The Protagonist System
352 Surprises All Around

The medical team monitoring Invincible's recovery over the next two weeks, were shocked as his height increased, his muscle mass doubled, then doubled again, and expanded out. His thin face widened slightly, letting him lose the immature look he used to have, and he ate food like he was starving. The changes were added to his file and their boss Cecil Stedman was very interested in them.

Since Mark Grayson was the only half-Vultrimite they knew about, anything that happened was information they needed to have, if only to figure out how to use it against him. They were an agency in charge of the safety of the entire globe, which meant saving them from everyone, even their heroes if they went bad... which was exactly what his dad had done.

Surprisingly, Debbie Grayson didn't notice any of the changes as she visited every day and she looked happier and happier as her son recovered much faster than he had in the past. The bruises faded after only a couple of days, the cuts and abrasions a few days later, the smaller bones in his hands and feet by the end of the week, then finally the major bones by the middle of the second week.

When Debbie was home resting, Cecil met with Mark to give him the good news. He would be released in a couple of days. He was then informed about his father flying out of the solar system on a straight trajectory before they lost the ability to track him, which meant Omni-man was leaving for a long time and might not come back, since there wasn't a whole lot of anything out in that direction.

After explaining how Cecil faked his father's civilian identity's death to cover up Mark's absence from school and Debbie's from work, Cecil brought Mark into the main research room, or the White Room, and explained they drugged the nation's water supply to hide a certain light wavelength from everyone's perception.

Mark was also told about the various threats that the Guardians of the Globe usually fought on a regular basis, which was mostly random giant Kaiju monsters that became a problem their normal armed forces couldn't handle.

When Cecil asked if he could call upon Invincible when he was needed, Mark had refused. The old man sighed with resignation, clearly disappointed, even as all the scientists and soldiers around them at the time had bristled at the rejection and some of them called Mark names for being a coward.

The young man cursed at them as he told them off and warned them to let him finish what he was saying before judging him, even though they had no right to judge him anyway. It was his life and it was his decision if he wanted to waste it by protecting them. That shut them all up, even the soldiers.

Then, Mark turned to Cecil and said he was retiring the Invincible name and his costume, because he didn't want people to associate him with what he and his father did during their fight in Chicago. Mark wanted it laid to rest and to move on from the massacre he was a very unwilling participant in.

With that said, Mark announced a new Global Justice hero would start showing up in different towns and cities when he was needed. He would be named Atlas, with died blond hair, a more iconic costume, and the power to fill in for both Omni-man and Invincible. With the different hair, a bigger build, and a fully exposed and slightly different face, no one would associate a dark haired high school kid with the new hero.

Cecil actually chuckled at the ruse, surprising everyone, and he clapped the young man on the shoulder. “If you can pull that off, we'll do everything we can to support you. Money, resources, training, you name it and it's yours.”

“Thanks, Cecil.” Mark said, gratefully.

“You'll need to up your quick-change game if you're changing your hair every time you put on a costume, though.” Cecil said and let his shoulder go.

“Don't worry, I'll be practising a lot over the next two weeks of my mandatory recovery at home. I won't use any powers unless it's strictly necessary.” Mark responded.

Cecil nodded. “If anything happens before then that needs a new hero's attention, I'll call you.”

“I'll be ready.” Mark agreed.

The pair split on amicable terms and it would become the beginning of a great working relationship that would eventually benefit the entire world.

*

The government car dropped off my mother and I back at the house. I thanked the driver for the lift, earning a surprised look from him, and my mother helped me walk to the front door as the car drove away. I was hamming it up a bit, just in case anyone was watching. She used her keys to open the door and we went inside.

When I turned to ask her what she wanted for a meal, she held a hand up to stop me.

“I'm going to go lay down for a while.” Debbie said and tried to walk around me.

I caught her arm and pulled her into a hug instead. “No, you're not going to avoid me.”

Debbie frowned at me and opened her mouth to order me to let her go.

“No, mom. You're hurting and I'm the only one that knows exactly what you're going through.” I said and scooped her up into my arms. She let out an 'eep' sound and I carried her into the living room. I set her down on the couch and then sat beside her. “Bottling it up isn't going to do either of us any good.”

Debbie tried to glare at me and she barely held it for a few seconds before she sighed and leaned into me and hugged me. She started silently crying and we sat there for a little while as she let it out.

The doorbell rang and I used X-Ray vision to see Amber standing on the step. I sighed and patted my mother's back, which she took as permission to let me go. I dabbed at her face with a napkin before I handed it to her and stood. The doorbell rang again and I walked across the living room and down the short hallway to the front door. I prepared myself for the confrontation and opened the door.

Amber looked startled when she saw me. “MARK!” She gasped and tried to lunge forward to hug and kiss me.

I held a hand out and caught her shoulder to stop her, which startled her again. “What are you doing?” I asked her and held her firmly away from me, despite her grasping hands.

Amber blinked her eyes at me, as if she couldn't believe what I was doing, then she tried to move to the side and hug me again, so I stepped with her and kept my hand on her shoulder.

“Why are you here?” I asked and kept my face blank.

“M-Mark, I... I was... when I heard... and I saw...” Amber stammered and her hands dropped to her side.

“So? Why do you care?” I asked and she caught her breath. “You broke up with me almost a month ago, Amber. What was it you said? Oh, I remember. I made you feel stupid and unimportant because I was busy saving people instead of spending time with you.”

Amber winced at that and looked embarrassed. “I didn't mean it like that.”

“Yes, you did, because you also told me you knew I was a superhero for weeks. The fights we had about it during those weeks were all on you.” I said and her dark skinned face flushed to a darker color. “Just before I left your room for the last time, you told me to fly away, flyboy, or take the stairs, because you really didn't give a shit. You then said you wanted to be alone.” I added and she looked really sad. “Well? What's changed since then? I'm still me and I'm still going to try and save people.”

Amber sighed. “Mark...”

“Don't you still feel stupid and unimportant?” I asked and she looked away from me. “Have you finally realized how unfair you've treated me over something I tried to include you in by admitting the truth, and you blew me off because you already knew. Me baring my soul, endangering myself and my family, didn't mean anything to you and meant everything to me.”

Amber didn't say anything as a tear formed at the corner of her eye.

“By breaking up with me, you thought you were making me suffer for lying to you, and all you did was crush the growing love I had for you. For no reason. Other than you being petty, that is.” I said and she wiped away the tear. “Well, it worked. I suffered for letting you into my life and opening myself up to you. Doesn't that make you happy?”

Amber let out a soft sob and wiped at her face. “No.” She answered. “Mark, I...”

“You can keep your apology and your self-justification to yourself, since we both know you wouldn't be here if I hadn't gone through what you saw.” I said, cutting her off, and she didn't deny it. “Go back to your normal life, Amber. You know that's something I can never do with you, not in this line of work.”

Amber finally turned her head back to look at me and she saw the resolve on my face. She nodded and stepped backwards, getting herself out of my reach. She was half-turned around to leave when two people walked up the walkway to the front door. It was two people I really didn't want to see right now, because I was not in the mood to be nice about what I was going to say to them.

“Mark!” William gasped when he saw me and I noticed he only saw me and not Amber, whom was partially hidden in the shadow of the house's porch. “I'm glad to see you're all right! After everything on the tee-vee about you and Omni-eeee...” He stopped what he was saying when he did notice Amber and rubbed the back of his head. “Ah... hey, Amber.”

I glared at him. “Really, Will? You're letting my secrets out in public again?”

“Huh?” William asked and looked confused.

“You just said...” I barely stopped myself from ranting at him. “You know what? Fuck it. Go ahead and tell the whole world, you dunce. You're going to eventually anyway.”

“Hey!” William and Eve said at the same time.

“Don't you start.” I said pointedly to Eve.

“What did I do?” Eve asked and looked like she was getting angry.

I pointed at Amber. “Just like my supposed best friend Will, you immediately took her side when she dumped me. You didn't even bother seeing things from my perspective and you told me I was wrong and that I deserved it!”

Both Will and Eve opened their mouths to refute that, and they couldn't.

“Yeah, and you were wrong. Amber knows it, I know it, and now you two know it.” I said and crossed my arms. “Is there anything else you want to say to me?”

“You're an asshole.” Eve said and glared at me. “We came over here to make sure you were okay after what happened, not for...” She waved her hand around. “...whatever this is!”

“I was expecting an apology.” I countered and didn't say anything else as I looked expectantly between an angry Eve and a shocked Will. He had fallen silent after my 'supposed best friend' comment.

“You're going to be waiting a very long time for it.” Eve said, her voice low.

I gave her a disappointed look and kept my arms crossed. “Then I should thank you for showing up out of the blue at my house instead of visiting me in the hospital, where you knew I was for the last two weeks recovering from my horrendous injuries.”

All three of them looked guilty, especially Eve, since she could have flown over and visited whenever she wanted and she didn't.

“This welcome home party has been a huge success!” I sarcastically said. “Thank you all for coming.”

The three of them looked surprised at my parting shot, which was why I said it, and I stepped backwards to shut the door in their faces.

I stood there for nearly a full minute and used my telepathy to restrict them from talking about my secret identity. Anytime they were going to mention it, to themselves or anyone else, they would feel guilty about not keeping it a secret. It wouldn't compound and increase into a heavy emotional weight, though. I didn't want to be cruel about it, just give them a reminder for a while.

“That was really mean, Mark.” Debbie said from behind me.

“I know.” I said and turned to look at my mom's disappointed face. “It was the only way to get them to realize they were wrong. When Cecil releases the announcement tomorrow in the news, this will be the conversation they are going to remember first.”

“About your secret identity?” Debbie asked.

“About my former secret identity.” I said and stepped forward to hug her. “It's not such a valuable secret if Invincible isn't a hero anymore after all the injuries he suffered.”

Debbie hugged me back tightly. “Are you sure about that?”

“It's the best way to get past it all, mom.” I said and kissed the top of her head. “For me, for you, and for everyone else. We need to put it behind us and move on.”

Debbie sighed sadly and held onto me. We stood there for several minutes and I watched through the door as Will, Eve, and Amber exchanged sad looks and then went their separate ways. Without me as a common denominator between them, they didn't really have anything in common or had any real reason to spend time together.

“What do you want for supper?” I asked her.

“I'm not in the mood for fast food again.” Debbie said and didn't let me go. “It's all I ate for the last two weeks because I didn't feel like cooking.”

I chuckled. “You still don't.”

“No, I don't.” Debbie agreed.

“Then I'll whip something up for us to share.” I offered.

“Boiling mac and cheese does not count as cooking.” Debbie joked and I chuckled.

“It does for college students.” I responded. “That and ramen noodles. The mountain of salt keeps them coming back for more!”

Debbie chuckled, too. “I think there are hamburger patties in the freezer.”

“Then that's what I'll make.” I said, proudly. “Hockey pucks.”

Debbie laughed and let me go to smack me on the arm. “You are not burning them black!”

I grinned at her for getting the joke right away and took her hand. She let me lead her into the kitchen and we spent the next half an hour prepping everything to have hamburgers and french fries for supper. It was nice to see her smiling after what happened and I would do my best to keep that smile on her face.

*

The world reeled again at the news that the up-and-coming hero Invincible was forced to retire because of the injuries he had suffered at the hands of Omni-man. It was a huge blow, especially to the people that expected the young man to grow into his role as one of the main protectors of the planet.

His friends had taken the news the worst, especially after their confrontation with him in his civilian identity the day before. With the knowledge he was so hurt that he had to give up being a hero, his confrontational behavior made a lot more sense to them. It also made them feel really guilty about how they acted.

They knew they were in the wrong and they had to stew in their guilt until the next time they saw him, which was going to be at school in about a week for both Will and Eve. Amber wouldn't see him at all, not since she knew Mark would intentionally avoid all the places she usually hung around, specifically so he wouldn't see her.

Mark's enforced time off ended fairly quickly, with him training, and he went back to school as if nothing happened. Surprisingly, no one at the school noticed that Mark was a bit taller than he used to be, or that his sweater and loose jeans were hiding a lot more muscle than they used to. Even his regular bully had approached him and gave him a manly hug and told him to stay strong after the death of his dad.

Mark occasionally faked a limp whenever Will or Eve looked over at him in the hallways, making them feel really bad about the whole thing, as well as guilty about not protecting his secret identity better. They also assumed it was tearing him up inside to not be able to help people anymore, especially after the confrontation with Omni-man.

They only shared a couple of classes and Mark made sure to sit as far away from them as he could. He wasn't trying to avoid them, he was just making sure that if they decided to approach him, they did it intentionally and it wasn't only because they were close by and just happened to meet. He wasn't going to make it easy for them to earn his forgiveness.

The first day of school passed without incident, with both Will and Eve not being able to dredge up the courage to cross the proverbial distance between them and Mark to apologize to him. Then the next day happened and also passed by, with Mark eating his lunch alone in the cafeteria with everyone else giving him space, and they couldn't bring themselves to cross the physical distance between them, either.

Was a simple apology too much to ask for? Mark asked himself. Or were there too many things for them to apologize for that made it difficult for them to even start to say they were sorry?

By the end of the week, Mark was truly disappointed with them and didn't bother looking at them anymore. His expectations were pretty much gone at that point and he didn't care if they actually felt sorry or not. They never said anything out loud, no matter how they felt inside, and he couldn't forgive them for something they never apologized for. So, he gave up on them and completely ignored them.

Both Eve and Will noticed the change in Mark's attitude towards them and they realized a little too late that they had waited too long to apologize and try to recover their friendship with him. They had lost it and it was their own fault.