Ch. 12 The After-Aftermath

Mark bursts through doors as he flies through the hallways of the medical ward beneath the Pentagon.

He doesn't notice the whirlwind he creates behind him that causes the staff a great deal of inconveniences.

He gets to his fathers room and quickly takes his mask off as he catches his breath.

Inside the room Nolan is sitting up and talking with his wife, Debbie, as she sits on the side of his bed. They both stop talking and turn to Mark.

"Mark" Debbie says in surprise.

"Hey son" Nolan says like he was only out grocery shopping and came back like nothing happened.

"Dad!" Mark rushes to his dad's side. He couldn't help the smile that was on his face. But he also felt a pit in his chest.

Mark uses his super speed to get to Nolan's side and hugs him.

"Ow!" Nolan feels the tenderness of his ribs. He pats Marks back. "Ribs"

Mark quickly let's go.

"Careful!" Debbie playfully teases her son. "You're gonna put him in a coma again~"

Mark looks at his dad. "You're ok"

"No he's not" Debbie states.

Marks mood instantly drops to 0.

"But he is ok enough to come home" Debbie adds.

Marks mood recovers a bit. But then he remembers that Jay was taken by the Flaxans.

Nolan looks at Mark. "Mom says you've been keeping the planet safe with Jayden for me"

Mark struggles to respond. How can he tell them about Jay right now….. "Mom is exaggerating" Mark rubs the back of his head.

Nolan smiles. "Tell me Everything"

Mark grabs the chair that Debbie had been using since she is currently sitting on the bed.

He explains how he went to defend the city from an alien invasion. How he met Atom Eve and the Teen Team. How Jay decimated the majority of the first Flaxan invasion.

Nolan seemed….. disappointed. But Mark didn't notice and neither did Debbie. She was hearing the details in much more detail than when she talked to him before. Nolan breaks out of his thoughts when Mark continues a few seconds later.

Mark then explains the three following days. He explained how Jay was busy fighting the threats the Guardians would have handled.

And then he got to the second invasion. Aow they got their asses handed to them.

Mark looks down at the floor. "They had me stuck in this weird substance that was like rubber. No matter how hard I struggled I couldn't get out. Then their general or something walks up to me. Then I saw Eve get attacked by this weird device that attached to her face. And when I shouted her name the general went over to her and pointed his weapon at her. Then….. I just got really angry and…. I don't even know….. I just got up and everything around me went flying. I charged the general and drove him into a wall and kept punching his face until Robot reminded me about Eve. I was able to rip the thing off her face in time since it was suffocating her as well as electrocuting her…. After that is when Jay showed up-"

Debbie chimes in. "He was dealing with the Subterraneans"

"Again?" Nolan flatly asks.

"Yeah" Debbie looks at Mark. "Speaking of Jay, where is he? Why didn't he come with you? I figured he didn't answer his phone because it was destroyed again or you picked up"

Mark closes his eyes. "When Robot figured out the frequency to destroy the Flaxan's wristbands, Jay grabbed his ears as if he was in severe pain"

"Is he ok?" Debbie worriedly asks.

Nolan puts a hand on her shoulder. "He has always struggled with his heightened senses dear. If the frequency was just right it could have rung his bells a bit. But nothing too serious. Remember when Maestro got Jay inside a giant bell and struck its side with that ridiculously sized hammer?"

Debbie puts her hand on Nolan's. "Jay was only dazed for a minute" She answers, but then she remembers the after effects. "But he had difficulty for some time after that. For the rest of that week it was like he had a concussion"

Nolan looks with his eyes at the corner of the room to his right. "That's my fault, I picked the wrong point. But to be fair, anyone would struggle after having their BELL rung like that"

"Stop~" Debbie sarcastically responds and rolls her eyes. And she catches a glimpse of Marks lamenting expression. "Mark?"

Mark closes his eyes. "Jay was wrapped in the same rubber like substance but it was also different from the one that trapped me. It stayed attached to the rifle of the Flaxans that shot it at him. And they went through the portal. And they tried to pull Jay through, he resisted until I tried to help him and he kicked me away" Mark puts his face in his palms. "And by the time I got back he was already gone and the portal already disappeared" He says in a dismayed tone.

Debbie gets off the bed and kneels next to Mark and gives him a hug. "Oh Mark"

Nolan's expression hardens as he wonders how to handle this situation. He can't do anything at the moment and he has too little information. But if Jayden can't even handle these pests...

"Jayden is a Viltrumite like us Mark. He won't go down so easily" Nolan vehemently says before going back to his usual tone. "I mean, when I was his age I would have gone right into that portal and talked some sense into those 'Flaxans' and come back within the same day"

Debbie stands up. "Jayden should be fine Mark. Don't beat yourself up because of this. It was only a matter of time until he started doing the things your father does. And eventually you will start doing them too" She sits back on the bed and holds Nolan's hand. "But I'll still worry about you and Jayden because you're my baby boys"

Nolan gently squeezes Debbie's hand. "Don't you worry about me?" He playfully asks.

Debbie smiles at him. "Only when you make me. If I worried about you every time I left the house I would get older by the day" She teases.

"So you two are ok with Jay being taken by the Flaxans?!" Mark asks in a distressed and perplexed tone.

"Sweetie" Debbie looks at her youngest. "We're worried about him, we always will. But he will be fine. Worse case scenario he gets serious and doesn't hold back and the Flaxans are forced to listen to him" She insists.

Mark feels conflicted. If it was dad that went into the portal, he would probably feel the same about this. He wonders how they can be so chill.

"Come on!" Nolan taps Debbie's shoulder and picks her up and onto his lap. "Let's get going. I'm already sick of this room" He swings his legs off the bed and sits up with a grunt.

——————

Mark leaves the room and goes to change into his street clothes.

He walks down the hallways of the medical ward until he gets near the exit and looks into Maya's room. But when he looks inside its bed is empty and all the monitors are off.

Mark turns around and walks up to the receptionist at the counter. "What hospital did they move Maya to?" He asks calmly and motions towards her old room. He wants to see the old woman that he was barely able to save.

The receptionist looks up from her paperwork at the young man in front of her. She takes a second to process what he asks. And her expression turns mournful and hardens as she looks into Marks eyes but doesn't say anything.

Marks eyes widen slightly as he takes a step back. "No…" He looks at her room out of the corner of his eyes. "No they said she'd recover"

Nolan walks up to Mark and puts a hand on his shoulder. "It's part of the job" He walks to the other side of Mark. "Come on, let's go home. I'm dying for some real food" He says a bit too happily.

Mark brushes off his dads hand and walks away. He just found out the one person he was able to barely save died. And his dad wants to talk about food.

Nolan watches his son walk towards the elevator. He turns to the receptionist. His tone completely changes to a demanding one. "Hey, I need my costume back. I don't care how torn up it is. It's classified. And I want it back. Go get it. Now"

Debbie stands in the hall and watches her husband and her son. She's exhausted from staying up late and waking up early to take care of Nolan. But it was worth it since they can go home and be a family. All they need to do is wait a little bit for Jayden to come back. She knows he will.

——————

Channel 4 News

A picture with the outline of superheroes and the text "WHERE ARE THEY?" is on the screen next to a female reporter.

At the bottom of the screen is the current count of the dead.

HEADLINES: Invasion Death Toll

Death toll continues to rise in aftermath of recent alien invasion, citizens left wondering: Where are the Guardians?

The woman begins speaking. "Where are the Guardians of the Globe? There's been no sign of the iconic heroes for over a week. Leaving the local champions to pick up the slack"

——————

I'm the sky a father and son are flying in the air.

Nolan has his hands behind his back and Mark is in a fighting stance. They both are in their civilian clothing and are mid-training for Mark.

Nolan casually dodges Marks punch that was clearly telegraphed. "It's like you're not even trying to hit me" He lets his hands move to his sides as he taunts his son.

"Hyah!" Mark flies forward and tries to punch his dad again but misses…. again. "Gyah!" He tries again but to not avail.

"Aaaaand now you're trying too hard. Slow down" Nolan moves through the air. "Don't hit me where I am, hit me where I'm-"

Mark flies forward and lands a straight right punch to Nolan's face. "Hehaha! Thanks for the tip" He cockily says.

Nolan got punched a few feet back and rubs his jaw before glaring back at Mark. "You know, you have to be able to take a hit too!" He bursts forwards with his right fist raised and aiming right where Mark hit him. But he was much faster and the blow will be much har-

"Nolan!" Debbie shouts.

Mark brought his hands up in an attempt to guard the punch with his forearms crossed in front of his face to hopefully lessen the extremely powerful blow.

Nolan looks down at the ground and sees his wife with Cecil standing behind her. They were in the backyard while Mark and himself were flying above.

Mark and Nolan basically stand in the air. Mark drops his arms and Nolan drops his fist.

"Oh, great" Nolan says. It's not good if Cecil is here.

——————

Inside the house. Debbie is sitting on the couch with her arms crossed and Nolan is next to her with his right arm around her shoulders. And Mark is sitting on the arm rest at the end of the couch.

Cecil is standing in the middle of the Grayson living room facing the tv. "We picked this up near Mars, an hour ago" He flicks a hologram from his watch and it moves through the air and expands until it gets to the tv and covers it. "Moving fast. He's back"

Cecil turns towards Nolan. "15 minutes until he's breathing our air. I wouldn't ask Nolan… But with the Guardians gone…"

Nolan stands up. "I'll stop him"

Mark looks at the screen and only sees a blur. He looks at Cecil. "Who's he?"

"Nolan's been home a WEEK. And you want to send him to space?" Debbie angrily asks. She stand up between Nolan and Cecil. "No. No way. He doesn't work for you"

"Sweetie~" Nolan puts his hand on Debbie's shoulder.

Cecil shrugs and says in a quiet and grave tone. "There's no one else Debbie"

"I'll go" Mark stands up.

"Sweetie" Nolan puts his other hand on Debbie's shoulder.

"I said no!" She states. And she won't budge. "You're still injured"

"I'll go" Mark says louder this time.

"Ok" Nolan says nonchalantly.

"What?!" Debbie takes a step back.

Nolan smiles. "Why not?" He motions at Mark. "Mark can take him"

"Oh! Wonderful! That's your solution!" She sarcastically remarks as she goes back to the couch.

Mark raises an eyebrow. "Can you define not that tough?"

Nolan walks up to his son. "Just knock some sense into the guy and throw him back from where he came from. Easy"

Mark thinks for a second. "How do I….. breathe in space?"

"That's the neat thing" Nolan points his index finger at Mark. "You don't"

"12 minutes" Cecil informs.

——————

Mark is on his way back to Earth after a very brief fight with Allen, the alien who was coming towards Earth.

Allen is an evaluation officer for the Coalition of Planets and was tasked with making sure planets like Mark's can defend themselves against monsters from space.

And it turns out that he was tasked with the planet Urath. Not Earth.

After clearing this misunderstanding Allen shook Mark's hand and introduced himself. Mark did the same and Allen said Invincible was a little optimistic, and that since he fought him he thinks Mark is quite vincible.

After that they go their separate ways after Allen apologizes.

——————

Cecil is leaving the Grayson's house. "Ugh, before I go-"

Nolan steps forward. "I already told you everything I remember" He says in an annoyed tone.

"Right" Cecil nods. "Right. Just go over it for me one more time"

"I got a distress call from the Guardians. But when I arrived everything seemed fine. Then the lights went out. And someone attacked me. I fought with them until I passed out. Woke up in your hospital. That's it!" Nolan explains. His tone was getting angrier and louder each sentence.

Cecil steps forward and looks Nolan in his eyes. "That's it? Hmph. Must have been a pretty tough bastard to take you down. I've never seen you lose like that before" He lightly taunts.

Nolan narrows his eyebrows. "Yeah"

Cecil turns around and walks out the front door.

"Do you have any leads yet?" Debbie asks before Cecil gets too far.

Cecil turns around partially. "Someone thinks they're too clever for us" He says. Then he turns around. "But they all think that at first" And he walks away.

Nolan shrugs when Debbie looks at him and he closes the door.

——————

Mark is back at school. It's weird not having Jay drive him anymore. And it's also got some people in the school worried as well. It's like a small chunk of it is gone and now the school is having to slightly readjust itself since it can't stand on its own properly.

"Oh great…" Mark puts his books in his locker and closes it as Todd walks up to him.

Todd grabs Mark by the collar and slams him into his locker. "Shut it Grayson!" He leans in. "I'm sorry" He whispers.

Mark is taken aback. "What?"

Todd looks around. "Sorry I kicked your ass" He whispers again.

"I don't know what you're saying" Mark says.

Todd pulls Mark away from the wall and looks down both sides of the hall. "I'm sorry I kicked your ass ok?!"

Mark looks aroun. "Oh….thanks… I guess?"

Todd gets even closer to Marks face. "Amber Bennet would also like to know if you would like her number"

Mark leans back but Todd just leans closer. "What?"

"Do you want Amber's phone number?!" Todd shouts in Marks face. "Nerd!"

"Yes. But why are you…?" Mark asks.

Todd looks to the side. "Because she found some old photos of me ok. Photos she said she would delete if I did this one stupid thing and then never talk to you again" Todd takes out a piece of paper and puts it in Mark's collar. "There!" He pushes Mark into his locker and walks away. "Have a crappy life with her! You suck"

Mark watches Todd leave. He smirks and grabs the paper from his collar. "Photos of what Todd?!"

"Don't… push your luck Grayson" Todd frustratedly says as he walks away.

Mark looks down at the paper with a number on it and the name, Amber. But then his phone rings. He brings it up to his ear. "Amber? Ugh, er. I mean…. Hello?"

His smile fades away into a frown as he hears Robot informs him of the situation.

——————

Invincible is flying into the city with Teen Team.

I'm the city that was trying to recover, a giant portal opened up, bigger than the other portals they had seen in the Flaxan's previous invasions. It was the size of a small building.

"This seems to be their biggest portal yet. And it also seems to be their only portal for this invasion" Robot states as he steers the hover-cycle.

Rex pops up over his shoulder. "Ohhhh~. Really? Robots sees the portal~!" He shouts over his shoulder. "Did everybody hear that? Robot can see the GIANT FUCKING DIMENSION PORTAL!!!!" He turns back to Robot. "Hey Robot. How BIG~ is the big ass portal~?"

Robot leads the team towards the ground. "The Flaxans don't seem to be immediately exiting this time. It seems they have a different strategy this time around. It might even be a trap"

Teen Team and Mark land in front of the giant portal. There doesn't seem to be any indication of anything coming through as the orange outline and energy swirls into the black abyss.

Mark lands and looks at the portal. "Who cares if it's a trap. Eternal is in there, we should go sav-"

"No" Robot states. "There is 97.6% chance this is a trap. And I've been told not to mention what the 2.4% chance is. But I will say that a fraction of that fraction is the chance Eternal walks through that portal. It's best we evacuate the city and send a nuke through the portal before the Flaxans get impatient and come through to our side"

"No!" Eve shouts. "We are not going to send a nuke through! What if it doesn't and ends up just destroying the city?!"

"And what about Eternal?! What if he's waiting for us to go through and save him?!" Mark shouts.

"I actually agree with them Robot" Rex says. "I'm all for explosions but a nuke is too much"

"Then we can only wait and call for backup" Robot states.

They all turn around and look at the portal.

"Fuck this" Mark starts walking towards the portal.

"Wait!" Eve shouts. "Think this through!"

"Invincible, do not make any rash decisions" Robot walks up to Mark who stopped. "If you go through, that might cause them to come through to our side. And without you our odds are even lower"

Mark clenches his fists in anger and frustration. "I can't do nothing! It's my fault he is in there to begin with!"

"It's not like you didn't try to help him" Rex says as he puts his hands behind his head. "He's the one that denied your help"

"Rex" Eve chides.

"What? It's true. Eternal punted Invinci-boy here away like a child…" Rex pauses. "Not that anyone would kick a child" He explains. "But Eternal clearly had the strength to get free"

Mark turns around. "He may be strong, but he still has his limits! And just because he kicked me away doesn't mean he was strong or else he would have freed himself! I was just caught off guard! He has much higher senses than us! The frequency Robot emitted scrambled his brain and disoriented him! So no! He wasn't all strong and fine!"

Robot marks this audio for further testing. If there was a way to disorient Viltrumites due to their higher senses that could be very valuable information in the future. Even if it only applies to Eternal. It would be a good countermeasure to be safe.

Rex is shocked to hear this. He thought Eternal was alright. But now with the new information slapping him in the face he wasn't so sure. And if even Eternal is defeated by the Flaxans…. What the hell can he do? His explosions would just tickle Eternal, and there is no telling how much time actually passed over these 2 weeks for the Flaxans.

Everyone turns towards the sound of some rocket shooting towards them. But when they see the thing making the sound they are shocked. It's actually a person in armor flying from rockets or something in their palms and feet.

The person lands down behind them away from the portal.

The armor is black and silver and seems to be made to accommodate a woman considering the extra chest room. And in the center of their chest is a circular red light that is similar to the red light from their helmets eyes.

The person landed in a superhero landing and stands up. A woman's voice sounds out through some sort of speaker on their suit. "Any contact yet?" She sounded deadly serious.

Mark hears the voice and narrows his eyes as he looks at the new arrival. "Where has he heard that voice before?" He mutters beneath his breath.

"And who are you?" Rex asks as he points at her.

Robot steps forward. "Hello Iron Woman. Cecil told me to expect you to be here. You are earlier than expected. No, there has been no activity in or around the portal that has been dete-"

Robot's eyes flash green and he turns around. "Prepare yourselves. Something is coming through"

Everyone gets in a stance.

Robot brings his arms up. Duplicate gets in a similar stance but she gets ready to duplicate. Rex grabs some pills in his pockets and primes them for explosions. Eve coats her hands in energy as she rises into the sky. Iron Woman aims her palms at the portal and braces herself for what's to come. And Mark gets ready to fly into the portal.

The portal's orange energy swirls as something flies out from the center of it. And the center is about 30 feet off the ground.

A man in a black costume floats in the sky. His shins and forearms are covered by metal. And that same metal is on either side of his abs and over his shoulders. On his chest is a symbol that stands out. His hair is black and slicked back. His face can't fully be seen due to a futuristic looking visor. But his face that is visible looks cleanly shaven.

Everyone looks at this intimidating figure as the portal begins to shut behind him. The man looks down at the people below him.

Mark flies into the air and gets to his heigh but is over a dozen feet away from the man. "I'd that you?"

The man doesn't respond.

Mark flies closer. "J-, I mean. Is that you-"

The man looks at Mark and raises his fist and flies at Mark so fast he can only raise his arms to block his face.

Mark feels the man that looks like his brother crash into him. And drive him down into the street below.

Teen Team and Iron Woman have to jump out of the way of the way as concrete and debris goes flying.

And when the dust settles they go to the crater and see Mark standing in a fighting stance and the man standing a few feet in front of him.

The man crosses his arms and looks at Mark who stands ready to fight. "I see you haven't been skipping on training"

The man's visor seems to disappear with a weird sound of small machines moving. It's like his visor is made of….. nano machines.

With the visor gone, the man's face is revealed to be Jayden Grayson, also known as-

ETERNAL