.

Cecil sighed, and then fully stepped in as Rex opened his mouth. "That's enough." He barked out. "We've got clean-up and PR disasters to manage. This briefing is done."

With that, Bulletproof was instantly standing up and striding out without a backwards glance, in comparison to the other Guardian. Rex took his time standing up, glaring at Mark all the while as he just stopped for a moment. "Fuck you." He eventually spat at Mark, before turning and leaving as well.

Adjusting his tie as he saw the other two leave, Cecil then just glanced at Mark. "Well kid, you handled it like I expected you to." He stated. "That doesn't mean this is going to get any easier."

Mark's response was quiet, a tone of thinking rumination. "It does."

Spinning his eyes back to the Viltrumite hybrid in some manner of disguised alarm, he took a moment. "Bulletproof was right about something though kid. You're walking a thin line." He spoke. "I'll defend what you did in there - but I can't promise everyone will."

Another short chuckle arose from Invincible, this time devoid of humour. "They'll adapt." He mused aloud. "Or they won't."

Cecil's eyes narrowed then, his own brain shifting into gear. "You know what this sounds like, Mark?" He questioned lowly.

In comparison to the way Cecil's eyes had narrowed, Mark's sharpened like a blade. "Don't."He warned in a low, uncompromising hiss, before shaking his head slowly. His tone returned back to a normal level, even if it didn't lose its potency. "You sound like you're preparing for something, Cecil."

A pause. "Aren't you?" Cecil then questioned, drawing fully up straight to look at Mark as the Viltrumite slowly stood up, and a silent moment passed. Then, Mark turned and left without uttering another word.

GRAYSON RESIDENCE

A small thud occurred as Mark landed in the back garden, striding forth to then open the unlocked glass back door along its sliding axis. Stepping into the house he hadn't bothered to come back to in the two weeks since he'd started university and had moved all his belongings, it was still as if he'd never left. Not that he'd expected much to have changed, but he had expected it to feel different by even a small margin - individual items to have been moved somehow, or just the atmosphere. But nothing even felt different.

Sitting on the sofa was his mother, who had looked round as he strolled in to look him directly in the eyes. A myriad of emotions visibly passed through them, including longing and regret as she slowly rose up and looked him up and down. Staying where he was, Mark just watched as his mother regarded his appearance - his yellow and black outfit that paradoxically blended and stood out; with the crimson blood stains having dried in differing tones across the brighter and darker colours. He allowed her to step closer to him, reaching up to gently peel back the mask covering his face over his forehead.

"I'm sorry." Was all she whispered as she looked to him.

Sadness and worry were etched into her body, even as she reached up again to cup his face in her hands - but this time he did not let her. Lightly catching her hands in his as they reached up, Mark's gloved fingers closed gently on his mother's wrists as he looked solemnly to her. His own eyes transferring the small appreciation of his mother's actions, but also the unspoken question. That not everything was right between them.

Lowering her hands and leading her by one back to the sofa, he sat next to her in silence as he then tugged off his mask and held it in his other hand. Looking to Debbie who just seemed to sink into the sofa, slightly widened eyes just gazing at the son she hadn't spoken to in two weeks. "You messaged me, mum." He eventually began, speaking in a level tone as he just glanced back. "You sounded pretty urgent. Is something wrong?"

He was almost lying there. Mark knew very well what troubled his mother.

"Mark..." She spoke lowly, the soft tone of her voice perfectly conveying the hesitation she was feeling as she trailed off then. "I-I saw the news. About the hostages, and Multi-Paul..."

A silent moment passed between them as Debbie trailed off again, broken only by a small exhalation from Mark's nose as he looked away. The brief snatch of a look she got at his eyes showing the hurt that broke through for only for a moment, before he walled it open again as his jaw tightened slightly. "You don't have to do this." He simply let out, even his tone hardened a bit.

But she still caught the tremble at the end of the statement, Debbie recognising the small plea buried in the frustration and hardened edge. For her to drop it, and let things be for at least a night.

"I'm not judging, Mark." Debbie sought to reassure him, as she sought to try and pull her son back out from the man before her. Knowing that it couldn't just be left alone. "I just... I've seen what holding all of this in does to a person. I know what it's like to come home, still feeling what happened." Mark's ear twitched, as she saw his face turn ever-so-slightly back to her as if the very vertex of the corner of his eye was looking to her. Knowing too, what would happen. "You're not your father-"

"Don't compare me to him." The words cut her off, the sharpened edge to his voice slicing right through her attempt. He looked a little more to her with a tilt of his head, the taut pull to the skin of his face evident as his eyes had perceptibly narrowed a bit. The fragile atmosphere that had emerged since they sat on the sofa, her attempt to build accord with her son and comfort him thoroughly shattered then. Debbie's face softened too, but her words didn't come fast enough.

"I sat here, because I thought maybe we could just be quiet. Normal. Just for an evening, pretend that I wasn't the fucking superhero protecting this planet and that you were still the mother I knew from when I was younger, helping and picking me up." Mark spoke then quietly, turning away from her once again and just wiping his face with a rubberised glove. The cold edge that had entered his voice matching the contortion crossing his face for a second at what he spoke next. "I see now I was mistaken. That in the same way my own mother can't stop being like the rest of the planet and pointing out my flaws, that you couldn't wait one night to do so. When will you realise I don't want this? That I don't want every conversation to be a fucking lecture?" Another sigh left him as he drooped his head a little where he sat. "Not this again."

"Please, Mark-" This time Debbie seemed to choke, her hands going to her own face as a tear glistened down her cheek. "I just want my son back."

Mark still didn't turn back to her, even from the sound she made as he just raised his head again and even let out a forced laugh. "The son you keep comparing tohim?"He snapped.

"Then stop acting like him!" She snapped back, a flash of regret passing over her face as soon as the words were uttered which Mark caught as his own eyes widened and turned to her, but her face hardened then. Debbie's nature shining through as she forcibly laid out her points. "I know what my son used to believe in. What hestoodfor, in direct contrast to that man. Now you come home, still covered in blood, completely unwilling to discuss it."

"Then you should understand!" Mark's response was harsh in tone and volume. "I failed before. Over, and over, and over. Because believing wasn't enough - the amount of times I've seen innocentsdiebefore me simply because Doc Seismic refuses to stay in rehabilitation, or the Mauler Twins break out again! I'm the one who has to look at grieving parents and dead bodies every day, and even today when I saved over a hundred lives in one act youstillargue with me about it." His fist had clenched, anger clearly seeping into his expression as his jaw tensed further. "You've never been out there, never seen what this world actually needs. You think you can judge my actions from a kitchen table?"

His temples were tight with the pressure of trying not to explode at his mother for a second time.

Debbie's voice turned bitter at her son's blindness, at how he refused to see the point she in turn was making. "Please, Mark, this isn't of Paul, or any opponent you faced right now." She spoke, hand gently gripping his arm to beg him to see. "This is about you. I'm scared, Mark. You're changing before my very eyes, and I'm scared you won't come back. I just want my son who would light up the house, who would come to me when they wanted to be hugged!"

She expected something from that, either more frustration or a counterargument of some kind. Perhaps for Mark's mouth to open with no argument to be made at all, to open and close in the dawning realisation that she couldn't care less of his second kill right now, or his hero work. That all Debbie wanted in that moment, was for her son to recognise that he could be himself round her, to show her the boy that he was before who would not worry of the whole world. But of his own life, his friends and family, who would fly off to save the world because he saw it as his duty, not because of some arising idea that he was the only person who knew how to permanently save it.

What she didn't expect, was for Mark to completely freeze. Brown eyes just looking unblinkingly into her own silently crying ones, a jaw that didn't move to release the pressure within it. All twitches and minor motions made by his limbs had ceased, as if the movement to be had was to see the brain within his head whirling around at high speed.

"No." He let out then, beginning softly at a quiet volume as he sat still staring at his mother, but that changed as he broke, and exploded. "No, no, NO!" He screamed then as leapt off the sofa, muttering escaping his mouth as he paced around the living space then for a few seconds in obvious rabid thought, as Debbie's own expression unravelled in shocked fright. Especially, as he then whirled round and pointed lowly to her, his expression scrunched in anger and even flashes of hate contorting it occasionally. "Six years! Six years I suffered in this house. That son you speak of would have run to you when I was twelve, but not when I got my powers and suddenly became something of worth tothatman! And less to you."

"Mark!" She tried to gasp out, Debbie's tears now full on-coming, but he cut off her off with a sweeping gesture of his arm that showed he wasn't buying it.

"You abandoned me!" He yelled at his mother. "You beg of where I am for you now, but where were you when I needed you for over six years?!" His elevated voice came out raw, emotion spilling out from where he'd kept it bottled up as the front he kept over his eyes all the time came down as he shouted at his mother. "I would come home every day, bruised and bloodied in each form oftraining, yet you would cower away and never once told him to stop! I suffered year on year of being crushed into the ground with the pathetic mantra of the Viltrumites thrown at me, yet god forbid I reject it and then just do what's needed to be done."

Debbie seemed to collapse at that, whatever willpower within her pushing her on to try and appeal to Mark, now utterly failing her. She put her head in her hands, and sobbed as she choked out her next words. "You don't get it-" Debbie managed to get out in rasping breaths and stuttered cries. "He wouldn't let me-"

Mark just stood there then, watching with a now neutral expression as he quietened and observed the mess he'd helped turn his mother into. The small feeling of guilt and pity in his stomach was forcibly quashed. "Yet when I let you try, I got nothing but judgements, being told that I need to stayexactlythe same like I can't grow up. You're so afraid of him, that even now as I tried after two weeks I get only comparisons of how much I'm like him." Mark just stated, his tone now just tired as he got out what he felt he needed to say. "Neither of us got a chance under him, yet when he finally fucks off you still won't give me one. It's unfair."

Debbie didn't respond, only continuing to cry as Mark just sighed. "I'm done." He muttered.

He paused for a moment just to watch his mother weep on the sofa, unmoved by the appearance as he then stepped away and round the furniture towards the back door. The mask to Invincible's outfit was pulled back on over Mark's face to hide him away once more, only the thinly set frown of his mouth being visible now as he strode outside. His face twitched, as if wanting to turn back to look at his mother, but he prevented it. Instead, a small displacement of air rang out as he just flew off to leave them both alone.