March 27, 2016 — Pentagon, GDA Observation Wing
The first sound was the monitor.
An electronic pulse.
Then another.
Kai opened his eyes.
The white ceiling light split into two images before returning to its proper place. A deep pain followed the movement, spreading from behind his eyes to the base of his skull.
He tried to sit up.
His arms didn't respond immediately.
Tubes were attached to his hand. Sensors covered his chest and part of his forehead.
The memory returned.
Violet light above Chicago.
His hands pressed against Cosmic's back.
The energy being torn from his body.
Cosmic disappearing.
Kai raised his head.
Then he noticed the other bed.
Mark lay motionless on the opposite side of the room, surrounded by machines. His face was still swollen. Bandages covered part of his head, chest, and arms.
Kai stared at him.
Fragments passed through his memory.
Nolan missing one blow after another.
His own smile.
The slaps across his father's face.
The opportunity to end the fight.
Kai had brought Nolan down.
He could have continued.
Instead, he had waited for him to get back up.
Playing with him.
Trying to prove something to someone who wasn't even there.
Then Nolan had found Mark.
The destroyed city.
The hospital.
Cosmic trying to return part of what had been lost.
Kai pulled the tubes from his hand.
The monitor flickered faster.
The door opened.
Debbie entered before he could put his feet on the floor.
"Kai."
She crossed the room and grabbed his shoulders.
"Don't get up."
"I'm fine. How long?"
"Five days."
Kai looked back at Mark.
Debbie shook her head.
"The doctors say he's stable."
Kai ran his tongue over his dry lips.
"And Cosmic? What happened to him?"
Debbie's hand remained on his shoulder.
She didn't answer immediately.
She didn't need to.
"I made him stop, and in the end, it didn't accomplish anything."
"You tried to save him."
Kai's voice came out sharp. "Maybe he would've saved more people if I hadn't shown up."
Debbie pulled over a chair and sat in front of him.
"Or he might have disappeared a few seconds earlier. You don't know."
She looked as though she hadn't slept properly in days.
Kai looked at Mark again.
"I could have prevented this."
"Kai—"
The words made Debbie stop.
Kai rested his forearms on his legs.
"I know why I fought him. The problem is that I don't know why I kept going like that after I'd already won."
The images returned.
Nolan on the ground.
The smile appearing without Kai deciding to smile.
His body changing posture as though someone else had taken control of each movement.
"I could have ended the fight. I could've restrained him, broken something, done anything before he got back up."
His right hand began to tremble.
Kai pressed his fingers against his forehead.
The pain increased.
"Cosmic died trying to repair what Nolan did."
Debbie touched his wrist.
"Cecil told me."
Kai didn't pull his hand away.
"Told you what?"
"Everything I managed to force out of him."
A weary irritation passed through her voice.
"He told me you have powers Nolan and Mark don't possess. None of this is your fault. The doctors said that energy was messing with your head."
Kai studied his dark reflection in the inactive monitor beside the bed.
She tightened her grip on his wrist.
Debbie continued before he could respond.
"I knew you were hiding something. And after I discovered what Nolan had done, I started looking at you as though you might be hiding the same thing."
She held his gaze.
"I'm sorry I didn't believe you."
Kai looked away.
"You don't need to apologize." his hand closed again and he exhaled through his nose. "You don't apologize for suspecting someone who keeps secrets from you."
The words almost carried his usual humor.
Debbie didn't smile.
Kai turned his gaze toward her.
"Thank you for doing everything you could for us. What Nolan said about you helped me regain some of my sanity and turn against him."
Debbie gave a small smile, her eyes welling up.
"The doctors explained what they could. They believe your brain may adapt to it over time."
Debbie didn't try to turn the possibility into a certainty.
"No one knows how long that will take. But I know you shouldn't use those powers again until you're certain."
The room went quiet.
Debbie pulled the chair closer.
"So stop for a while."
Kai looked back at the unconscious Mark.
"I can't just stop."
"Yes, you can."
"And when something happens?"
"Other people will respond."
"You don't have to carry the world alone because your father decided to abandon it. You're allowed to make mistakes too. So is Mark. That's what makes both of you human."
Nolan was gone.
So was Cosmic.
Mark was still there because Kai hadn't finished the fight when he had the chance.
Debbie stood.
Kai placed his hands on the bed and did the same.
She immediately turned toward him.
"What are you doing?"
"Getting up."
"The doctors haven't discharged you."
Kai tore the final sensor from his chest.
"I discharged myself."
"Kai."
He stood.
"I need to see how Elise is doing."
Debbie looked at Mark.
Then back at him.
"You just woke up after five days."
Kai picked up the clothes resting on the cabinet.
Before leaving, he turned around.
"It's not like me to say things like this, but you are a great mother. And he didn't deserve you. You aren't alone either."
Kai left the observation wing, crossed the GDA corridors, and found the nearest exit.
Debbie waited for him to leave before falling apart.
A few seconds later, Kai was mid-flight.
Cosmic and Elise's Apartment — 3:08 p.m.
Less than ten minutes later, Kai stood in front of the apartment.
He knocked twice.
Nearly a minute passed before he heard footsteps on the other side.
The door opened only far enough to reveal Elise.
She wore loose clothes. Her hair had been tied back without care, several strands hanging across her face. Her swollen eyes and the hand braced against the doorframe made it clear that she still hadn't recovered from giving birth.
When she recognized Kai, she went still.
Her eyes filled with tears before she looked away.
"Elise..."
She opened the door completely.
"What are you doing here?"
Kai remained in the hallway.
"I wanted to see how you and the baby were doing."
A short laugh escaped her.
"You want to see how we're doing?"
Kai lowered his eyes.
"I'm sorry."
"You're sorry?"
Elise tightened her fingers against the doorframe.
"My husband is dead."
A tear ran down her face. Elise wiped it away with irritation.
"Your father and your brother destroyed everything. Cosmic died bringing my daughter and me back."
Kai didn't respond.
She stepped into the hallway.
"You could have stopped Omni-Man. None of this should have happened."
The words crossed the hallway.
Kai raised his eyes.
"You were there. You fought him. You brought him down."
Elise's voice rose.
"But you kept playing around while he got back up."
Kai took a step back.
"If you had finished it when you had the chance, he wouldn't have torn through the city, destroying everything and killing innocent people along the way."
Kai's expression didn't change.
Elise was crying, but she didn't look away.
"And then you showed up while Cosmic was trying to fix everything."
"I tried to save him."
"You didn't save him."
Kai went still.
She took a few steps back, grabbed a box slightly larger than a shoebox, and tossed it out of the apartment.
"He was saving this for you."
The box opened after rolling across the floor.
His old Grey uniform.
Kai stepped back again.
"Cosmic told me everything."
She stepped completely out of the apartment.
"He told me where you came from. He told me your powers opened the rupture that brought him into this world."
Kai continued looking at her without trying to interrupt.
"He wasn't supposed to be here."
Anger shattered what little control Elise still possessed.
"He wasn't supposed to find that fragment. He wasn't supposed to destroy his own body because of you. None of this would have happened if you hadn't come to this world."
Kai took another step back.
His face remained empty.
Elise pointed at him.
"Your father massacred people. Your brother destroyed the city fighting him. You could have stopped both of them, and you didn't."
Her voice echoed through the hallway.
"Cosmic died because of you!"
For an instant, the hallway disappeared.
In its place, his memories brought back a funeral from another life, a coffin surrounded by flowers, and a woman around fifty years old pointing at him as she screamed.
"It's your fault!"
Then his vision returned.
Elise occupied the same place as the woman from his memory, her finger still raised.
Kai didn't argue.
He didn't try to explain.
He merely stepped back once more.
Elise's tear-filled eyes held his gaze.
"You shouldn't be in this world!"
A baby began crying inside the apartment.
Loud and sudden, as though the shouting had torn her from sleep.
Elise looked behind her.
The crying continued from the bedroom.
When she turned back, the hallway was empty.
Kai had disappeared, along with the discarded box.
Elise closed the door.
Her back touched the wood, and she slid down until she was sitting on the floor.
Then she covered her face and cried while her daughter continued calling from the other room.
Sky Above Chicago
Kai flew without direction.
He didn't look back.
His head throbbed with pain.
The city passed beneath him as he continued accelerating with an empty expression, never choosing a destination.
By the time he realized where he was, the destroyed forest was already appearing ahead.
By the time he recognized the region, he was already descending.
The forest where he had faced Nolan appeared beneath him, still crossed by craters and corridors carved through the trees. Hail Mary was no longer there. The GDA had removed the body, the equipment, and anything else that could be recovered.
Only the creature's crushed outline remained across the terrain.
He landed in the center of the field.
His feet touched the ground without making a sound.
For several seconds, he stood before the largest crater.
"Pretty fucked up, huh?"
Viktor sat on the edge.
Kai turned toward him.
The other figure appeared on the opposite side.
White hair.
Blue eyes.
His own face, but without any weight in its expression.
"Regret not listening to Nolan? It seems none of you are from around here. Earth."
Kai remained motionless.
He knew neither of them was there.
Viktor laughed.
Kai charged.
His fist passed through the figure's face and struck the ground.
BOOM!
The earth collapsed beneath the impact, widening the crater.
Kai remained with his arm buried up to the elbow.
Silence.
Viktor appeared behind him looking at the blue-eyed one.
"Yeah. I don't think he liked what you said."
Kai turned.
The blow passed through Viktor and continued forward. The pressure uprooted trees and hurled the trunks into the forest.
The blue-eyed version appeared above the crater.
"Are you going to blame us now?"
Kai shot forward.
His fist passed through the figure's chest.
Nothing.
He had known that would happen.
He attacked again.
The first blow split a wall of stone in half. The second exploded against the ground. The third passed through Viktor and destroyed a row of trees behind him.
"You almost took his side," Viktor taunted, now standing on a broken trunk. "Is that the part that hurts?"
Kai appeared in front of him.
His hand closed around empty space.
"Shut up."
Viktor smiled.
"Or was it realizing that, for a few minutes, you enjoyed being that?"
Kai struck.
Viktor disappeared before the impact.
His fist hit the air, but the shockwave opened another corridor through the trees.
"He was right about one thing," the blue-eyed version said beside the crater. "You aren't like them."
Kai charged at it.
The impact tore rocks, dirt, and tree trunks from the ground.
The figure reappeared several yards behind him.
"You never were."
Kai tore through the debris.
He struck to the right.
Then to the left.
He climbed and dove toward the field.
BOOM!
The earth sank beneath the impact.
He emerged from the crater before the dust settled and struck another location. Every time one of the figures appeared, Kai attacked. When they disappeared, he continued striking the space where they had stood.
Sometimes he stopped, clutching his head with both hands and waiting for the pain to subside.
Then one of them would speak again.
And Kai would charge.
"You arrived in this world without any intention of living in it," the blue-eyed version said.
Kai stopped in midair.
The figure stood below him, looking up.
"You merely continued existing."
Kai plummeted.
His fist struck the place where it had been standing.
BOOM!
A new crater opened.
The version appeared behind him, untouched.
"No goal. No sense of direction. Waiting for something to happen so you could decide what you were supposed to feel."
"Shut up."
"You were given another life, and you chose not to live it."
Kai turned with his arm extended.
The energy reacted before he gave any command.
A blue sphere appeared beside his hand.
Space sank around it.
Dirt, rocks, and trees were torn from every direction and compressed toward the same point. The terrain collapsed beneath the attraction, forming a deep crater before Kai closed his fingers and dispelled the sphere.
The accumulated mass crashed down.
Viktor appeared sitting on a suspended rock as though there were nothing strange about the scene around him.
"You've been like this since you were a child."
Kai raised his eyes.
"You did things and let Mark receive the credit."
The rock fell.
Viktor remained in the air.
"You let everyone think it was him. The talented son. The special one. It happened with Becky, July, and then Eve."
Kai charged toward him.
His hand passed through Viktor's neck.
Viktor appeared above another tree.
"The Void wasn't the one who made you hide behind your own brother."
Kai tore the entire trunk from the ground and threw it.
The tree passed through the image.
"That was you."
"Shut up!"
"Kiana left."
The blue-eyed version stood inside the crater with its hands in its pockets.
"You knew where she was."
Kai descended toward it.
The first blow destroyed the edge of the opening.
The second sank the center.
The figure remained there, untouched.
"You could have gone after her."
Kai struck again.
"You didn't."
Another impact.
"You chose to let her leave."
Kai's hand passed through the figure's face and struck only dirt.
Viktor appeared too close.
"And Cassie?"
Kai tried to grab him.
His fingers closed around nothing.
"She told you to stay away, and you obeyed."
Viktor tilted his head.
"That was convenient, wasn't it? That way you didn't have to decide whether you wanted to stay."
Kai passed through him with his shoulder and struck a wall of rock.
The structure collapsed over him.
Kai emerged from the wreckage immediately.
His breathing was already out of control.
Despite suffering no injury, blood ran from his nose.
The pain inside his head pulsed with his heartbeat.
"The cartel men," the blue-eyed version continued.
Kai raised his face. "That was you."
"No. You killed them." The answer came in his own voice. Cold. It continued. "You wanted to."
Kai charged.
The figure disappeared.
"They killed people who belonged to you."
It reappeared to the left.
"You decided they didn't deserve to leave alive."
Kai struck.
Nothing.
"Then you used the Void to pretend the decision hadn't been yours."
"Shut up!"
He struck the ground with both hands.
BOOM!
The forest trembled.
Cracks spread across the terrain, swallowing trees and rocks.
Viktor appeared in front of him as the dust began to settle.
"And Eve?"
Viktor smiled without humor.
"Do you have any idea what your refusal to live did to her head?"
Kai took a step without speaking.
"You would get close and then disappear. You made her think there was something between you, then backed away whenever you had to admit what you wanted. Then you slept with her."
Kai struck him.
His arm passed through Viktor's chest.
Viktor remained in front of him.
"You think I was controlling you?"
Another blow.
Kai tried to strike him again.
"Or do you think it happened because she's beautiful and you wanted her?"
Kai's fist stopped inside the image.
"That was you."
Viktor moved his face closer.
"See? You tell yourself that when it happens, I'm the one in control."
Kai's expression twisted.
He attacked.
Once.
Twice.
Dozens of times.
Every blow passed through Viktor and destroyed something behind him.
Kai roared and threw his body into the figure.
The two passed through a wall of stone, but only Kai struck the other side.
Viktor was already waiting for him among the wreckage.
Kai stopped.
His hands trembled.
The blue grew inside his eyes.
The other version appeared beside Viktor.
"It's long past time you realized who you really are."
Kai clutched his head.
"You don't exist."
"It doesn't matter," the figure replied. "Everything we say came from you."
"You're the Void."
"Maybe."
The blue-eyed version took a step forward.
"But the Void didn't invent the person it found when it entered your mind."
Kai retreated.
Viktor spread his arms, indicating the destroyed field.
"Look around."
Kai kept his eyes on both figures.
"Look at everything you can do."
Viktor smiled.
"'We' are a god in this world."
The word struck Kai differently.
We.
"It's time for you to see that everything that happens is your choice."
Kai remained motionless.
The forest disappeared for an instant.
Disconnected moments took its place.
Mark receiving praise for something Kai had done.
Kiana leaving without him trying to reach her.
Cassie turning her back while he remained still.
Bloodied men standing before him.
Kiana, then Cassie, and finally Eve lying beside him.
Nolan offering a world ruled by strength.
Debbie reduced to someone who would die in a few years.
Cosmic disappearing above Chicago.
Elise pointing at him.
The images blended together.
Some decisions seemed unmistakably his.
Others carried the coldness of the Void.
In many of them, he could no longer distinguish where one ended and the other began.
The energy had been inside his body since he arrived in that world.
Before the powers.
Before the white hair.
Before he knew it existed.
How much of the apathy had always been his?
How much of the lack of desire?
How many of the choices?
How much had been distorted by something growing inside his brain while he believed he was simply being himself?
The blue-eyed version approached.
"You're afraid you'll discover that you are me."
Viktor appeared on the other side.
"Or that we were always the same thing."
Kai closed his eyes.
The energy exploded.
The air around him cracked.
The earth trembled.
The remaining trees bent toward the center of the field.
"SHUT UP!"
The world distorted.
The blue sphere began forming again, larger than before. The ground sank beneath Kai, compressed by the attraction, while entire rocks were torn free and crushed before reaching the center.
Viktor continued smiling.
The other version didn't move.
Kai gritted his teeth.
Pain tore through every scar in his brain.
The Void responded.
It asked to be let through.
It promised silence.
All he had to do was let it take over again.
Kai opened his eyes.
Blue filled almost his entire irises.
For an instant, the sphere grew.
Then he saw his own hand raised before it.
Not the Void's hand.
Not Viktor's.
Not the blue-eyed figure's.
His.
"Enough."
The word didn't come out as a shout.
It was quiet.
Final.
Kai closed his hand.
The sphere collapsed.
The attraction disappeared, and everything that had remained suspended fell around him. Rocks struck the ground. Broken trunks crashed down. The pressure crushing the terrain dissipated.
Viktor lost his smile.
The blue-eyed version tilted its head.
Kai stared at them.
"Maybe some of those choices belonged to you."
Both figures remained silent.
"Maybe all of them were mine."
He lowered his hand.
The blue began to recede from his eyes.
"I still don't know."
"But I'm not going to keep handing over control and using you as an excuse."
The blue-eyed version took another step.
"You need me."
"Maybe."
Kai didn't retreat.
"But until I'm certain that I'm the one making the choice, you don't come out."
The figure stopped.
Viktor watched Kai for several seconds.
This time, there was no joke.
The outlines of both figures began to flicker.
"And when you find out?" Viktor asked.
Kai held his gaze.
"I decide."
The figures disappeared.
They didn't dissolve into light.
They weren't destroyed.
They simply ceased to occupy the field.
Kai remained at the center of the devastated forest.
His breathing was still irregular.
His hands covered in dirt.
His head felt as though it were about to split open.
Even so, no energy distorted the air anymore.
Mugen was inactive.
Blue had disappeared.
Kai closed his eyes and waited.
When he opened them again, his irises had returned to brown.
The emptiness was still there.
The same emptiness he had carried before he had a name for what existed inside him.
But now Kai knew that perhaps he had never been alone within his own apathy.
The Void had accompanied him since the moment he entered that world. Blending into his decisions, amplifying some impulses and erasing others until he could no longer recognize his own will.
He wouldn't use that energy again.
Not until he could separate the two.
Not until he could look at a choice and know for certain that it was his.
Kai took one breath.
Then another.
Finally, he was conscious.
And at that moment, that was enough.
He took flight and returned home.
Upon arriving in his room, he ignored the hole in the floor and the ceiling.
He placed the box full of dirt—containing the old uniform Cosmic had kept—on top of what remained of the desk.
His phone remained where he had left it.
After plugging it in to charge, among the accumulated missed calls and notifications, he found a message Henry had sent two days earlier.
Henry: Hey, asshole. When are you gonna show up around here? Stop by the gym when you can. I saw what happened on TV. At least they said you were alive.
Kai turned off the screen.
He threw himself onto the bed without changing and stared at the open hole above him, passing through his bedroom ceiling and the roof of the house.
The dark sky filled the space where there had once been wood.
March 28, 2016 — Henry's Gym
Henry was behind the counter when Kai walked in.
"Well, look who finally decided to show up."
Kai raised a hand in greeting.
Henry stepped out from behind reception and approached, smacking him on the shoulder.
"You son of a bitch."
"Missed you too."
Henry stepped back far enough to look him over.
"Thank you."
Kai tilted his head.
"For what?"
"For choosing Earth instead of your father."
The answer hung between them for a moment.
Kai looked away toward the training floor.
Henry gave him a crooked smile.
"Although, from what I saw on TV, you could've beaten your father if your strikes weren't so sloppy." He pointed at his own face. "More than once, if I'd been in your place."
Kai knew.
He had seen every opportunity during the fight.
He could have finished Nolan more than once.
But he hadn't.
Maybe because the arrogant Void had been in control.
Or maybe because he had formed a stronger bond with Nolan than he ever had with the father from his previous life.
Henry continued watching him with half a smile.
"At least you finally learned how to fight properly."
Footsteps came from the stairs.
Cassie stopped when she saw Kai near the reception desk.
"Kai?"
He looked at her.
Cassie descended a few more steps but didn't come all the way over.
"Are you okay?"
"I am."
She held his gaze for several seconds.
She knew that staying there would mean trying once again to close the distance between them.
She still cared about him.
That was why she convinced herself it would be better to leave him alone with Henry.
"Okay."
She looked at her father.
"I'm going to finish up upstairs."
Cassie went back up the stairs before Kai could respond.
Kai remained at the gym for a while longer.
Henry talked about the students, the damage to the city, and anything that didn't require Kai to explain what had happened with Nolan.
When he decided to leave, Kai stopped near the exit.
"Tell Cassie I said goodbye."
Henry nodded.
Kai left.
Over the Following Days
Mark didn't wake up.
Kai didn't return to school either.
He spent part of each day at the medical center. Whenever Debbie stayed there too long, Kai insisted until she went home and rested.
Sometimes he had to walk her to the exit to make sure she actually left.
The Infinity suit stayed stored away alongside Grey's.
When workers began closing the path Nolan had torn through the house, he watched the repairs.
New wood covered the second floor.
The ceiling of his bedroom was rebuilt.
Finally, the hole above the living room disappeared.
The house blocked out the sky again.
April 6, 2016 — GDA Medical Center
Mark opened his eyes two weeks later.
Debbie was sitting beside the bed.
Kai stood in the corner with his arms crossed.
The movement on the monitors made Debbie raise her head.
"Mark?"
He blinked several times, his eyes searching for something he still couldn't understand.
The light seemed to bother him.
"Where..."
His voice came out weak, his swollen mouth making it difficult to speak.
Debbie stood and held his hand.
"You're in the hospital."
Mark tried to move.
The pain made him stop.
Then he saw Kai.
"Took you long enough."
Mark looked at the white hair, then at his face.
He said nothing. He simply lay back down and closed his eyes.
Debbie ran a hand through Mark's hair.
"You're both here. That's what matters right now."
The doctors entered shortly afterward.
The examinations showed that his Viltrumite recovery had already repaired most of his injuries. Mark was still weak and badly hurt, but there was no permanent damage.
Debbie hurried out of the room, leaned against the wall, and began to cry.
Kai followed her out.
He watched for a moment, seeing her fall apart for the first time.
Then he approached slowly and hugged her without saying anything.
April 7, 2016 — Pentagon, GDA Base — 3:20 p.m.
The following day, Cecil appeared shortly after Mark was discharged, before he could leave with his brother.
He stood near the door, looking first at Mark and then at Kai.
"Omni-Man was the most powerful man on Earth."
Neither of them responded.
"He was also the symbol that made a lot of people think twice before attacking."
Cecil put his hands in his pockets.
"Now you two will fill that role."
Cecil looked at Kai.
"It's good that you chose to remain on our side. Regardless of what led you to make that choice. You chose Earth. That's good enough for me."
Cecil turned his attention to both of them.
"I'm giving you some time to recover. No calls, no missions until you're ready. I need both of you to have your heads on straight."
Cecil left the room.
And they finally went home.
Grayson Residence — 3:40 p.m.
Amber was already in the living room when they arrived.
The moment Mark stepped through the door, she stood and went to him.
She didn't ask about his injuries.
She didn't complain about how long she had gone without hearing from him.
She simply wrapped her arms around him, then pressed herself more tightly against his body.
As tightly as she could.
William stood behind the couch.
"I was going to hug you too, but I guess there's a line."
Mark looked at him over Amber's shoulder.
"You can wait."
"After two weeks, a few more minutes won't kill me."
Eve appeared in the kitchen doorway with Debbie.
Her gaze quickly passed over Mark, checking whether he could actually remain standing.
"You look awful."
Mark released Amber.
"Good to see you too."
William finally approached and gave him a quick hug, carefully patting his back.
Eve waited for her turn before wrapping her arms around Mark.
"Don't do that again."
"I'll try."
Kai remained near the stairs while the others surrounded his brother.
Debbie watched all of them while trying to hide the weight she carried.
For a few hours, the house had voices in it again.
The following Monday, Mark returned to school.
And only then...
Kai returned as well.
April 12, 2016 — Grayson Residence — 8:18 p.m.
Debbie closed the door behind Olga and followed her into the living room.
The two embraced without saying anything.
Olga continued holding her arms for several seconds before pulling away.
Debbie looked down.
Olga removed her coat and left it on the couch.
"I brought wine."
"That helps."
"It doesn't. But it makes the parts that don't help a little more tolerable."
Debbie retrieved two glasses from the kitchen. When she returned, Olga was already standing in front of the family photographs on the shelf.
One of them showed Nolan with his arms around the twins when they were still children.
Olga studied the picture briefly before stepping away.
Debbie poured the wine.
They sat down.
The doorbell rang before they could continue.
Debbie frowned and placed her glass on the table.
"I wasn't expecting anyone."
When she opened the door, she found Janet on the other side.
Becky's mother wore a dark coat and held a bag containing another bottle of wine.
"Hi."
Debbie barely had time to respond before Janet hugged her.
She held her tightly.
"I'm so sorry."
Debbie returned the embrace.
"Thank you."
Janet pulled away, keeping her hands on Debbie's shoulders.
"I know Nolan was Omni-Man."
Debbie's eyes widened.
"You know?"
"Not all the details, but—"
Janet looked past her.
Olga remained seated in the living room, watching them.
Janet's expression changed.
"I probably shouldn't have said that out loud."
"It's okay." Debbie opened the door wider. "She knows too."
Janet entered, still looking at Olga.
Debbie closed the door.
"Janet, this is Olga. Olga, Janet."
The two greeted each other.
Janet raised the bag.
"I brought wine too."
Olga lifted her own bottle.
"Now we're prepared."
Debbie retrieved a third glass.
When she returned, Janet was sitting in the armchair, still trying to determine how much she could say in front of the other woman.
Olga noticed.
"My husband was Red Rush."
Janet went still.
"My God. I'm so sorry."
Janet looked at Debbie.
Then at Olga.
"So the two of you..."
"Our husbands died on the same day," Olga answered.
Debbie lowered her eyes toward her glass.
"Nolan didn't die."
"The man you married did."
Olga didn't try to soften the words.
"Josef died in that room. Nolan killed him and the others. But the Nolan you knew also ceased to exist that day."
Debbie took a sip of wine.
"Sometimes I still expect to hear him walking through the door."
Olga nodded.
"I still wake up thinking Josef is running late."
Janet remained quiet for several seconds.
"I don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything," Debbie replied.
"Good. Because I brought wine specifically so I wouldn't have to be useful."
Olga almost smiled.
The three drank.
After a while, Olga looked at Janet.
"Was your husband a hero too?"
"No. My husband is completely normal."
Janet pointed at herself.
"So am I."
"Then how did you find out about Nolan?"
"My daughter."
Olga waited.
"Becky was Ghost Girl."
Surprise appeared on Debbie's face.
"Was?"
"She stopped a while ago."
Janet looked at Debbie.
"She knew Kai was Infinity. It wasn't very difficult to put the pieces together."
Debbie ran her thumb around the rim of her glass.
The conversation continued. They talked about the small habits that remained inside their homes even after their husbands were no longer there.
Footsteps came from upstairs.
Kai descended. His white hair was disheveled, and one hand remained in his pocket as he headed toward the kitchen.
He stopped when he saw the three women in the living room.
"Good evening." He said.
Olga raised her glass in greeting.
Janet turned on the couch to look at him.
"Kai."
He looked at her.
"You somehow managed to become even more handsome."
Kai exhaled.
"Or that's the wine talking."
Debbie gave him a look.
Janet laughed.
"Are you still good at working magic with computers?"
Kai continued toward the kitchen.
"Unfortunately, I still haven't managed to forget how."
"I need people to work with me."
He opened the refrigerator.
"I wouldn't work in an office for any amount of money."
"You don't even know how much they would pay."
"If it involves an office, it isn't enough."
Janet rested her arm along the back of the couch.
"I understand. It must be difficult maintaining a normal job when you're Infinity."
Kai stopped with a container of food in his hand.
He slowly turned his head.
"How do you know?"
Janet merely raised an eyebrow.
Kai looked at her for another second.
"Becky."
"Becky," Janet confirmed.
He closed the refrigerator.
"She talks too much."
Kai placed the container in the microwave.
Janet took another sip of wine.
"The offer still stands in case you change your mind."
The microwave beeped.
Kai retrieved the food and a spoon.
Janet watched as he crossed the living room.
He climbed the stairs with the food in his hands, leaving the three women alone in the living room again.
Over the Following Days...
Earth began to recover.
Relief teams worked alongside firefighters, military personnel, and volunteers throughout the destroyed regions. Unstable buildings were demolished. Streets disappeared beneath machinery and new concrete. Improvised memorials occupied sidewalks where traces of blood still remained.
The footage continued playing on television.
Omni-Man tearing through Chicago.
Invincible trying to stop him.
Infinity bringing down Omni-Man before falling as well.
And Cosmic, the hero who sacrificed himself to save the people in a devastated area.
GDA Orbital Prison
The Mauler Twins crossed the walkway surrounded by armed guards.
Thick restraints secured their wrists, connected to containment harnesses around their chests. Every movement was tracked by automatic weapons installed in the ceiling.
One of the twins looked at Earth through the reinforced windows.
"Nice view."
"You'll get sick of it."
The cell doors opened.
The containment field appeared before them even before they were shoved inside.
One of the guards checked the locks.
"These two aren't escaping ever again."
The Maulers looked at each other.
Neither responded.
The door closed.
Mars
The astronaut left behind walked alone through the corridors of the Martian facility.
His posture was rigid.
His movements too slow.
A pink shape clung to his face, hidden beneath his suit.
Another Sequid slid out from beneath his clothing.
Then another.
Within seconds, dozens spread throughout the corridor.
The first Martians tried to react.
The creatures leaped onto their faces.
Bodies fell and convulsed as they were attacked by more Sequids than anyone could count.
The infestation advanced through the underground passageways.
Doors were opened by controlled hands.
Above them, the surface of Mars remained silent.
On Earth, the Guardians Fulfilled Their Role
Monster Girl restrained a creature that had escaped from a laboratory in Florida while Black Samson evacuated researchers from the building.
Dupli-Kate helped evacuate a derailed train.
Shrinking Rae entered the weapons system of a terrorist group and disabled it from the inside.
Frost covered a burning building with enough ice to prevent it from collapsing before the firefighters arrived.
Rex Splode appeared on camera after a mission with part of his mask burned away.
"Everything's under control."
An explosion struck the background of the image.
Rex looked over his shoulder.
"Almost everything."
Robot monitored every mission from the command room, adjusting routes and distributing teams while his new body remained hidden elsewhere inside the headquarters.
Earth continued turning.
Classes Also Returned to Their Normal Rhythm
Or something close to it.
The words spoken during the fight and Nolan's face still appeared whenever Mark closed his eyes.
The way his father had spoken about Debbie.
The blows.
His hand passing through human bodies as though nothing were there.
One afternoon, he found Eve sitting on top of the school building.
Mark rested his arms on his knees.
"So, how's living out in the middle of nowhere? Are you enjoying it?"
"I am."
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"It's nice being outside the city. No car horns, no neighbors yelling, and no parents trying to decide what I should do with my life."
Mark looked at her.
"That sounds like something a person says right before they start talking to trees."
Eve laughed.
Then she watched the students moving in the distance.
"I think I understand."
Eve turned toward him.
"And how are you doing?"
The two remained there for several seconds.
Mark fidgeted with his hands.
"I found out my father is a murderer. He announced that my mother didn't matter. And I found out my brother lies to me. So I'd say I'm doing great."
Eve looked at him quickly, surprised, but said nothing.
"I found out he has some other kind of power besides his Viltrumite abilities."
Eve held his gaze for a moment.
Then nodded.
Mark frowned.
"You knew?"
"I did."
The answer came too simply.
Mark exhaled and looked away.
"Of course."
"Mark, it wasn't my secret to tell."
"I'm his brother."
"Then ask him."
Mark ran a hand through his hair.
"I spent my entire life thinking the two of us were almost the same. Maybe he learned faster, maybe he was a little better at some things, but..."
Mark looked at his own hands.
"It wasn't even close."
Eve remained silent.
"Kai is much stronger than I am."
"Does that bother you?"
Mark thought before answering.
"The fact that he hid it does." He looked at her before continuing. "Do you know what those powers are?"
She shook her head.
"You should ask him."
"You aren't going to tell me anything?"
"No."
Mark exhaled through his nose.
"Great."
"You still haven't talked to him about it?"
"No."
"Why?"
Mark frowned and then released a breath.
"I'm upset with him... but I think he's going through something too."
Mark lowered his voice.
"My mother said those powers hurt his body. That's why he lost consciousness before. Now he's back in his usual robot mode."
Eve exhaled.
"Robot mode?"
"He answers when someone talks to him, goes to class, and then goes home."
"As though nothing happened."
"Maybe that's how he deals with it."
"That's how he deals with everything."
Some of the irritation left his voice.
Eve moved her shoulder slightly closer to his.
Several Days Later — GDA Orbital Prison
The lights inside the Maulers' cell flickered.
One of the twins opened his eyes.
The air in the center of the cell folded.
A rift appeared without triggering any alarms.
A man emerged in front of them.
The Maulers stood.
"Who are you?"
The man observed them both.
"Angstrom Levy."
The containment field remained active.
Levy raised one hand.
"And I need your help."
One twin looked at his brother.
"I knew we wouldn't be here for long."
"You didn't know anything."
The three stepped through the opening.
By the time the guards noticed the fault in the sensors, the cell was already empty.
The containment field continued functioning.
The Mauler Twins had disappeared once again.
Interlude — Another Month Later
On the rooftop of the tallest skyscraper in Machine Head's district, Titan faced Mr. Liu.
The city spread beneath them in cold lights and black glass.
Brandon stood several steps behind Titan in silence, his arms crossed.
Titan's skin began turning gray. Stone spread across his neck, face, and arms until his entire body had transformed into living rock.
Across from him, Liu took a deep breath.
His body contorted.
And the old man gave way to the dragon.
Its scales reflected the city lights.
On another world, beneath a sky burning with impossible colors, the Flaxans gathered before a war banner.
The photograph fastened to its center was crumpled, torn, and stained.
The figure in the picture was a portrait of Omni-Man's face.
A general drove a knife directly through the center of the image.
Around him, the others struck their weapons against the ground in response.
Far beneath Earth's surface, inside a chamber surrounded by rivers of lava, creatures of magma and stone knelt.
The heat made the air tremble.
At their center, Dr. Seismic raised his arms, his cape moving in the hot wind rising from the fissures.
His laughter echoed across the underground walls.
Long.
Satisfied.
Sinister.
Inside a GDA facility, more than twenty ReAnimen stood aligned in perfect rows.
Dr. Sinclair walked in front of them with a tablet in his hands, accompanied by technicians and soldiers who maintained too much distance for it to seem casual.
One of the ReAnimen received a command.
It advanced.
Stopped.
Turned its head with mechanical precision.
Another passed through a thin steel wall without slowing down.
Another took test rounds to the chest and remained standing.
On the other side of the glass, Cecil watched everything with his hands in his pockets.
Expressionless.
Sinclair smiled at his own reflection in the dark panel.
"Now we're getting somewhere."
Cecil didn't respond.
He simply continued watching as another dead soldier was completed.
Then Cecil left the area and continued alone through another wing of the facility.
Two security doors opened before he entered a chamber kept in darkness.
A glass tube extended from the floor to the ceiling at the center of the room.
Violet energy and shadows circulated inside it, keeping part of Cosmic's chest and a fragment of his face suspended. The edges didn't appear severed. They dissolved into particles before taking shape again, trapped in a process that never reached completion.
Donald appeared walking beside the tube.
Alive.
Cecil stopped in front of him and looked toward Cosmic's fragment.
"This is what's left."
Donald approached.
"Do you regret sending Kai to help him, sir?"
"Maybe. I don't see how he can come back from this. And he might have saved more people." Cecil released a weary breath, his eyes remaining on what was left of Cosmic. "At least Kai appears stable now. The device we implanted to monitor his brain signals is working."
He turned toward the exit.
"I won't make the same mistake I made with Omni-Man. The ReAnimen aren't ready yet. Neither are the other contingencies."
Donald followed him with his eyes.
"Until they are, if Nolan returns, Kai stops him."