"Well that sucked." Marks says after he walks out of the school building.
He didn't like to go to school and had taken steps to acquire knowledge the 'easy' way. He had used the stump that was one of the Mauler Twins to get all of their knowledge, and here he was doing a geography test. In his opinion, time passed rather slowly when he was at school, so he was happy when he could get away and continue focusing on his company, Invincible Inc., which was slowly but surely taking off. After he had 'downloaded' all the knowledge Machine Head had to offer, he deleted most of it and then brought him to prison. He had something special uploaded, something he had been working on and wanted to see how it would work when Machine Head broke out in the future.
"Like you'll ever need to find Mongolia on a map as a superhero," Eve says as she walks beside him.
"I know where Mongolia is. It's the one with so few inhabitants."
"Brilliant, Mark. I'm sure you'll ace that test." Eve says in jest, knowing that Mark was far better at school than should be possible for someone as disinterested as he was.
"You good, Eve? You look-"
"Like shit?" Eve completes his sentence.
"Nah, I was gonna say depressed," Mark says.
"Do you ever read about those kids who get kicked out of the house at 16, and wish it was you?" Eve asks, getting serious.
"Give up free food, pocket money, and someone who does my laundry? ... No."
"..."
"Tell me about it, though."
"I want to... no... I don't know. I-I just don't know what I'm doing anymore."
"You mean with your life? Or right now?"
"With my life?" Eve sighs.
"I suppose school is pulling you down, huh? Well, I am the first guy to understand what you're going through, what you need now, is some good old-fashioned-"
"Eve!" someone calls from a distance.
"Amber?"
"Hey. You're coming tonight, right?" Amber asks.
"What? Coming where?" Eve asks, confused.
"Well... didn't you give me that note, saying that you would like to volunteer at the Beckwell Community Centre downtown?"
"Uhhh..." Eve is confused.
"You're welcome," Mark says.
Both of the girls look at Mark. Then Eve suddenly understands.
"You?! You did that? Why would you-"
"Well, I was just about to say, before we were so rudely interrupted, that you would now need some good old-fashioned free work. To help others who need it and who have it worse than you do." Mark explains.
"You-"
"Hey, don't thank me. I loved to do it for you. And I know that Ember would love your help." Mark says.
"...my name's Amber, you dimwit," Amber says angrily.
"Of course, madam, whatever you say. So, how about it, Eve? Are you interested?" Mark asks.
"I... I don't know."
"What? Are you busy saving the world or something?" Amber asks.
"Not anymore, actually."
"No excuse then. Beckwell is like my second home. I used to hang out there after school till my mom was done working." Amber says.
"Good, good, I'll be going then. See you around, Anger." Mark says and leaves.
...
"I'm sorry about that. Mark's not usually like that." Eve says.
"Mm-hmm. We both know that's not true. I was invited to his house a few weeks ago; I know what's going on there." Amber says.
"What, really? How was it? Did he call you?"
"I had Todd give Mark my number, but he didn't call. It was actually his friend William who called and made some bad excuse about Mark wanting to call me but can't or whatever, and I thought, I might as well give it a try after he took some blows for me. But when I arrived, it turned out that he didn't know anything about it, and it was actually something his Mom had come up with without his knowledge."
"Are you kidding?" Eve asks and can't believe it. Well, she could believe it because it sounded like Mark, but she couldn't believe that he would tell her that to her face and not even mince his words.
"So, you two are close... is there something between you two, is that why he brushed me off so brusquely?" Amber asks.
"Uhh, no. There's not actually. We're just friends."
"Mm-hmm... I can see that perfectly. Come now, don't lie to me. Tell me all about it tonight. You're coming right?"
"Yeah," Eve says and smiles.
.
Mark flies to the building where Machine Head used to operate before Mark relieved him of his post. He has noticed that his mother has been rather distant and tense in the last couple of days, and he didn't like it. He might have taken care of it himself if he hadn't been so busy, but he was dealing with the aftermath of Machine Head's absence. He knew that his father had killed the Guardians of the Globe and wanted to ask him about it. He chose to wait for his father to tell him instead, but that was now almost 5 months ago. It was time to get to the bottom of things. Omni-Man made his life harder since he had to be there for nearly everything that happened, and it was getting on his nerves.
Mark, dressed as Invincible, makes his way to the tall building and enters through the roof, the same way he did the first time.
*CRASHH*
He lands on another desk, just as he did last time and looks around.
"AHH!"
A high-pitched scream is heard from a small girl at the side. Invincible looks at her and sees a woman and her daughter looking at him in fear and shock. He turns forward and sees Titan already ready and rock hard... or something.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" he shouts angry that Invincible scared his daughter.
But Invincible doesn't care about that. He isn't here for the daughter, nor the mother. He is here to establish some ground rules, which he forgot to do the first time he came here.
"Do you think I forgot about you? That just because your name is Tighten, you can squeeze yourself out of this one?" Invincible asks.
"What-"
"You burned down a building, you rocks for brains. That building has my name on it, as security. And you burned it down."
Titan looks at Invincible and then at his family to the side. He didn't expect Invincible to come back here, especially not this late. He had already started to take over Machine Head's businesses, but this wasn't good. He saw Isotope at the corner of his eye.
"Is it money you want? I can do that. I will bring real change to the city." Titan says.
"Good. You will pay for the damage you did and all the repairs and renovations." Invincible says.
"Sure sure... let me transfer the money right now..."
Titan gets on his computer, which isn't destroyed yet, and transfers the money to the account number invincible threw on the table. One might ask him or herself whether Invincible has gone bad and is blackmailing Titan. But he hasn't, it's just business. After a few minutes, Titan is done.
"There, all done. Are you happy now?"
"No, but it helps. Now, come on, we're leaving." Invincible says.
"What?"
"We're leaving." Invincible repeats.
"Where are we going?" Titan asks.
"What? You don't expect just to be allowed to run a criminal organisation here in New York, while I sit by and watch, do you? You broke the law, good sir. You're going to jail." Invincible says.
...
"I'm not going to jail. I can't." Titan says and clenches his fists.
Invincible looks to the side, where guards have appeared to protect Titan's family. They point their weapons at Invincible, not realising that it won't help them in the slightest.
"Come now, you don't really believe that I'm sentimental, do you? Manipulating me won't work, Tighten. The sooner your daughter learns that crime is bad and is punished, the better. Or are you one of those guys who point at the heroes and call them hypocrites, who get to enjoy their suburban lives, while you were forced to do crime just to survive?"
"I was forced to do those things! I owed Machine Head money and had to pay it back. But what I did, I did for my family and would do it again." Titan says.
"Good, that deserves respect. But actions have consequences, good sir, and I won't allow you to replace Machine Head. I'm not stupid." Invincible says and moves closer to Titan.
"I am not looking to become like him, I will change this city for the better, make people feel safe again, bring about real change! In fact, I have already done so. But I won't... go... to jail."
"Is that so?"
Isotope thinks this is the best chance to intervene and uses his powers to teleport Invincible. But he's an idiot, because Invincible already expected that to happen. He never planned to have Titan go to jail in the first place; he would use him, since he knew where his Achilles' heel was. Titan was predictable for Invincible. Because while he hadn't turned to crime, not even slightly, he would use this chance to remove all of Titan's goons off the street and use his alternate personality, Mark Grandson, to buy more and more infrastructure.
*WOOOSH*
Invincible appears before Isotope and punches him in the stomach.
"PUAHH..."
The man folds in half like a pocket knife and falls to the ground. Invincible grabs him by the neck to make sure he won't teleport away, and then turns to Titan again.
"I'll take this one for now. We wouldn't want you getting tempted by what he could do, do we? If I find you involved in any criminal activity, I will take care of it personally and be back here before you know it. I know you're smarter than you let on, but I know what you value, so don't make me play dirty."
After having one final look at the woman and her daughter, he leaves the apartment through the roof, creating yet another hole. Titan looks after him in thought and with a dark expression. He didn't like that; his family was just threatened, and he didn't like that at all. Some thoughts came to mind, and he would make sure to get to the bottom of things.
.
"Thanks for coming," Art tells Debbie as he starts the machine. Can I get you a drink or something? Do you want to sit first? Catch up?"
"Thanks, Art, but-"
"I know, I know. I'm just trying to put it off. I spent the last few days going over it top to bottom, like you asked."
"Show me," Debbie says.
"You sure, Deb?" he asks her, and she nods. Willing to finally find out what happened.
Art starts up the machine and shows it to Debbie.
"See these flecks? They look like gold, but they're much harder. I've only seen them in one other place..." Art starts.
"War Woman's armour," Debbie says, and Art nods, moving further to another part.
"Sodium crystals."
"Aquarus."
"Those are from Dark Wing's throwing weapons. He's tangled with a few of my other clients." Art says and moves on to another part.
"Are those burns?" Debbie asks.
"Friction burns." Art says. "From something moving really fast."
"Red Rush," Debbie says and almost breaks down, but she catches herself again.
"Okay. Okay, this... this only proves Nolan and the Guardians fought. Maybe they attacked him first? Maybe-maybe he was trying to protect their legacy?" Debbie asks.
"Maybe, but there's also this." Art says and presses a few buttons.
"Blood begins to oxidise when exposed to air. I can measure it and see how long it has been since it was spilt. And this here... the blood on the hands is the oldest blood on the suit. Nolan struck first." Art says, finally, sealing the deal and making it clear that Nolan truly killed the Guardians of the Globe and was the first one to attack.
Tensions were high and rising further. It was but a matter of time until all of it exploded, and Mark... well, he was busy with his own things.