章 8: 8: New Friend
8: New Friend
"Oh Nolan!~"
Mark grabbed his head with both hands, staring at the ceiling of his room with irritation before deciding it was enough. He put on his shirt and without hesitation, opened the window and flew out.
The destination? Anywhere else where he didn't have to hear his parents having sex.
He soared through the clouds, breaking the sound barrier, and flew as far away as he could. Then he stopped and looked at the landscape beneath his feet. How long? How long had it been since he saw a human city? Since he was on Earth?
Measuring time in Flaxan wasn't easy. He had no way of knowing the difference at first, and when he gained enough knowledge to do so, he decided not to find out.
He felt it was best for his sanity. Living in Flaxan wasn't living; every breath was torture, every bite of food disgusting.
He had always told himself he had great willpower, but he had never truly tested it until Flaxan.
Of course, it wasn't all bad. He gained a lot of knowledge, experience, and strength.
In his last training bout with Nolan before returning to Earth, he had forced his father to step back several times. He wouldn't say he was as strong as him, but he wasn't far off.
He clenched his fist, feeling the air explode as it was forcibly compressed. He felt like he could destroy anything in his path; he truly felt invincible. Of course, this was an illusion, and he knew it.
He stopped when he reached Art's costume shop. He needed a new suit.
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"How does it feel now?" Mark shifted, stretched a bit, and nodded.
"It feels perfect now" His body had changed slightly, increasing his height a bit and his muscle mass as well. Art had to adjust the measurements of his suit.
The man was really good at his job. He had told Mark that he had started creating a third suit since he saw the news of the Flaxan invasion. From the beginning, he had guessed that Mark would need another replacement.
"I apologize for bothering you so soon, Art. I really should start taking better care of my attire"
The older man laughed and said, "Come on, kid, I make suits for superheroes. They mess them up all the time, and if I complained about it, I'd be out of clients"
"Maybe so, but it still must be annoying. I'll make sure to compensate you someday"
Internally, he apologized to Art. He would probably give him many more headaches in the future.
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"Invincible?"
Mark entered through the entrance of the Teen Team base. Unable to return home and with nothing better to do, he decided to report his return to the team.
"Hey"
Mark greeted Robot, who seemed to be the only one present in the base at such late hours. He wondered if Robot had been working on something or if his arrival had triggered some alert, hence the reception.
Robot approached. Being just a droid, it was somewhat complicated for Mark to know what it was thinking.
"I hope I'm not bothering, but I thought it would be good to inform that I'm okay"
He scratched the back of his head. Spending so much time without human interactions beyond Nolan had taken a bit of a toll on his social skills. He hoped not to ruin the image he had created with so much effort.
"It's not a bother, in fact, it's good to know about your return. Eve will be happy about it; she's been very worried"
Eve... it seemed like he had made a bit of drama by going to Flaxan, didn't he? He didn't exactly remember what he was thinking when he did all that, but he supposed that his past self had a plan... he hoped.
"I wonder how you managed to come back"
At Robot's question, Mark smiled with a bit more confidence. He had had plenty of time to come up with a valid story, one that would save him from too many questions.
"Well, I had quite an experience, but I don't want to repeat myself too much, so it would be better if I tell it when the whole team is present."
Robot remained silent for a moment before nodding.
"I understand. I'll inform them"
They talked a bit more before Mark decided to leave.
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The morning arrived, and Mark had to return home. Fortunately, there were no more annoying noises to deal with, so he could feast on food by raiding the fridge.
He had never appreciated Earth's food as much as he did now. Maybe he should take the time to go on a world tour? Trying the best foods from each country would be great.
While he was eating, a blue light illuminated beside him, and when he turned to see, he saw Cecil suddenly appearing.
He raised his hand and quickly swallowed before speaking. "Hey!"
Cecil looked at him, raising an eyebrow before shaking his head. "I need to talk to your father, boy"
Mark wondered how Cecil knew they had returned. Did his house already have hidden cameras, or was it Robot who informed him? Either way, he didn't care too much for now.
"Yeah, that might be a problem. He's been a bit busy all night; I don't know if he wants to see you right now, but I'll go wake him up"
As Mark was getting ready to go upstairs, Cecil seemed to think of something and stopped him.
"On second thought, maybe you can handle this"
Cecil looked Mark up and down. If his suspicions were correct, then Mark might be their only hope. He didn't want to put all his trust in one basket, but the current situation didn't leave him with many options.
Mark hadn't been a hero for long, but he had shown capability in many ways, and unlike his father, he seemed much more willing to work as a team.
Most of all, Mark had been a simple human until a few weeks ago. His connection to Earth, to humanity, was undeniable. If Nolan was truly responsible for what happened to the Guardians, maybe the only one who could stop him was his son.
And to know that, he first had to put him to the test.
Mark raised an eyebrow and looked at Cecil. "What's the problem?"
Cecil raised his hand and projected an image onto a nearby wall.
"Our satellites picked this up passing by Mars an hour ago. It's fast, so it won't take long to arrive, ten minutes at most"
Upon seeing the blurry image, Mark's eyes widened slightly. Perhaps it would be foolish to admit it, but he had forgotten about Allen a bit. However, now that he saw this image, memories of him started flooding back.
"So, you want me to prevent it from reaching Earth? Well, I think a little morning exercise will be good for me" Mark flexed his arm a bit, trying to convey confidence.
Cecil grunted, "Don't underestimate him. He's been coming to Earth for years; your father usually deals with him, so he's strong. If you feel you're in trouble, I'll have reinforcements waiting on the ground"
Mark nodded, looking at the image thoughtfully. Now, how should he deal with this?
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Mark flew through the air wearing his hero suit, breaking the sound barrier several times in a row. He went beyond the clouds and then beyond the atmosphere.
He turned back and saw the spherical shape of the Earth, staying still in the void of space, contemplating its form for a few moments.
One never truly appreciated their home until they were separated from it. Whether it was Earth in his other life or Earth in this life, Mark had always taken them for granted, as something immovable that was always present.
Witnessing the extermination and collapse of the Flaxan world had changed that perception.
Earth was fragile like a balloon; it only took being punctured in the wrong place to make everything explode.
He clenched his fists. Perhaps Flaxan didn't matter much to him, but Earth was different. He could let Flaxan die and not shed a tear for it; he didn't know if he could do the same for Earth.
No, he couldn't. This was his world, his, and he wasn't a hero. He had been telling himself that since he arrived in this universe, in this body. But when it came to Earth, he could never look away or ignore the problems that occurred on it.
So, he had to find ways not only to stay alive but also to protect this world.
His instincts, formed by countless fights, screamed at him. Without hesitation, he twisted his body and dodged an orange fist that struck where his head had been a moment earlier.
"Hey! Did you trim your mustache?!"
The voice in his head was a completely new sensation; it was like having an earpiece inserted into his brain. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it was strange.
Mark looked at his opponent and possible ally.
Although he had already seen Flaxans, seeing an alien was always interesting. One with a single eye and orange skin certainly made an impression.
"Well, since you arrived early, I'll give you a free pass. Come on, hit me!"
Allen pointed confidently to his chin, sporting a smile. Mark smiled, and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared from his spot.
Allen's single pupil shrunk to its limit, and his eye widened completely. Before he could do or say anything, a fist struck him in the face with such force that for a moment, he thought he was seeing stars and not the ones in space.
Allen's body sailed unimpeded until it crashed into the moon with great force, creating a crater dozens of meters wide as if a meteorite had struck it.
"Ugh" Allen struggled to get up; his hand rubbed his face, and when he opened his eye, he saw drops of blood coming from his mouth.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Mark arrived and flew not far from him.
"Of course! That was just a lucky shot, don't get too excited" Allen grumbled and stood up, ready to continue fighting.
Mark didn't stop him, not because he didn't want to talk to him, but because he needed to know how strong Allen was.
From what he had seen in the program, the guy took a beating that nearly killed him, and then he was finished off by his boss? Or at least, that's how it seemed.
That was the reason Mark didn't trust the Coalition of Planets. He knew there was a traitor among their ranks, and the series had pointed toward Allen's boss as the main suspect. If the boss himself was the traitor, then the Coalition was useless to Mark.
But Allen, Allen could be useful.
Allen rushed toward Mark, his body sailing through space with surprising speed.
If it had been the Mark of a few weeks ago, his charge would have caught him off guard.
The Mark of now saw it coming almost in slow motion, effortlessly dodging his onslaught. His elbow shot out, striking Allen in the back and sending him back to the ground.
"Is that still luck?" Mark spoke, clearly injecting some mockery into his words, which worked quite well as Allen shot back towards him with obvious annoyance.
Mark saw his punches coming and dodged each one, his fist clenched as he drove it directly into Allen's stomach, making him groan in pain.
The Unopan gritted his teeth and punched again; his fist connected with Mark's face, creating a shockwave that cleared the dust around them.
His single eye widened when he realized his punch hadn't moved his opponent an inch.
"Uh, did you get stronger?" Allen stepped back, realizing he was probably in trouble.
Mark caressed his cheek; he had barely felt it. That was... disappointing, but expected. Still, there was potential.
"Tell me, is this all your strength? Can you go further, or is training useless for you?" Alien biology was always tricky to deal with.
If Allen could get stronger, it would be best.
Allen blinked in confusion, rubbing his chin thoughtfully before responding.
"Well, I train a few times a week, which works a bit but not too much. There aren't many things that can make me exert myself" he wanted to sound a bit proud at the end, but remembering that the guy in front of him was beating him up, he couldn't help but lose his smile.
Mark stretched out his hand in greeting. "Well, maybe I can help you with that. I'm Mark, but people in this world know me as Invincible"
Allen took his hand with hesitation. "Well, I can't say that name is wrong; you're tougher than anything I've ever hit before"
As they talked, Allen suddenly felt a tingling sensation in his body. He saw some sparks of blue color flashing from where their two hands grasped, and suddenly felt the wounds and pains in his body disappearing at great speed.
"Woa! What the heck?" He touched his chin; the pain there vanished as did the wound from where the blood had come out.
Mark smiled with satisfaction, apologizing a bit to Allen inwardly; he had used him as a guinea pig without him knowing.
When he was in Flaxan, he had plenty of time to study how the flow of time changed, how it worked. He wasn't an expert or fully understood everything about it, but he had achieved something important.
Using the Speed Force, he could control to some extent the flow of time.
He couldn't stop it or slow it down, but he could accelerate it. Of course, this wasn't easy; it required a lot of concentration and energy. He could feel his stomach beginning to growl, even if he had eaten a ton of food before going out into space.
One of the disadvantages of the Speed Force was the insane amount of calories it consumed. The more complex its use, the more it demanded. Time control, no matter how limited and focused it was, remained a high-consumption skill.
Not very useful if you wanted to conserve energy but still useful in other scenarios.
Mark had only tested it on himself and on inanimate objects. Allen was the first living being other than himself with whom he had tried it.
And it worked. Of course, accelerating the natural healing of the body didn't come without costs. The Speed Force was speeding up the flow of time in the object Mark touched, meaning it was robbing it of natural lifespan and energy.
Unless it was extremely necessary, Mark couldn't use this casually on humans.
Perhaps it would be safer to learn to reverse the flow, but Mark still didn't know how to do that.
"How do you feel? Any discomfort?" At Mark's question, the Unopan patted his torso before responding.
"I feel great, but I'm starving!"
Allen held his stomach; there was the other disadvantage; the body still needed nutrients to heal itself.
"Well, I know a place that serves excellent food. What do you say? Want some?"
Allen nodded eagerly. "Lead the way!"
Soon, both took off towards Earth.
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"So, you're saying you got the wrong planet?"
Cecil couldn't help the headache that was starting to form. Over ten years, ten years worrying about this guy, and he turned out to be just a mistake?!
From the side, the owner of the buffet they were in could only cry at the sight of the dozens of empty plates adorning the nearby tables.
"I'm so sorry!" Allen apologized, already starting to imagine all the problems he would have upon returning.
"Well, look on the bright side, now Earth has another ally, right?" Mark said, looking at Allen.
The Unopan nodded as he continued happily eating.
"The food here is amazing! I'll definitely come back more often, maybe bring some friends" he added.
The buffet owner let out another groan in the distance.
Cecil rubbed his forehead before sighing. "Okay, as long as this isn't something that threatens Earth, I don't mind" Ready to leave, he was stopped by Mark.
"Uh, yeah, I don't know if you know, but this suit doesn't have pockets so... um, can you pay?"
Cecil blinked, seeing the dozens of empty plates flooding the nearby tables and the owner crying in a corner. Then he looked back at Invincible.
"No"
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Note:
Short chapter, I have to finish several assignments, so there may not be an update for several days, maybe even until May if things get tough.
I apologize for that, but bills don't pay themselves, guys, haha. Being an adult sucks.
Still, I didn't want to dive into work without first leaving something for all those who beg me for an update.
Things keep moving forward. Mark has several ideas in mind, but to make them a reality, he needs the support of others.
Unlike Flaxan, on Earth, he can't just take all the resources he wants to work on his own, so he'll have to put in a little effort.
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