Omni-Man looked disgusted. He sneered, "You were always so pathetic Donald."
Donald groaned in pain. His feet dangled a few inches above the floor. The viltrumite's fingers were inserted into his back. The blood dribbled down the grey suit he always wore. The rest of the room was a mess of dismembered bodies and broken rubble.
The surveillance team posted opposite the Grayson household had watched the confrontation between Debbie and Nolan. That had been hours ago. Omni-Man had returned to the house. The viltrumite warrior headed straight for Mark's room.
There had still been a dozen agents in the house. The invsibility technology integrated into their uniforms were worth millions. The surveillance team had held back sickened gags as Omni-Man tore the agents limb from limb.
An explosion had hurled the final living agent from the house. The agent's legs pointed in opposite directions. Her cracked mask revealed a pair of terrified eyes. She stretched out a trembling hand in the direction of the surveillance team. The deadly break in protocol had exposed the surveillance unit to Omni-Man's fury.
The agent's error had lead to the current situation.
Donald gasped for breath, "It's been an honour, sir!"
Omni-Man frowned, "What do you-"
The explosion was immediate. An orange ball of flame surged outwards from the detonation point and consumed the building. Donald's final act was one of selfless defiance. The smoke was thick and black. Ashes swirled about the scorched air.
Cecil sighed and lowered his head, "The honour was all mine."
Debbie gasped in horror. She covered her mouth with her hands, "Nolan?"
Her body language shifted suddenly. Her fists clenched and fell angrily to her sides. She said revoltedly, "You monster!"
The thick black smoke concealed the destruction. Tears appeared in the corners of Debbie's eyes as she stared at the swirling black clouds.
Cecil turned to her. His hands were in his pockets, "He's not dead. Even after evacuating the neighborhood, we had to keep the yield down. Best it'll do is knock him on his ass for an hour or two-"
The footage of the explosion crackled with static. After a burst of black and white pixels, the footage was restored. The camera captured Omni-Man standing in the centre of the crater.
Cecil sighed, "-or maybe not even hurt him at all."
The idea that an ordinary explosion could harm Nolan had always a fool's dream. The only evidence that the viltrumite had endured the full power of the blast was the small amount of soot smudged on his face.
Omni-Man slowly unclenched his fist. His red glove was still covered with Donald's blood. The viltrumite looked up to the skies. Then, in an instant, he shot upwards. The footage hurriedly switched between different cameras as the surveillance technology struggled to keep up with the viltrumite's speed.
Debbie blinked. The anger in her posture faded. A terrible sense of loss replaced it, "He's going to find Mark. I don't know who Nolan is anymore. I don't know what he's going to do."
"Me neither. So we'd better find Mark first." Cecil replied.
The GDA headquarters were hurriedly setting in motion protocols that had been prepared since the demon detective, Damien Darkblood, had been banished from earth. The murderer of the Guardians had been in plain sight all along. Omni-Man's attempt to decieve had never fooled Cecil.
The underground facility beneath the pentagon was a whirlwind of activity. But for William, Mark's friend, life remained as ordinary as it always had been.
There was a bag of fries on the seat next to him. He kept his eyes on the road and casually reached over and took one. He'd done the same thing so many times before that he didn't need to look to know where the bag was.
Bang!
The fry dropped from his hands. William gasped and slammed on the brakes as hard as he could. The car screeched and veered to violently to the left before coming to a halting stop.
The smoke from the explosion cleared. William's eyes widened. The red and white hero was unmistakeable.
Omni-Man's costume was still smoking from the descent. The ground where he'd landed was cratered in. The road surface for several meters was cracked and warped.
William stammered, "O-o-Omni-Man! Uh-Mr-Mr Grayson!"
Omni-Man walked over to the car. There was something urgent hidden beneath the way he moved. His expression was one of barely restrained fury.
A half-chewed fry caught in the back of William's throat. The teenager coughed awkardly, "Are you okay? You look kinda, uh-recently on fire."
The car shook. A red-gloved hand slammed down on the roof. The metal buckled and deformed as it were made of cotton. Omni-Man leaned down and put himself on eye level with the window.
"Where's Mark, William? You were supposed to drop him off an hour ago." Omni-Man spoke slowly. The roof of the car creaked and groaned as the hand pressed down harder.
"Uh-Amber dumped him, he didn't like my advice so he went to find Eve."
Omni-Man's eyes narrowed. His voice came out as an order, not a request, "Call him."
The atmosphere was gradually building to an ominous peak. William didn't know what exactly was wrong, but he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
He swallowed, "His phone's broken. There was this attack at the college and-all of a sudden we were-"
The rambling explanation stirred Omni-Man's fury. The roof crunched. The metal was pressed lower by several inches. William gulped and looked up nervously at the deformed steel.
"Where's Eve?"
William pushed down the nervousness in his chest, "Uh-Mark said she got a place out in the woods, a couple hundred miles west from here."
The teenager blinked. Omni-Man's other hand was curled crushingly over the windowsill. He noticed suddenly that the glove was stained red, "That's not-that's not blood on you is it?"
Omni-Man didn't answer. The viltrumite streaked into the sky. The violent force transmitted into the ground caused the car to bounce up and down.
William craned his neck outside the vehicle. He watched as the hero became a distant red blur on the horizon.
"Bye?"
The Guardian's HQ was full of overlapping voices. The loudest among which was Rex-Splode. Robot was among the team. It had been nearly five months since he escaped his mechanical tomb. The team still addressed him as Robot, but now they spoke to a real person, not a droid.
The large screen in the core room that usually displayed emerging threats was entirely occupied by an enormous picture of Cecil's face.
"Look, be quiet! Just sit tight until I call on you! And hope to hell I don't have to! Omega I want you in New York now!"
Rex-Splode cried out in outrage, "Sit tight? Hey, we're not your kids in the back seat while you run in to buy cigarettes Cecil! What the hell's going on? And how come fucking flyboy gets to go shopping with daddy!"
The team all turned to look at Omega. The black faceless mask gave nothing away. The masked hero looked up and then shot into the skies. The Guardians were left open-mouthed.
Cecil's voice filled the room. His tone didn't leave any room for argument, "I said, sit tight."
After Cecil had spoken, the large screen cut to black.
Rex-Splode looked between the Guardians. His arms were oustretched and he said imploringly, "Oh, come on! I mean, come on!"
Black Samson's arms were crossed against his chest, "For once, you're right. We need to know what's happening. Robot, can't you do a little hacking?"
The Guardians were left to wonder what was going on. Meanwhile, in the underground facility beneath the Pentagon, agents were hurriedly surveying satellite feeds. They were searching for the same person as Omni-Man.
"I've got em'!" An agent exclaimed.
Cecil's head whipped to the side. One of the countless screens in the room displayed Invincible and Atom-Eve flying alongside one another. The scenery around them was dense forest.
"Approximately three hundred miles away, travelling north-west over Rideout National Forest." The agent stated.
Another agent looked up from her computer, "Sir, Omni-Man's closing in on their location. Estimated time to intercept, six minutes."
Cecil cursed, "Shit! How soon till Omega gets there?"
"Nine minutes sir."
Cecil swore again, "Shit!"
"Can't you use your teleporter? To bring Mark and Eve back here?" Debbie asked anxiously.
Cecil held up his arm. A unusual-looking watch was strapped across his wrist, "You need to be wearing one of these. And it can't do us all at once. We need to buy some time first."
An agent hesitated to speak, "But sir, Omega, we don't know if-"
Cecil shot the agent a death-stare. The agent visibly shrank into their seat and tried to pretend they hadn't spoken.
Cecil slammed his hands down on a desk, "Let's bring the hammer down!"
The GDA had hundreds of devices in earth's orbit. The majority were designed for surveillance and tracking. That wasn't to say that the organization didn't also invest billions in offensive weaponary.
An enormous floating machine began to glow. The energy building within the machine's batteries could've powered a city for weeks. The whining hum of the weapon was lost to the silence of space.
The machine reached full charge. The weapon unleashed to the earth below.
Omni-Man's arms were stretched out in front of him. The viltrumite's speed was at mach ten and accelerating.
Omni-Man suddenly heard a high-pitched buzzing. His lips curled into a snarl, "You wouldn't dare."
The beam of blue light struck the earth. The explosion was blinding. Detectors in the ground registered the violent impact on the Richter scale. The blast swept across the farmland. Trees snapped in half and were hurled through the air as if they were matchsticks.
The beam of blue light gradually began to fade. The weapon's pulsing quietened. A surveillance drone captured the edge of a crater several meters deep. The outpouring of energy had turned the edges of the crater into molten slag.
"We've got him. He's down." An agent stated.
The shockwaves from the blast had killed thousands of birds mid-flight. Their bodies produced a cacophany of smacks as they hit the ground. The room of agents, including Cecil and Debbie, stared intently at the black smoke rising from the crater.
A red cape billowed in the wind. Omni-Man soared out. The camera captured his furious expression. The viltrumite was unharmed.
"Hit him again!" Cecil shouted.
The orbital cannon began to charge. Omni-Man heard the humming sound and his speed increased again. His figure was swallowed up in the beam of blue light. The weapon fired for a second time.
Omni-Man raised his arm to shield his eyes from the light. The viltrumite roared in anger and drew back his fist. He smashed through the layers of reinforced steel as if they were made of paper.
Cecil watched from an orbital drone as a red blur crashed again and again through the orbital cannon. The resulting explosions caused the drone to shake chaotically. The red blur didn't slow down until the weapon was reduced to wreckage floating in space.
Omni-Man felt something warm against his upper lip. He raised his hand and wiped his nose. Blood stained his fingers. This time it was his own.
The viltrumite's head turned. He stared icily at the drone. The staff in the underground facility watched as a small dribble of blood spilled from Omni-Man's nose.
Cecil sighed, "Four hundred billion dollars for the world's most expensive nosebleed."
"Sir! Omni-Man is re-entering the atmosphere!" An agent reported.
Cecil's fist clenched, "Put me through to Omega."
Alex cut across the skies like a comet. The order from Cecil hadn't come with any explanation. He obeyed it nonetheless. It had been eight months since the Guardians were murdered. A lot had changed in that time. He'd changed as well.
Cecil's voice crackled in his ear, "It's time you knew kid. Omni-Man murdered the Guardians. We don't know what he wants, but he's headed for Invincible."
The suspicions Alex had held for months were proved correct in a single sentence. He looked down at the towns and cities zipping by beneath him, "You want me to stop him?"
There was a pause on the other end of the line, "Can you do it kid?"
The question was one Alex had been playing over and over again in his head for months. The genetic template he'd obtained from Invincible was incredible. If the hero lived long enough, he might one day become truly deserving of his lofty moniker.
The integration of the viltrumite template had been a resounding success. After the fusion was complete, he'd accelerated his aging to bring out the full potential stored within Invincible's DNA. The results were astounding.
He was faster, stronger and more durable than he'd ever thought possible. He could walk on the surface of the sun or resist the pull of a black hole.
"Yeah." Alex answered.
For the first time, Cecil felt the tides of battle tilt in earth's favour, "Good luck kid."
The orbital cannon had bought a few minutes of time. While Omni-Man was entangled in the destruction of the weapon, the distance between the viltrumite and Omega had shrunk considerably.
The trees below where Omni-Man passed bent dangerously. The high-speed movement swept up violent winds.
Omni-Man's eyes narrowed. Without warning he came to a sudden halt. The viltrumite warrior stared intently into the distance. A black spot was gradually drawing closer. Nolan noted solemnly that the speed exceeded his own.
"Get out of my way." Nolan spat out the words.
The speeding blur slowed to a standstill. A black mask covered the figure's face. The viltrumite's order recieved no response.
Omega broke the silence, "Why did you kill them?"
Omni-Man growled. The viltrumite's fists clenched at his sides, "I told you to get out of my way."
"I can't do that."
Omni-Man's patience wore thin. The warrior shouted with rage. The surveilance drones recording the conversation only managed to pick up a red blur. Omni-Man rocketed through the air towards Omega.
Bang!
A hand caught the viltrumite's punch. The terrible force behind it was swallowed up as if it had never existed. The masked hero was silent while Omni-Man grunted and strained, trying to pull back his fist.
"You pathetic imitation! Release me!" Omni-Man roared.
The hand suddenly let go. Nolan wasn't given the chance to celebrate. A violent kick to the chest sent him careering towards the ground. The viltrumite groaned in pain. He spat out a mouthful of blood.
Nolan shook his head to clear his dizziness. His expression was furious. The ground around him had deformed and twisted from the impact. He pulled himself out of the several meter depression in the earth.
Omega floated down slowly from the skies. His feet hovered a few inches above the shattered ground. The hero's voice didn't betray any emotion, "Why did you kill them?"
Omni-Man yelled. The ruined earth beneath his feet was destroyed even more as he kicked off. The viltrumite rushed like lightning towards his opponent.
With a deafening battle-cry, Omni-Man threw out a punch directed at Omega's cheek. The masked hero read the attack easily and turned his body to the side, evading the blow.
For thousands of years Nolan had travelled through the galaxy. He had conquered worlds and brought civilisations to their knees. The viltrumite's first punch had been a fake. A second, more savage blow, slammed into his opponent's chest.
Omega span backwards through the air. The punch had knocked him back nearly a kilometer. He raised his hand to his cheek. The punch had felt like a mosquito bite.
"Get out of my way!" Nolan cried out furiously. He unleashed another heavy punch. The viltrumite warrior was careful to avoid allowing his opponent the chance to catch his attacks.
Omega met the punch with one of his own. The resulting shockwave echoed like a landslide. The ground shattered further and trees were snapped in two.
"Dad!"
The voice was immediately recognisable. Invincible cut through the skies towards the two warring parties. The viltrumite warrior and the masked hero silently seperated. Omni-Man tried to hide how his arm trembled from the recoil.
Invincible shouted. His voice was full of confusion and anger, "Omega, what are you doing!"
Nolan was finally greeted with the person he'd been searching for. A weight lifted from his shoulders. The empire's mission could finally be fulfilled. He said solemnly, "Son, we need to talk."
Invincible blinked and shook his head, the teenager couldn't understand why his dad was fighting one of the Guardians, "Dad? What's going on!"
The viltrumite warrior exhaled a leaden breath. His brow clenched and then released, "This isn't how I wanted to do this, but I don't have a choice."
Omega floated silently alongside the father and son. In the surveilance room deep beneath the pentagon, Cecil and Debbie listened intently. Debbie stared at her husband. The man she knew, the man she'd fallen in love with, seemed like a distant memory.
"It's time for you to know where I really come from." Nolan said.
The viltrumite started to recall the world he'd left behind. His attention drifted off into memories from decades ago, "I am from Viltrum, but it's not the planet I've told you about."
"We have created a perfect civilisation, but it took all of our strength, determination and courage to get there.
In order for our people to reach their full potential, we had to remove the weak from our society." Nolan said. His voice was thick with conviction. His eyes lit up with pride as he spoke.
"It was a long and difficult process. When it was over, our population was cut in half, but what emerged from the ashes was unstoppable.
By the time I was born, Viltrum was already the greatest empire in our galaxy."
Nolan paused, "We decided to make it the only empire in our galaxy."
"Once I was old enough, I joined the war effort. It was hard, but I believe in our cause. Some species resisted of course, but no one could withstand us for long.
Soon our empire encompassed thousands of planets. But as our territory grew, our forces were stretched thin and our expansion stopped. We needed a better, more efficient way to conquer worlds."
Hundreds of miles away, Debbie gasped. She started to cry. Nolan's words shattered her belief in everything he'd told her. Twenty years of marriage. Twenty years of lies.
Cecil muttered under his breath. It was rare to come across someone who was as good of a liar as he was.
"Our most trusted officers were each given a planet to weaken by themselves. I, was one of those lucky few." Nolan's shoulders straightened up as he spoke. His demeanour became proud and militant.
A crack suddenly appeared in that pride. The viltrumite lowered his gaze to the ground, "I couldn't tell your mother why I was here. But-"
Nolan lifted his eyes and looked at his son. The faint longing in his voice was replaced by something cold and final, "-But that time has come to an end."
Nolan's conviction returned, "And now, we need to get earth ready to join the Viltrum empire."
Two rows of tears leaked out from Invincible's goggles. The half-viltrumite hero sniffed, his lips quivered. His shoulders were slumped.
Nolan's determined expression faltered. The sadness in the way Mark floated made his chest hurt worse than any of the punches he'd taken in the fight, "Mark. This is good news."
"We can finally do what we were meant to do. Be who we were meant to be!"
Mark finally looked up at his father, "You lied to me."
"You couldn't know the truth. Not until you had your powers. Not until I was sure!"
Mark's voice was raw with emotion, "Sure of what?"
Nolan placed a hand on his son's shoulder. He answered as if were the most natural thing in the world, "Sure you were a viltrumite."
Mark broke away from his father's touch. He said angrily, "So if I wasn't, I'd just be one more human to conquer?"
Mark forcefully wiped the tears from his cheeks. His entire world was spinning and he had no idea how to make it stop, "No! This doesn't make any sense!"
The teenage hero rose closer to his father. His finger pointed straight at his Nolan's face, "You love me! You love mom! I know you do!"
Nolan looked away. His jaw tightened, "Do you have any idea how long we live? The older we get, the slower we age. Viltrumite DNA is so pure you're nearly full blooded You'll live for thousands of years."
"Do you understand what that means? Everyone you know and love will be gone before you even look thirty."
Nolan's voice softened for a moment, "It's not something I want for you."
"This isn't your world. It's theirs. But we can help them. We can stop wars! Eliminate hunger. Give them medical technology centuries ahead of what they have now!"
Mark didn't respond. His silence grated on his father's nerves. Nolan moved closer, his voice was raised and imploring, "We've already been doing it! If it wasn't for you and me, this planet would be in flames! All we have to do, is welcome earth into our empire."
A feeling of guilt made Nolan hesitate. He swallowed, "I do love your mother, but she's-she's more like a pet to me."
"A pet?" Mark's voice trembled.
Nolan placed his hand on his son's shoulder, "This is the only way Mark."