March 22, 2016 — Grayson Residence — 1:14 p.m.
Debbie remained in the kitchen doorway.
The coffee maker continued dripping behind her.
Across from her, Nolan's face gave nothing away.
That was the worst part.
There was no shock. No denial. No immediate anger at being accused of something impossible.
Only silence.
Debbie's stomach dropped, and she had to brace herself against the doorframe to keep her body from giving out beneath her.
Nolan set the notepad down on the table.
"Yes. I killed the Guardians."
The words hung between them.
Debbie blinked.
For a moment, it was as though the room had lost all depth. The couch, the table, the photographs on the shelves, and the kitchen light were all still there, but nothing seemed to be in the right place.
"Were you being controlled by someone?"
"No..." Nolan took a step as he spoke.
Debbie brought a hand to her mouth.
"My God."
She had known.
Even so, hearing it was different.
"Debbie—"
"Don't say my name like this is normal."
She took half a step back.
"It was necessary." Nolan kept his voice low. Controlled.
Debbie's eyes narrowed.
"Necessary?"
A short, broken laugh escaped her, devoid of any humor.
"You murdered people we knew."
"Things are more complicated than you understand."
"Then explain."
Nolan remained silent.
Debbie took another step toward him.
"Explain it to me. Because I would really like to hear what possible reason makes it acceptable to tear people apart and then come home as if nothing happened."
Nolan's expression hardened.
"I came home because you're my family."
"We are not part of this."
Debbie shook her head, unable to accept the words.
Then another thought cut through the fear.
Colder.
Damien's notes.
The suspicions about Kai.
The photographs.
The way Kai hid things.
The way Nolan sometimes looked at him as though he knew more than he let on.
Debbie swallowed.
"Did Kai help you?"
Nolan frowned.
The confusion was immediate.
Real.
"What?"
"Kai." Her voice broke on her son's name. "Did he help you kill the Guardians?"
Nolan looked at her as though the question were too absurd for him to comprehend at first.
He opened his mouth, closed it again, and for a second seemed genuinely unsure where to even begin answering.
"No. Kai doesn't know anything. Neither does Mark."
Debbie froze.
Air returned to her lungs for a moment.
A small breath.
A painful one.
But it returned.
Nolan noticed her relief, and his expression changed.
"Why did you think he helped me?"
"I don't know what to think anymore."
Debbie pressed a hand to her chest, trying to keep her breathing steady.
Nolan looked away.
Not at the notepad.
Not at the door.
At some point beyond the house.
Then he looked back at her.
Debbie closed her eyes for a second.
When she opened them, there were tears in them, but no hesitation.
Nolan moved closer.
"Debbie, I never wanted to hurt you. I never wanted you to find out this way."
"So you wanted me to never find out."
His jaw tightened.
The answer was in his silence.
Debbie looked at the man standing before her and tried to find the husband she knew. The writer. The father who complained when dinner was cold. The hero who smiled for cameras after saving people.
It was all still there.
And that made it worse.
"You looked me in the eyes for months."
Nolan didn't respond.
"You slept in my bed."
She gestured toward the living room, toward the entire house.
"You sat at that table with our sons."
Her voice broke.
"And you carried this around as if it were nothing."
Nolan took a deep breath.
His patience was beginning to turn into something else.
"I made difficult choices. Choices no one else could make."
Debbie shook her head.
Nolan continued, "I'm trying to protect this family."
"By killing people?"
"Yes, if I have to." The words came out before Nolan could soften them.
Debbie went completely rigid.
"Get out."
Nolan blinked.
"What?"
She pointed toward the door.
"Get out of my house."
Irritation flickered across his face.
Nolan's eyes dropped to her outstretched hand, then rose back to her face.
Something in him went cold and still.
The floor cracked beneath his feet.
Debbie barely had time to raise her arms.
Nolan shot upward.
BOOM!
The living room ceiling exploded.
Wood, plaster, and insulation rained down around Debbie as his body tore through the second floor. The next impact destroyed part of the bedroom above, followed by the roof.
Air rushed through the opening left in the middle of the house.
Papers flew from the table.
Damien's notepad fell open on the floor.
Debbie remained standing amid the wreckage, breathing rapidly, covered in white dust.
Outside, Nolan hovered above the house for a fraction of a second.
Then he saw them.
Across the street, two disguised GDA agents stood near the entrance of the house opposite theirs.
Inside, two men froze in front of the monitors.
Donald stood among them.
The white glow of the portal he had stepped through seconds earlier was still fading behind him.
One of the screens showed the Graysons' destroyed living room.
Another displayed the audio transmission.
Cecil's face occupied a small window in the corner.
Nolan turned his head.
Donald brought a hand to his communicator.
"Sir, he saw us."
Outside, the two disguised agents didn't even have time to draw their weapons.
A blink later, both were already dead in the entryway, discarded like broken dolls.
Inside the house, one agent tried to activate a device on the table.
The other ran for the back door.
The ceiling collapsed before either of them could complete the movement.
Nolan tore through the roof and landed in the middle of the room.
Donald only had time to turn around.
Nolan's fist tore through his chest and hurled him into the monitors.
Glass, blood, and electronic components exploded around his body.
Donald fell in front of the ruined screens.
He didn't move again.
The second agent was thrown into the wall before he could reach the equipment.
The last one reached the back door.
For less than a second.
A hand seized his shoulder before he could complete the step and dragged him back inside.
After that, the house fell silent.
Broken screens spat sparks.
The audio transmission crackled.
Nolan walked through the wreckage.
Camera feeds aimed at his own house. Thermal sensors. A directional receiver capturing vibrations from the living room.
He tore one of the devices from the wall and crushed it between his fingers.
On the cracked monitor, Cecil's image continued flickering at irregular intervals.
Nolan stared at the screen.
"Cecil."
His voice came out low.
The transmission died.
Nolan stepped through the hole in the wall and returned to the street.
Kai wasn't home.
Neither was Mark.
Nolan raised his head.
Looking beyond the streets.
Beyond the cars.
Beyond the city.
He shot into the sky.
The shockwave shattered the windows.
Within seconds, he disappeared into the clouds, searching for his sons.
A Few Minutes Earlier — Outside Chicago
Water vanished over the edge of the mountain, falling dozens of feet before striking the rocks below.
The roar of the waterfall filled the entire valley, drowning out the wind and any noise coming from the distant road. A thin mist rose from below, occasionally reaching the top of the cliff.
Mark and Eve sat near the edge.
Their legs hung over the drop.
Mark was still wearing his Invincible suit, although he had left his mask beside him. Eve rested her arms on her knees, watching the water disappear in front of them.
"She didn't get mad."
Eve looked at him.
Mark continued staring out at the valley.
"When I left in the middle of dinner, Amber didn't complain. Not even when I came back two hours later."
"That sounds like a good thing."
"It wasn't."
He picked up a small stone and threw it into the current. It disappeared before reaching the drop.
"She just went quiet."
Eve waited.
"Then she said she understood." Mark rested his forearms on his legs. "That people needed help and it would be unfair to ask me not to go."
"But?"
"But she spent the rest of the night pretending she wasn't upset."
Eve looked back at the waterfall.
"Maybe she was trying not to make you feel guilty for how she feels."
"I know."
"And maybe that doesn't make her feel any less neglected."
Mark exhaled.
"I know that too."
For a few seconds, only the water spoke for them.
"Before, I used to lie."
Mark ran his hands over his face.
"I'd disappear, make something up, and come back hoping she would believe me. I thought telling her the truth would fix everything."
"It fixed part of it."
"Now she knows exactly why I'm leaving."
Mark lowered his hands.
Eve leaned toward him, trying to comfort him.
"But now she can decide whether she can live with it."
The answer made Mark turn his head.
Eve kept her eyes on the water.
"That isn't very encouraging."
A gust of wind swept Eve's red hair across her face. She brushed the strands aside and tucked some of them behind her ear.
She picked up a stone near her hand and rolled it between her fingers.
"Amber knows you're Invincible. Now she's learning what it's like to date Invincible."
Eve threw the stone.
This time, it passed through the falling water and disappeared into the mist.
Mark remained silent.
"My mom and dad made it work."
Eve tilted her head slightly.
"Debbie and Amber aren't the same person. And you need to accept that Amber might not be able to handle this life the way your mother did."
Mark looked back at the water.
The words struck him harder than anything else Eve had said.
"So I'm just supposed to wait until she gives up?"
"No."
Eve placed her hands against the rock behind her.
"You try."
"That sounds exactly like what we're already doing."
"Then you keep trying."
Mark gave a faint laugh.
"Great plan."
"You talk when things go wrong. You adjust whatever you can. You try not to abandon her, and she tries not to ask you to abandon people who need you."
They both turned back toward the valley.
Mark watched the water plummet and dissolve into mist before reaching the bottom.
"That's easy for you to say."
Eve raised an eyebrow.
"Is it?"
"You and Kai don't have that problem."
She turned fully toward him.
"Me and Kai?"
Mark noticed her reaction.
The confusion wasn't feigned.
She truly hadn't known he knew.
"He told me."
Eve's jaw tensed for a second, her fingers tightening slightly against the stone beneath her hand.
Then she closed her eyes and exhaled through her nose.
"And what did he tell you?"
Mark studied her face. "He didn't give me any details."
She rolled her eyes. "How generous of him."
"So, are you two together?"
Eve rubbed the back of her neck and looked toward the waterfall again before answering. "No. It was more like two wounded animals licking each other's wounds. We agreed not to turn those mistakes into anything more."
Mark nodded slowly.
Then stopped.
"Wait."
Eve didn't react.
"Mistakes?"
"That was a bad metaphor."
"I'm not talking about that. You used the plural." Mark turned his body toward her. "You aren't together, but this happened more than once?"
Eve gave him a flat look.
"It doesn't matter how many times. They were mistakes, and nothing more."
Mark looked out at the valley again.
"Got it."
Eve continued in a lower voice.
"I was in a bad place. So was Kai."
Mark exhaled slowly.
"Doesn't that make things weird between you?"
Eve let out a small laugh.
"You know Kai. He can turn any emotional situation into an offensive joke."
Mark exhaled with half a smile. "That's true."
"If I wanted a relationship, I'd find more emotion in a wall than in him."
Mark laughed briefly, and then they fell silent.
The waterfall's mist rose again, drifting in front of them before disappearing into the wind.
There was no sadness in her. It only seemed like a possibility that had never fully come into existence.
Eve glanced sideways at him. "Aren't you going to say anything?"
"What did you want me to say?"
"I don't know. You're the one who brought it up."
"It was just—"
The communicator sounded, stopping Mark in the middle of his sentence. He answered.
"Invincible."
The voice came through immediately.
"We've got something approaching Earth."
Mark rose to his feet.
"Something?"
"Too large to be space debris and too fast to be a satellite. It's changed direction twice since entering sensor range."
The transmission ended.
Mark picked up the mask beside him.
He put it on.
Mark looked at her.
"Sorry."
"You don't need to apologize to me."
"I know. Force of habit."
She laughed, glancing toward the sky.
"Go save the planet, idiot."
Mark smiled and then shot upward.
The wind from his departure parted the mist around the waterfall and bent the nearby trees. Within seconds, Invincible passed through the clouds.
Eve remained at the edge, watching the blue-and-yellow speck disappear into the sky.
Above her, Mark continued climbing.
The air grew thinner.
The blue sky darkened.
The clouds disappeared beneath his feet.
Outside Earth's Orbit — 1:25 p.m. Chicago Time
The curvature of the Earth filled nearly all of Mark's field of vision when he found the approaching figure.
The broad body.
The single open eye in the center of his face.
The voice entered Mark's mind directly.
"Hello agai—"
"You again?"
Mark charged.
His fist crossed the distance before Allen could finish the sentence.
Allen raised both arms and took the blow. The impact sent them both flying away from Earth's orbit, tumbling among the stars before he managed to stabilize himself.
"Calm down! I didn't come to fight this time!"
Mark kept his fists clenched.
"You didn't?"
Allen pointed toward the Moon.
"Can we talk somewhere? It's urgent!"
A short while later, the two sat at the edge of a lunar crater.
Earth hung before them, blue and silent against the darkness.
Mark looked at Allen.
"Well?"
Allen rested his arms on his knees. His voice continued echoing directly inside Mark's mind.
"There's a Viltrumite living on Earth. You're in danger."
Mark remained silent for a moment.
Then he let out a confused laugh.
"I know."
Allen turned toward him.
"You know?"
"Actually, there are three."
Allen's eye widened.
"Three?"
"Me, my father, and my brother."
Allen stood so quickly that he sent a small cloud of lunar dust into the air.
"You're a Viltrumite?"
"Half."
Mark pointed at himself.
"My brother is too. My father is the Viltrumite."
Allen didn't look away.
"And you aren't on their side?"
Mark frowned.
"Who do you mean by 'them'?"
"The Viltrumites."
"I don't even know any besides my family."
Allen began pacing along the edge of the crater, trying to process what he had just heard.
"This is worse than I thought."
"Why? The three of us are heroes, and we protect Earth. That's why I came up here when they told me something was approaching."
Allen stopped in front of him.
"Viltrumites aren't heroes, Invincible."
Mark's expression changed.
Allen continued, "Protecting planets? That isn't what the Viltrum Empire does."
Allen pointed toward Earth.
"They conquer them."
Mark rose to his feet.
"What?"
While the Conversation Took Place Outside Earth's Orbit — On Earth, Remote Area — 1:30 p.m.
Nolan cut through the sky, his eyes sweeping over roads, cities, and forests while his ears separated thousands of sounds below him.
No sign of Mark.
No sign of Kai.
Then he heard something else.
A mechanical sound, moving too quickly to be coming from the ground.
Nolan stopped.
Three bodies struck him at once.
The first seized his right arm. The second wrapped itself around his left, while the third slammed into his back and locked its arms around his neck.
The impact dragged all four of them across the sky.
Nolan tried to stabilize himself, but the creatures kept pressing against him. Dead muscles contracted beneath metal plates, wires pierced their skin, and steel supports reinforced exposed bones.
All three changed direction together.
Nolan was hurled into the ground.
BOOM!
The earth split open beneath the impact.
Nearby trees bent, and a cloud of dust rose above the empty field.
The ReAnimen, creatures that were half human and half machine, continued holding Nolan at the bottom of the crater.
A white light appeared near the edge.
Cecil emerged with his hands in his coat pockets.
He looked down at Nolan, trapped beneath the three bodies.
"Why did you kill people who fought beside you, Nolan? Help me understand."
Nolan raised his head.
Dust drifted through the air around him.
"What the hell are these things?"
Cecil watched one of the ReAnimen tighten its grip on Nolan's arm.
"Dead soldiers."
Nolan's gaze swept over the deformed faces.
"Serving their country one last time."
Irritation crossed his expression.
Nolan forced his arms apart.
All three ReAnimen were ripped away from his body.
One flew across the crater and landed in the field. Another struck a tree, snapping the trunk. The third was thrown several yards into the air.
Nolan stood.
The first was already charging again.
He took the blow to the face without moving his feet.
The ReAniman continued pressing against him, the pistons implanted in its arms increasing the force until the ground cracked beneath Nolan.
The second came from the side.
Nolan blocked its fist, but the third dropped onto his back and locked its arms around his neck again.
For several seconds, the three managed to hold him in place.
Nolan's attention shifted back to Cecil.
"Is that all?"
Then he seized the head of the ReAniman in front of him.
He twisted his body.
CRACK!
The head separated from the neck.
Wires, metal, and dead tissue were torn away with it. The body continued trying to strike him even as Nolan held its head in his hand.
He threw it aside.
The second ReAniman charged.
Nolan took the punch, grabbed the creature's face, and closed his fingers.
The skull collapsed inside his hand.
Dark blood and metal fragments escaped between his fingers.
The body fell.
The third remained attached to his back.
Nolan grabbed both arms encircling his neck and pulled.
The creature was thrown over him.
Before it could hit the ground, Nolan grabbed one of its legs and slammed its body against the earth.
Once.
Twice.
On the third impact, its torso split open.
Cables and preserved organs were exposed inside the metal framework. The ReAniman still tried to crawl toward him.
Nolan stepped onto its back.
He tore out one of the metal probes connected to the base of its spine and examined it for a moment.
Then he drove it into the open cavity in its body.
The creature convulsed.
Its movements stopped.
Nolan released the probe and looked back at Cecil.
Pentagon — GDA Base
No one in the command room spoke.
The images from the field filled the main monitor.
Some of the operators had looked away when Nolan crushed the second ReAniman's skull. Others continued watching, pale, as the three creatures' artificial vital signs disappeared one after another.
Debbie stood between two GDA agents.
There was still white dust in her hair and on her clothes. A GDA team had removed her from the house only minutes after Nolan's departure and brought her directly to the base.
She kept her eyes on the screen.
The man who had torn through the ceiling of her home now stood surrounded by the destroyed bodies of three people who had already died once.
D.A. Sinclair stood in front of another station.
"No."
The ReAnimen's readings turned red.
"No, no, no."
The final transmission disappeared.
Sinclair slammed both hands against the desk.
"They were working!"
One of the scientists backed away.
Sinclair's eyes locked onto the wreckage on the monitor.
"You can't throw three prototypes at him without giving me time to make adjustments!"
He grabbed the keyboard and smashed it against the desk.
The frame broke apart.
Two agents approached him.
Sinclair tried to shove the first one away.
"Don't touch me."
The agents grabbed his arms.
Sinclair continued protesting as they dragged him out of the room.
The door closed behind him.
Debbie looked at Cecil on the monitor.
In the field, Nolan was advancing toward Cecil.
His fist came directly at Cecil's face.
A white light enveloped the GDA director.
He disappeared.
The blow passed through empty space and Cecil appeared in the center of the command room.
The teleportation nearly knocked him off balance. He took a step back, regained his footing, and Cecil's attention snapped back to the screen.
Nolan hovered above the crater, searching for him.
Cecil adjusted his coat.
"Release the creature."
Debbie couldn't tear her eyes from the screen.
Cecil repeated, "Release Hail Mary."
Several commands were activated.
Red lights came on inside another facility.
Hydraulic locks began to open.
Nolan shot back into the sky.
Cecil had disappeared.
Mark and Kai were still somewhere out there.
He tore through the clouds, accelerating until the landscape below became nothing more than a blur of green and gray.
A roar ripped through the air.
Nolan slowed down.
The forest below exploded.
Trees were torn from the ground as a gigantic creature emerged among them. Its deformed body rose above the canopy, covered in plates of hardened flesh and old scars.
Several tentacles unfurled around its head.
Nolan recognized the monster.
One of the tentacles pierced the clouds.
It struck Nolan in the chest.
The impact hurled him into the ground.
He tore through trees, rock, and earth before stopping at the center of a crater.
The creature advanced, making the ground tremble with every step.
Nolan rose amid the wreckage.
He looked up at the monster, jaw tight with irritation.
"What the hell?"
Another roar shook the forest.
"I already beat you."
The tentacles rose again.
Nolan clenched his fists.
Chicago Central Hospital
Cosmic crossed the room for the third time in less than a minute.
Elise remained reclined in the bed, one hand resting on her belly and the other holding the control that adjusted the mattress's incline. The monitors recorded her heartbeat and the baby's, both stable despite the contractions beginning to come closer together.
Kai sat near the window.
"You're going to wear a hole in the floor."
Cosmic stopped.
"There is energy inside her body."
"We already knew that."
"We don't know how she will react during the birth."
Elise exhaled as another contraction began.
"He's worried the baby might explode."
"I didn't say that."
Cosmic looked back at the monitors.
"If she releases energy while still connected to you, your body could be injured."
Elise closed her eyes for a few seconds, waiting for the contraction to pass.
"Then it's a good thing we're in a hospital full of strangely well-paid doctors."
Kai smiled.
"She's handling this better than you are."
The television mounted on the wall interrupted its regular programming.
An aerial image showed a forest being destroyed as a gigantic creature struck Omni-Man with several tentacles. The impact sent Nolan tearing through the ground and opened a crater visible even from a distance.
CREATURE ATTACK — LIVE COVERAGE
Kai stood.
"What perfect timing."
Elise opened her eyes and saw the creature advancing on Omni-Man.
Kai reached for his communicator.
Then realized he had forgotten to grab it before leaving to accompany Cosmic and Elise.
On the television, the kaiju struck Nolan again.
Cosmic watched the footage for several seconds.
Then he looked at Kai.
"Go."
Kai frowned.
"No way."
Cosmic gripped the side of Elise's bed. "If that thing reaches the city, a lot of people will die."
Kai stared at him for a moment and then nodded.
He moved toward the window.
"Kai."
He stopped with his hand on the latch.
Cosmic remained beside Elise.
"Don't use the Void."
Kai looked over his shoulder.
"A month ago, you aggravated one of the old scars in your brain."
The television showed Nolan being struck again and tearing through another section of the forest.
"I'm only going to help him bring that thing down."
Kai opened the hospital room window.
Wind rushed inside, stirring the curtains.
"I'll be back before she's born."
Then he shot into the sky.
Cosmic watched the trail disappear.
Elise squeezed his hand as another contraction began.
Remote Area — 1:42 p.m.
Kai found the creature before he found Nolan.
It was impossible not to.
Its head alone was nearly fifty feet wide, broad on either side like a hammerhead. Olive-green plates covered the upper portion of its body, while the exposed flesh beneath them held a reddish-orange hue.
Tentacles writhed inside the opening that served as its mouth.
To any camera or person watching from a distance, it had no eyes.
The Six Eyes saw something different.
Behind the layers of armored flesh, protected within the broad structure of its head, two black points tracked Kai's approach.
He slowed down.
The memory returned in full.
The crushing pressure of the depths.
The complete absence of light.
A shadow too large to be given any ordinary name.
Five seconds in which black eyes stared into his blue ones before the creature turned and disappeared into the ocean.
You.
The abyss that had stared back.
The creature was different now.
Scars ran across its natural armor. Parts of its body had been cut open and sealed again unevenly. Metal structures remained buried near its spine, sending artificial impulses through its nervous system.
It hadn't merely survived its fight with Nolan.
Someone had modified its body.
One of the tentacles struck Omni-Man and hurled him into the ground again.
Kai glanced toward Chicago.
Elise could go into labor at any moment.
I need to end this quickly.
He charged.
The same tentacle that had struck Nolan rose to attack again. The Six Eyes tracked the contraction of the muscles beneath its flesh, the displacement of the air, and the artificial impulse traveling through the implants near its spine.
Kai reached the appendage before the movement could be completed.
His shoulder slammed into its side.
BOOM!
The tentacle was knocked off course and tore through a row of trees.
Nolan emerged from the crater at the same moment.
He didn't ask why Kai was there.
He simply took advantage of the opening.
Omni-Man shot toward the creature's chest and struck it with both fists. The impact forced the colossal body backward, carving deep trenches through the ground.
Kai appeared above its head.
The creature opened its mouth, and smaller tentacles surged out from within.
Kai slipped between the first two, twisted beneath the third, and drove his heel into the underside of its jaw.
The creature's head snapped upward.
Nolan appeared on the other side and struck the side of its neck.
The kaiju lost its balance for a moment.
One of its legs sank into the ground.
Then the creature stabilized itself again.
Kai retreated several feet through the air.
Even the two of them attacking together hadn't been enough to bring it down.
If brute force isn't working...
A blue pulse ran through the depths of his eyes.
The space around the nearest tentacle warped for a fraction of a second. The appendage was pulled out of its path before it could strike Nolan.
Omni-Man looked at Kai.
The surprise lasted only a moment, but it was there.
Kai was already charging again.
Nolan followed.
The two attacked from opposite sides.
"MURDERER!"
The voice tore across the sky.
A figure appeared above the clouds and crashed down onto Nolan before he could reach the creature.
The impact opened another crater.
Kai stopped in midair.
The blue-and-yellow uniform.
The face he had seen dead in the GDA recordings.
The Immortal grabbed Nolan by the front of his uniform and struck him in the face.
"You killed all of them!"
Nolan grabbed his wrist.
The Immortal pulled his other arm back, preparing another blow.
One of the kaiju's tentacles descended toward them.
Kai crossed the distance.
He slipped between them and caught the Immortal's fist only inches from Nolan's face.
The hero's eyes turned toward him.
Filled with rage.
"Get out of the way!"
Kai's eyes cut to the approaching creature, then to the Immortal
"I don't have time for this."
His fist struck the center of the hero's chest.
Kai was still holding his other arm when he rose several feet from the ground and struck him again, this time with enough force to send him tearing free from his grip.
The Immortal was hurled into the forest.
He tore through several trees before striking the ground and opening a crater among the destroyed roots.
His body remained motionless at the bottom.
Kai didn't stay to watch.
He immediately turned back toward Hail Mary.
Nolan rose behind him, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.
The creature roared.
The sound tore through the forest and made the ground tremble.
Kai looked at his father.
Nolan's gaze lingered on the crater where the Immortal had fallen. He didn't show nearly enough surprise for someone who had just seen a dead man return to life and call him a murderer.
"First, we finish this thing."
Nolan looked back at the kaiju.
"Then we talk."
The creature's tentacles rose around its head.
Pentagon — GDA Base
Debbie pressed a fist against her lips.
The main monitor replayed the moment Kai intercepted the Immortal.
The shout had come through the speakers before the impact.
Murderer.
The Immortal had attacked Nolan.
Kai had stopped him without hesitation.
Then came a single punch.
And the body disappeared into the forest.
Debbie didn't know what her son had seen when he arrived.
She didn't know whether he had heard the entire accusation.
She could only think about Damien's notes.
The suspicion surrounding Kai.
The way Nolan always seemed to understand that side of him better than anyone else.
And now Kai stood between Nolan and someone who had called him a murderer.
"He didn't know."
Her voice came out almost inaudibly.
Cecil remained in front of the monitors.
Another transmission appeared on the screen to the side.
Guardians of the Globe Headquarters
The new Guardians watched the same footage.
Black Samson stood at the front of the group. Behind him, Rex Splode, Frost, Dupli-Kate, Monster Girl, Shrinking Rae, and Rudy stood before the large screen. Robot's armor remained beside Rudy.
Samson spoke first.
"Cecil, authorize us to deploy."
Cecil's image appeared in a window in the corner of the screen.
"Denied."
Rex pointed at the broadcast.
"Omni-Man is fighting a giant monster."
Frost crossed her arms.
"That sounds exactly like the kind of situation a team of heroes exists for."
"You stay where you are," Cecil replied.
Monster Girl stepped forward.
"Until when?"
"Until we know who you would be fighting."
Silence fell over the group.
Dupli-Kate looked back at the image of Infinity standing beside Omni-Man.
Robot was the first to put the conclusion into words.
"You believe Omni-Man may be hostile."
No one answered.
Rex let his arms fall to his sides.
"We're so fucked."
Frost kept her eyes fixed on the screen.
"Even more so if Infinity is on his side."
Rae turned toward her.
"We helped him only a few days ago. And now he just took down the Zombie Immortal to protect Omni-Man, who is supposedly our enemy?"
"He might not know what's happening," Frost countered.
Black Samson didn't take his eyes off the footage.
"That's why we need to be there."
Cecil kept his voice firm.
"No. If the creature fails, you will be the last line of defense."
Rex exhaled.
"Great. I preferred it when the problem was the kid with my face."
Robot's armor continued processing the data.
"If Omni-Man defeated the former Guardians alone, our probability of success is minimal."
Frost looked at him.
"Thanks for the encouragement."
Cecil's transmission ended.
None of them left the room.
Pentagon — GDA Base
Debbie continued watching Kai.
On the screen, he and Nolan stood side by side before the creature.
"The creature will succeed," said Cecil. "We perfected it using everything we learned from studying the Ego of a young man."
"What if Kai chooses Nolan?"
Cecil didn't turn toward her.
"Then the creature has two targets."
Debbie looked at him.
"You're using that thing to kill my husband and my son?"
"I'm using it to protect Earth."
On the broadcast, the creature charged.
Meanwhile — Remote Area
The kaiju attacked Kai and Nolan at the same time, its tentacles surging forward.
Kai saw all of them before they completed their first movement.
The Six Eyes separated every trajectory, the contractions of the muscles beneath the armored flesh, and the artificial impulses traveling through the structures attached to the creature's spine.
Three were coming for him.
The fourth was targeting Nolan from his blind side.
Kai dove beneath the first, twisted between the other two, and slammed his shoulder into the tentacle meant for his father. The appendage changed direction and tore through a row of trees.
Nolan noticed the interception.
There was no gratitude.
Only a brief, satisfied look before he grabbed the tentacle coming toward his own chest.
His feet sank into the ground.
The creature pulled.
Nolan didn't move.
He held on with both hands, twisted his body, and dragged the kaiju sideways. Its enormous legs lost their footing, destroying the forest as they struggled to regain their balance.
"Kai."
He didn't need to say anything else.
Kai was already moving.
The creature opened its mouth, and the smaller tentacles shot out from within. Kai dodged the first by inches, blocked the second with his forearm, and passed between the others without losing speed.
It was the same rhythm as their training sessions.
Nolan created the opening.
Kai entered before it disappeared.
The kaiju turned its head to follow him.
Nolan pulled the tentacle again.
The creature's neck was forced sideways.
Kai drove both feet into the underside of its jaw.
The impact lifted the colossal head, but it wasn't enough to bring it down.
Another tentacle came from behind.
Kai tilted his body at the last instant.
The tip passed over his hair and struck the creature's own face.
Nolan released the appendage he was holding and charged.
His shoulder struck the center of the kaiju's chest.
The gigantic mass staggered several yards backward, carving deep trenches through the ground.
The creature roared and struck with two legs at once.
Nolan caught one.
Kai intercepted the other.
The force drove both of them toward the ground, but neither gave way.
Kai twisted beneath the leg and struck the joint with his elbow. The limb buckled. Nolan took advantage of the shift in weight and tore the other leg from the ground, causing the kaiju to topple onto its side.
Its body crashed into the forest.
BOOM!
Trees disappeared beneath the olive-green plates.
Kai rose before the creature could begin standing again.
His eyes pierced through the outer layers.
Flesh.
Armored plates.
Implants.
The creature turned toward him.
Its mouth opened.
Kai dodged the first tentacle, but the second forced him to change direction. The third passed beneath his feet.
Nolan appeared from the side and struck the creature again.
The blow twisted the colossal head around.
It didn't bring it down.
Kai felt another pulse behind his eyes.
This time, the pain reached inside his skull.
Cosmic's warning passed through his mind.
If the pain returns, fall back.
Kai glanced toward Chicago.
He had promised to return before Elise gave birth.
Hail Mary regained its balance.
The implants attached to its spine sent another impulse through its body, forcing damaged muscles to contract again.
A distortion passed through Kai's perception.
Viktor was there.
Leaning against the air beside him, arms crossed, wearing that same irritating smile as always.
"If you want to finish something that size quickly, you'll have to use your version of Wind Blast."
Kai tried to ignore him. He knew Viktor becoming this present was a sign that he shouldn't use the Void.
Even so...
Kai closed his hand.
"If it doesn't have a weak point..."
Red energy began gathering around his fist.
"Then I'll make one."
Kai charged.
A tentacle crossed his path.
He slipped beneath it.
Another tried to close the space from the right.
Kai passed over it.
The creature raised its remaining leg.
The Six Eyes revealed the interval between the movement and the impact.
Kai passed through before it could close the opening.
His fist connected.
In the millisecond of contact, Red expanded.
BOOM!
Reality seemed to explode outward.
The armored plate shattered. Flesh and green fragments were hurled through the air as a cavity opened at the base of the creature's neck.
The kaiju let out a guttural bellow.
Kai was thrown backward by his own repulsion.
He spun through the air and regained control before striking the ground.
The horizon continued spinning.
For only a fraction of a second, there were two creatures in front of him.
Two forests.
Two silhouettes of Nolan moving in the same direction.
Kai blinked, bringing two fingers to his head.
The images overlapped again.
A burning sensation passed through the depths of his eyes and reached the scar inside his skull.
The sound of the roar reached him late.
Then vanished completely.
Nolan examined the open wound. Trying to figure how that punch had pierced protection that had withstood his own blows.
Kai lowered his hand from his head.
A small smile appeared on his face.
It didn't seem connected to the pain.
Or to the monster.
It disappeared before Nolan could understand it.
Omni-Man didn't ask.
He charged.
The kaiju tried to cover the opening with a tentacle.
Kai intercepted the movement, grabbed the appendage, and pulled it aside.
Nolan tore through the wound.
His body disappeared inside the creature.
The roar was cut off.
A moment later, Omni-Man burst through the other side of its neck in an explosion of blood, flesh, and metal fragments.
The GDA implants shattered along with its spine.
Artificial impulses continued traveling through the body for several seconds.
One leg tried to move.
The tentacles rose without direction.
Then lost their strength.
The colossal head fell first.
The impact sent a wave of earth rolling through the forest.
The rest of the body collapsed soon afterward.
BOOM!
Kai hovered above the destroyed trees.
Nolan remained on the other side of the creature, covered in the monster's dark blood.
The two stared at the body.
No movement.
No new impulses through its nerves.
Hail Mary was dead.
Wind swept through the devastated area, carrying dust and leaves between father and son.
Kai continued staring at the corpse.
The burning behind his eyes returned.
For a moment, he couldn't remember whether he had left the hospital a few minutes ago or several hours ago.
The image of Elise lying in the bed appeared in his mind.
Then disappeared.
Kai blinked and looked at Nolan.
The difficult part was over.
Now he had to understand why the Immortal, who was supposed to be dead, had called Nolan a murderer.
Kai's head tilted a few degrees to the side.
The gesture resembled Viktor whenever he observed something he considered obvious.
Then came the silence.
Kai landed near the creature and turned toward the direction in which he had thrown the Immortal.
The body still lay at the bottom of the crater.
"Why did he call you a murderer?"
Nolan didn't try to change the subject.
He merely stood there, watching his son before answering without ceremony.
"Because I killed the Guardians of the Globe."
Kai didn't move.
There was no change in his expression.
No immediate question.
Even so, something tightened inside his chest.
The pain that had begun during the fight pulsed behind his eyes again.
Stronger.
Cecil's questions.
Everything fell into place too quickly.
"Why?"
Nolan looked around.
The destroyed forest.
The creature's corpse.
The craters left by the battle.
When he looked at Kai again, his voice was calm.
"Because I have a mission here on Earth."
Kai remained silent.
"I already told you and your brother that I was born on Viltrum. An empire built by the most advanced civilization in the universe."
Nolan wiped the blood from his face with the back of his hand.
"For thousands of years, we have expanded our influence to other worlds. We have brought order, technology, and stability to civilizations incapable of achieving those things on their own."
Kai thought about Cecil's words.
If Nolan ever became an enemy, what would you do?
The question no longer seemed so hypothetical.
"You were sent to conquer Earth."
"To prepare it."
"What's the difference?"
"Conquer is a word used by those incapable of understanding what they will receive in return."
A voice emerged behind Kai.
"It always starts out well."
Viktor sat atop one of the kaiju's shattered plates, his legs swinging above the blood.
His old uniform was clean.
So was his face.
He smiled when Kai glanced sideways.
"Let's hear the part where massacring your friends becomes a good thing."
Nolan continued.
"Look at this planet, Kai. Humans divide their own land with imaginary lines and treat anyone born on the other side as an enemy."
He pointed toward the horizon.
"On the right side of the line, people starve to death. On the left, useless men possess more food, money, and resources than they could consume in an entire lifetime."
Kai knew it was true.
He had seen it in both lives. Entire neighborhoods left abandoned while other people spent fortunes on narratives and absurd schemes to remain in power.
Nolan opened his hands.
"They call that civilization."
Another figure appeared beside Kai.
The same face.
The same white hair.
But the eyes were far too blue.
The other Kai watched Nolan with interest.
"He isn't wrong."
Viktor leaned forward.
"He has a point. But he still killed the Guardians."
"Humanity is incapable of governing itself," Nolan continued. "They waste resources."
The blue-eyed Kai walked slowly around the original.
"How many times have you thought about it?"
Kai didn't answer.
"How many times have you looked at this world and seen nothing but garbage?"
There was no anger in the voice.
Only cold certainty.
Nolan took a step toward his son.
"Viltrum would put an end to this madness."
Images passed through Kai's mind.
Politicians smiling in front of cameras while supporting organized crime behind the scenes.
People who only cared when suffering reached their own doorstep.
Kai looked at his father.
Viktor gave a short laugh.
"You don't want to stand against your father, do you?"
The other Kai stopped beside Nolan.
Kai discreetly tightened his fingers.
Nolan pressed on. "I have spent years here saving people incapable of saving themselves. Watching them repeat the same mistakes. If we weren't here, they would all be dead already."
He spread his arms toward the destruction surrounding them.
"Our purpose is to save those who deserve to live."
The sentence found something inside Kai.
Something old.
Something tired.
Viktor looked at him.
"Deep down, we know he's right."
The blue-eyed Kai smiled.
"More than you want to admit."
Nolan pointed toward Hail Mary.
"Look at what they did. They brought a monster they couldn't defeat back to life just so they could control it."
Kai looked at the creature.
A threat that, even if the humans managed to stop it on their own, would leave destroyed cities filled with innocent people.
Silence returned for a moment.
"You aren't human, Kai."
The words brought no surprise.
Nolan's voice hardened.
"You live among them. You may even care about some of them. But you are not the same as they are."
Debbie appeared in Kai's mind. Then Elise, Cassie, Kiana, Eve, Jenny and Viktor, before he had become nothing more than a figure no one else could see.
"You will watch all of them grow old."
Nolan didn't look away.
"You will watch cities be built and destroyed. In a few decades, almost no one you know will still be alive."
The blue-eyed Kai moved closer.
Kai felt a stab of pain behind his eyes.
The light reflected from the creature's plates seemed brighter.
The edges of his vision began to tremble.
Viktor appeared on the other side. "He's right. But what are you going to do? Will Mark accept this?"
Nolan's voice blended in as if he had heard the question from the ghost inside Kai's mind.
"You must understand what I'm telling you. Then we'll explain it to Mark. He may be frightened at first, but he'll understand too."
Kai tried to imagine Mark hearing all of it.
Tried to imagine his brother accepting it.
Viktor added, "Then again... he always wanted to be like Dad."
Nolan continued. "If you believe you must defend humanity, then listen to what I'm telling you: Viltrum will benefit it."
The words blended with the other voices inside Kai's head.
"A world without hunger."
"Without inequality."
"Order."
"Control."
"Purpose."
Kai felt the pressure inside his head increase.
Outwardly, he showed nothing.
He stood before Nolan with his arms relaxed, listening as though this were merely another conversation.
Inside, three voices fought over every sentence.
The brown-eyed Kai remembered Debbie fixing his hair at the hospital.
The blue-eyed Kai saw an empire capable of solving the problems he despised.
Viktor smiled as though he already knew Kai should accept, but was waiting for him to make the choice aloud.
Kai looked at his father again.
"And Debbie?" Despite remaining calm, his voice seemed to change with every syllable, as though more than one person were speaking at the same time.
The question was simple.
Nolan hesitated for only a moment.
"We've already had this conversation. Amber, Kiana, Debbie... It doesn't matter."
The world grew quieter.
All the voices disappeared.
Nolan continued with the same coldness.
"Five hundred years from now, they won't be here anymore. To us, they are like pets."
Kai looked toward the blue-eyed figure beside him.
Its smile had disappeared.
Not because it disagreed with Nolan.
Because it realized what would come next.
Viktor appeared between them, one hand in his pocket while a finger on the other cleaned his ear.
"I was with him up until that part..." He looked at the finger he had pulled from his ear, then stared at the real Kai. "It's time to switch who's behind the wheel."
The pain tore through Kai's head even more violently.
It didn't come like a blow.
It came like a door opening.
The tension disappeared from his shoulders.
His fingers stopped tightening.
His breathing slowed.
When Kai looked at Nolan again, his posture had changed.
Relaxed.
Almost lazy.
There was something of Viktor's confidence in the way he tilted his head.
But without the warmth.
It was mixed with the other Kai's arrogance.
Cold.
He swept his eyes over the destruction around them before returning his attention to his father.
"It finally hit me. At Rock Cliff, you really did try to kill us with one of your tests, didn't you?"
Nolan raised his hands, gesturing as he tried to justify himself.
"That was a mistake."
"A mistake?"
"I believed you already had powers back then."
Kai raised a hand to his mask.
His fingers slowly traced its side.
"Yeah."
He removed it, tilting his head back with his eyes closed.
His white hair fell across his forehead.
He lowered his head and slowly opened his eyes.
Blue consumed almost the entire iris, too deep to appear human, filled with layers that seemed to continue far beyond the eyeball.
Kai let out a low laugh.
Mocking.
"You were right."
Nolan narrowed his eyes, finally noticing that something was wrong.
For the first time, he truly looked at what his son had always hidden.
Nolan's fists closed.
"What do you mean by that? What is that in your eyes?"
Kai ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back.
The gesture seemed out of place beside the colossal corpse.
"This fucking mask."
He examined the fabric between his fingers as though he had forgotten why he was still carrying it.
"I missed watching people tremble when they looked into my eyes."
Nolan shifted his footing slightly.
Kai let the mask fall.
"It's not that I disagree with what you said."
The mask touched the ground.
"Humans are petty. They waste everything they have. They let people die and then call it a system."
He took a step forward.
"Having Earth ruled by an outsider strong enough to stop all of that almost sounds like a good idea."
Nolan didn't relax.
Kai smiled.
"But what you said about Mom..."
The expression disappeared.
"I can't do that."
The air around him seemed to grow heavier.
"I can't stand beside a son of a bitch who tells me something like that."
Nolan remained motionless.
Father and son stared at each other.
Kai slowly spread his arms, wearing a smile that suited neither him nor the moment.
"So let's find out which one of us is stronger."
Elsewhere — Earth's Orbit
Mark left the Moon behind and touched his communicator as he accelerated toward Earth.
"I handled the problem in orbit. Where's my brother?"
"Now that you're finished, come to the GDA base," Cecil replied.
A brief pause followed.
"Your mother is here with us."
Mark looked toward the still-distant planet.
Something was wrong.
"Cecil, where is he?"
The transmission remained silent.
Mark ended the call and accelerated. Without coordinates, he would have to find Kai on his own.
Earth grew before him.
Back in Earth's Remote Area
Nolan moved first.
The ground exploded beneath his feet.
His fist passed through the space where Kai's head had been.
Kai tilted his face only a few inches.
The pressure from the blow passed across his cheek and opened a corridor through the trees behind him, but he didn't retreat.
Kai's fist buried itself in Nolan's stomach.
BOOM!
Omni-Man doubled over.
Kai twisted and cracked the back of his hand across his face.
Nolan was hurled into Hail Mary's carcass. The monster's plates caved in beneath his back, preventing the impact from carrying him beyond the destroyed area.
Kai remained standing where he was.
His shoulders relaxed.
A faint smile touched the corner of his mouth.
His blue eyes followed Nolan as he emerged from the creature's remains.
"I was different from the moment I was born."
Nolan charged again.
This time, he changed direction in the middle of his advance, passed beside Kai, and appeared above him.
His fist descended.
Kai had already moved.
Not far.
Only outside the exact point of impact.
The blow struck the ground and opened a crater.
Kai descended with him, stepped on Nolan's extended arm, and drove his knee into his chin.
"I carry power and memories no one understands."
Nolan tore through the edge of the crater.
Kai followed.
For a moment, the way he flew changed. His body abandoned its economical movements and adopted an almost theatrical confidence. He spun through the air unnecessarily, spread his arms before attacking, and struck Nolan in the chest with a kick.
Omni-Man returned to the ground.
Kai landed in front of him as though presenting himself to an audience.
Then his expression emptied.
His posture remained relaxed, but the smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
Nolan noticed.
"There's something wrong with you."
Kai tilted his head.
"There's something wrong with everything."
Nolan attacked with a combination.
Right.
Left.
Elbow.
Knee.
The Six Eyes separated the movements before they could be completed. Muscular contractions, changes in airflow, and minute shifts in weight distribution revealed every trajectory.
Kai didn't need to receive the blows through Mugen.
He knew Nolan's strength would drain too much energy if the barrier had to stop a full impact.
Instead, he made the space around his body work together with his evasions.
When the first fist approached, the distance in front of Kai's face lengthened for a fraction of a second. The blow lost several inches of reach.
Kai leaned backward.
The second came from the side.
Mugen pushed its trajectory upward, turning a direct strike into something that passed over his shoulder.
Kai entered through the opening and drove a fist into Nolan's ribs.
The following elbow was redirected outward.
Kai responded with a palm strike to the ear.
Nolan tried to drive his knee into Kai's abdomen.
The space between them tilted the movement to the side.
Kai grabbed his leg and threw him into Hail Mary's body.
Every time Nolan missed, a strike came back.
Never enough to end the fight.
Just enough to show oneself as superior.
Nolan broke through one of the creature's plates and returned with his face covered in the monster's blood.
Kai waited for him.
"All this time, I suspected you."
Nolan didn't respond.
He accelerated.
Kai remained still until the fist approached his face.
Space ceased to have an end.
Nolan's arm continued moving forward, but his fist stopped only inches from Kai's skin. There was no visible barrier between them.
Only a distance dividing itself infinitely.
Nolan's eyes narrowed.
Kai placed two fingers against his chest.
A red pulse appeared at the point of contact.
BOOM!
Omni-Man was hurled backward and tore through two of Hail Mary's plates before disappearing inside the corpse.
Kai remained with his hand extended.
"You should have killed me at Rock Cliff."
Nolan tore out through the other side of the creature's body.
This time, he didn't attack immediately.
He observed the blue eyes.
The unconcerned posture.
Something seemed to be preventing his fist from reaching his son's face.
"What are you?"
Kai smiled.
"I'm the strongest in this world."
Nolan disappeared.
The sound came afterward.
He appeared behind Kai and tried to seize his arm.
Kai allowed him to come close.
He turned and cracked a fist across Nolan's nose.
The second blow hit his liver.
The third, his throat.
Nolan tried to use the proximity to grab him around the waist, but Kai's body seemed to move farther away than its position should have allowed.
His hands closed around empty space.
Kai's palm cracked against Nolan's chest.
Omni-Man was hurled toward the horizon.
Before he could leave the devastated region, Kai appeared above him and drove both feet into his back.
His trajectory changed.
Nolan fell onto Hail Mary again.
Kai didn't allow the fight to leave that location.
Whenever his father tried to gain altitude, he attacked him from above and drove him downward.
When Nolan tried to throw him toward a city, Kai altered his own position and redirected the force toward the center of the destroyed forest.
Even the blows that missed were directed toward craters, the kaiju's corpse, or areas that had already been devastated.
No buildings.
No roads.
No people.
Nolan emerged from the earth and struck Kai with an arcing blow.
Mugen redirected the fist a few inches downward.
Kai rested one hand on Nolan's arm and rotated around the strike.
"I should have learned how to use this sooner. It's easy. Just don't let the blow land directly."
A slap cracked across Omni-Man's face.
It caused almost no damage.
Even so, Nolan stopped.
"Now that I understand it, you'll never touch me."
Kai smiled in front of him.
Nolan threw another punch.
"Arrogant!"
Kai moved his face aside.
The fist passed him.
Another slap landed in the same spot.
"Missed again. Don't you realize my gaze pierces time and space?"
Nolan's jaw tightened.
"Have you lost your mind?"
He unleashed a series of blows without attempting to conceal his intentions.
Kai walked between them.
One step to the left.
His body leaning backward.
A short turn.
The edge of a fist passed within millimeters of his nose.
Kai answered with a gut punch.
The next elbow missed.
Kai cracked him across the jaw.
Nolan tried to grab his neck.
Mugen redirected the hand.
Kai drove his knee into Nolan's chest.
Omni-Man kept swinging.
Kai answered every mistake with punishment.
"My eyes are infinity." His voice came out as a whisper, only confirming that he was completely out of his mind.
Nolan brought both joined fists down.
Kai raised one hand.
Mugen didn't receive the impact.
Space opened in opposite directions, just enough for Kai to move backward and make the fists strike the ground at two different points.
Kai remained untouched.
His voice sounded as though it didn't belong to him.
"Nothing can stop me."
His palm cracked against Nolan's chin.
Nolan was launched upward.
Kai appeared above him and drove his elbow into his chest.
Omni-Man fell again.
The forest trembled.
Pentagon — Underground GDA Base
The cameras lost track of them every time they accelerated.
The sensors showed Nolan attacking repeatedly, but none of his blows completed their path.
Omni-Man's fist approached Kai.
Shifted a few inches off course.
Passed beside him.
Kai counterattacked.
Cecil kept his eyes on the screen.
Debbie's eyes stayed fixed on her son in the broadcast.
His posture changed from one attack to the next. At times, he seemed mocking, almost as though he were playing with Nolan. The next moment, his face would become completely empty and his movements would turn mechanical.
His statements didn't seem to belong to the same conversation either.
One was about Rock Cliff.
Another about his memories.
Then he declared himself the strongest in the world as though nothing else existed.
Debbie pointed at the image.
"That isn't Kai. He isn't talking to Nolan. What's happening, Cecil?"
Kai dodged another blow and smiled at something the cameras couldn't see.
Cecil spoke without taking his eyes off the screen.
"It looks like he's talking to himself."
One of the analysts pulled up the images from Kai's examinations.
"Sir, last month's scans already showed that he had scarring in his brain. The stress and energy use against the kaiju must have worsened the microlesions in the amygdala and temporoparietal junction."
"In English."
"Kai's brain is physically failing to process reality and his energy at the same time."
Debbie took a step toward Cecil.
"Scars? Energy? What are you hiding about my son, Cecil?"
The GDA's energy readings fluctuated.
"You should sit down. But the brief version is that the doctors said the energy inside him was damaging his brain." Cecil watched Kai strike Nolan again. "Now we have some idea of what that means."
Guardians of the Globe Headquarters
Rex remained in front of the large screen.
"How many times has Omni-Man hit him?"
Robot answered immediately.
"None."
Rex turned toward him.
"Not even once?"
"Not so far."
Frost followed Infinity as he dodged another attack and strike Omni-Man at the same instant.
"He could have ended this when Omni-Man fell the first time."
Monster Girl crossed her arms.
"Maybe he doesn't want to kill his own father."
Dupli-Kate's eyes tracked Infinity as he stopped in front of Omni-Man, waiting for him to stand."
"Or maybe he isn't thinking clearly."
Black Samson didn't take his eyes off the broadcast.
"Whatever the answer is, no one enters that fight."
Rex gave a humorless laugh.
"That's the first good news I've heard all day."
Back at the Confrontation — Remote Area
Nolan struck the ground in front of Kai.
A wall of dirt, rock, and pieces of Hail Mary rose between them.
Omni-Man changed direction beneath the cloud and advanced without using a direct trajectory.
The Six Eyes tracked his body heat.
The vibrations through the ground.
The displacement of the air.
Kai turned before Nolan appeared.
His elbow cracked against Nolan's face.
Nolan absorbed the impact and managed to touch his son's waist with both hands.
For a fraction of a second, his fingers caught the uniform.
Kai disappeared upward.
The distance between Nolan's hands and his body extended before the grip could close.
Kai landed on his father's shoulder.
Arrogance abruptly returned to his face.
"You're getting slow."
His fist caught Nolan square in the temple.
Nolan fell sideways.
Kai jumped and landed on one of the kaiju's shattered plates.
His right hand trembled.
He closed it.
The trembling stopped.
A line of blood appeared beneath his nose.
Kai ran a finger over it and examined the red with distant curiosity, as though it didn't belong to his own body.
When he raised his eyes again, the smile was gone.
Nolan stood.
His uniform was torn. Blood covered part of his face, and one of his eyes was beginning to swell shut.
Kai appeared almost untouched.
But his breathing no longer maintained the same rhythm.
Mugen distorted the space around him countless times each second. Every adjustment required the Six Eyes to process new trajectories, possibilities, and vectors.
His body remained light.
His brain did not.
Nolan attacked.
Kai dodged.
The fist passed over his shoulder.
Kai responded with a blow to the ribs.
Another attack missed.
Kai clipped his mouth.
A knee came toward his abdomen.
Mugen pushed the trajectory outward.
Kai kicked Nolan's knee.
Omni-Man tried to grab him with both arms.
Kai passed between them.
Another slap landed across his face.
Something in Nolan's face broke.
Rage shattered what little control he had left.
He attacked with enough force to destroy everything behind Kai—or kill him if the blow connected.
Kai tilted his head.
The strike missed.
A second slap caught the same side.
"You're starting to disappoint me."
Nolan roared and charged at him.
The two tore across the field at high speed.
Broadcasts Around the World
Satellites and drones showed only fragments of the confrontation.
Two trails cutting through the forest.
Explosions appearing among the craters.
Omni-Man's silhouette being hurled repeatedly into the kaiju's body.
Infinity remained standing whenever the image managed to stabilize.
"We don't know what started the confrontation between the two heroes, but the footage shows Infinity dominating the fight."
A replay showed Omni-Man trying to strike him.
Infinity dodged.
Omni-Man was thrown into the ground.
"So far, there have been no confirmed civilian casualties. The battle remains confined to the area previously destroyed by the creature."
Another image showed Infinity standing still, waiting for Omni-Man to rise.
"At several points, Infinity appears to have the opportunity to continue his attack, but chooses not to."
The footage spread across social media.
INFINITY VERSUS OMNI-MAN.
OMNI-MAN CAN'T HIT HIM.
EARTH'S STRONGEST HERO?
Remote Area
Nolan stood once again.
His chest rose and fell more heavily.
His face was covered in blood.
Kai hovered a few yards away.
His posture remained relaxed, but his body could no longer sustain the image he was trying to project.
His fingers moved on their own.
His head tilted a few degrees before returning to its original position.
His eyes lost focus for fractions of a second.
The smile appeared and disappeared without any connection to what was happening in front of him.
Nolan watched.
This time, he didn't attack immediately.
Kai spread his arms.
"Giving up?"
His voice sounded amused.
In the next instant, his expression became empty.
His eyes passed through Nolan without truly finding him.
Omni-Man disappeared.
Kai tracked the first movement.
Then the second.
On the third, Nolan changed direction without preparing an attack.
He passed Kai.
Kai turned too late.
Nolan returned through his blind spot.
His fist was already approaching the back of Kai's head.
Kai didn't turn around.
He extended one arm and pointed his hand behind him.
"Enjoy it. This is Blue."
A blue sphere appeared in front of his palm.
Small.
Dense.
Space sank around it.
Nolan was torn from his trajectory.
His body violently changed direction and was pulled sideways, spinning toward the sphere.
Kai turned.
He charged.
His fist struck the center of Nolan's chest at the same instant Blue pulled his body forward.
The forces met.
BOOM!
Omni-Man's chest caved beneath the impact.
His body fell.
It tore through Hail Mary's back, ruptured the dead flesh, and struck the ground beneath it.
The crater swallowed part of the corpse.
Dirt, blood, and shattered plates rose around them.
Kai descended slowly.
He landed beside the opening.
Nolan remained at the bottom.
Motionless.
His eyes closed.
Kai didn't advance.
He stood beside the crater.
His head tilted backward.
His mouth remained slightly open as he stared at the sky.
Mugen was still active.
Dust, leaves, and droplets of blood slowed as they approached him, remaining suspended before they could touch his uniform.
His blue eyes were open.
But they weren't tracking anything.
His arms hung at his sides.
His expression seemed peaceful.
His body remained standing only because some part of him was still carrying out the last command it had received.
Pentagon — Underground GDA Base
Nolan's readings plummeted.
"Omni-Man isn't moving."
Debbie was watching Kai.
"What about him?"
Kai wasn't blinking.
He wasn't looking at Nolan.
Cecil ignored her, leaned toward the monitor. His voice rose to the other nearby agents.
"We need something to contain Omni-Man before he wakes up."
The distortion caused by Mugen passed through the cameras.
The image froze.
Then disappeared into static.
Broadcasts Around the World
The feed cut out with Infinity standing over the crater.
The studios replayed the final seconds, the footage distorted by static.
The moment the image returned, the blow struck Omni-Man's chest.
The fall.
Then another cut.
"We've lost the transmission, but the latest images appear to confirm that the confrontation has ended."
The recording showed Nolan disappearing into the crater.
"Omni-Man has been defeated by Infinity."
Remote Area
Inside another crater, a hand closed.
The Immortal opened his eyes.
Pain tore through his broken chest as he rose among the shattered trees.
It took him several seconds to understand what he was seeing.
Hail Mary was dead.
Kai stood beside a crater.
The memory returned in fragments.
The Guardians.
Nolan.
Kai's punch.
The Immortal charged.
His fist came toward Infinity's back.
Kai turned and caught his hand.
The movement was perfect.
Automatic.
The two stood face-to-face.
Kai stared at the Immortal without any recognition.
The hero tried to strike his face with his free hand.
Kai blocked it.
He didn't counterattack.
The Immortal advanced again.
Kai took a step back.
The blue in his eyes flickered.
His breathing changed.
For the first time since the fight began, the arrogance disappeared completely.
Kai looked at the hand holding the Immortal's fist as though he couldn't remember when he had grabbed it.
"Wait."
The Immortal tried to strike him again.
Kai redirected his arm.
"I'm not going to fight you."
"You protected him!"
Kai frowned.
The Immortal's voice seemed to reach him late.
The ground exploded behind him.
Nolan emerged from the crater.
Kai was still looking at the Immortal.
Omni-Man's fist struck Mugen with all his strength.
This time, Kai didn't tilt space.
He didn't redirect the vector.
The barrier absorbed everything.
The air around him compressed.
For a fraction of a second, Nolan's fist remained suspended only inches from his son's back.
Mugen tried to transform that distance into infinity.
Kai's energy vanished all at once.
His blue eyes widened.
The smile returned for less than a second, without any reason.
Then his face twisted in pain.
His vision lost focus.
His knees gave out.
Mugen collapsed.
Nolan's fist completed its path.
Kai was hurled forward.
Nolan appeared in front of him.
The first punch struck his face.
CRACK!
Kai's head snapped sideways.
The second blow connected before he could raise his arms.
Kai fell unconscious.
Nolan caught his uniform before he struck the ground.
He continued staring at his son's face.
The white hair.
The blood running from his nose.
His expression finally empty of every personality.
"What the hell was that?"
Nolan was breathing heavily full of bruises.
"What are you?"
He released Kai onto the ground.
Broadcasts Around the World
The cameras recovered their signal.
The first image showed Omni-Man standing.
Infinity lay on the ground before him.
It took the reporters several seconds to understand the change.
"We're receiving new footage from the confrontation."
The camera magnified the distant image of Infinity's motionless body.
"It appears Omni-Man managed to turn the fight around."
Another figure appeared behind Omni-Man.
The Immortal charged.
"Murderer!"
Omni-Man turned.
His hand struck the Immortal's neck.
The movement continued.
The head was torn from the body.
Blood cut through the air.
The body fell to its knees before toppling over.
Silence filled the studios.
Omni-Man remained standing with the head held by its hair.
Then he heard something above him.
Another body tore through the clouds.
Invincible slowed when he saw the devastated area.
The kaiju's corpse.
Infinity lying on the ground.
The Immortal's body separated from its head.
Nolan standing between them, covered in blood.
Invincible stopped in midair.
Every trace of feeling drained from his face.
"Dad?"
Interlude — Regrets
While the Fight Was Happening — Cassie and Henry's Gym
The gym's reception area had stopped to watch the television.
On the screen, Infinity dodged another blow from Omni-Man and hurled him into the kaiju's body.
Cassie stood in front of the counter, biting her thumbnail.
Henry stood beside her with his arms crossed.
"He's beating the strongest hero in the world with our moves, huh?"
Kai twisted around another punch and struck Nolan in the ribs.
The beginning of Henry's smile disappeared.
"But anyway... something seems wrong."
Cassie didn't answer.
She stopped biting her nail and stretched backward, trying to hide the tension in her shoulders.
I shouldn't have told him to leave.
In the end, Kiana left him alone.
The thought vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
Cassie felt the irritation return.
She picked up the remote from the counter and turned off the television.
"That's enough of that."
The screen went dark.