[Third Person Pov]
Marie and The Immortal led the charge toward the airport, racing through the snowy night where Mark was locked in a desperate battle against his father.
From a distance, thick plumes of black smoke billowed upward into the dark sky, mixing with the falling snow. Roaring fires crackled and raged across the ruined landscape. As the group drew closer, the full scale of the catastrophe became horrifyingly clear: the takeoff runway was torn apart and overturned, massive craters pockmarked the tarmac, and twisted debris from destroyed planes lay scattered everywhere like the aftermath of a warzone.
Marie finally spotted her brother. Mark was trapped inside a flickering magical forcefield, down on one knee and panting heavily. Large portions of his costume had been shredded, leaving his chest bare and exposed to the cold. One of his arms hung uselessly at his side, twisted at a gruesome, unnatural angle.
A single devastating punch from Omni-Man shattered the barrier completely. Blue glass-like shards exploded outward in every direction.
Mark desperately extended his good arm, channeling energy through the ring on his finger. A blazing hot stream of pure magical power shot forward.
Omni-Man blurred into motion, dodging the attack with contemptuous ease. He seized Mark’s arm and twisted it violently. Blood erupted from the wound as bones cracked and skin stretched beyond its breaking point.
“ARGHHHHHHHH!!” Mark screamed in agony, practically sobbing. “Dad, please… I know you’re better than this!!”
Pride’s hand reached out and clamped onto Mark’s face with crushing force. “Those are seriously pathetic last words…” she hissed, tightening her grip until blood began trailing down from his eye. “Go on, I’ll give you another chance. Say your proper last words.”
“You want my last words…” Mark growled through gritted teeth, his eyes bloodshot with fury as he glared between his father’s fingers. “‘Look to your left.’”
Omni-Man scoffed. “You seriously think I’m going to fall for such a juvenile—”
Marie’s knuckles crashed violently against his jaw with a thunderous impact. Her skin split open from the force, but the shockwave generated sent Omni-Man stumbling sideways. She flew past him in a blur of motion.
Omni-Man shook off the daze just in time to see The Immortal already upon him. The hero drove both joined fists upward in a powerful spike strike under his chin, launching Nolan backward with tremendous force and sending him crashing into the open sea. Blood trickled from the corners of Omni-Man’s mouth.
“Dude, are you even alive?” Rex asked as Robot landed their hover vehicle nearby. The team quickly disembarked and rushed to help Mark back to his feet.
“Only inside…” Mark responded weakly, blood dripping steadily from his lips.
“Fuck!!” Marie grunted, clutching her injured hand. She winced sharply, flicking her wrist while biting her lip against the pain.
She landed near Mark and couldn’t help but grimace at the sight of him. “You look like absolute shit. I don’t think that’s even a face our mother could love right now.”
“You’re lucky my arms are injured or I would be showing you a very rude gesture,” Mark struggled to reply, his words slurred with pain and exhaustion.
“Be on high alert. He’s on his way back,” The Immortal warned gravely. “We only got him that time because of the surprise attack.”
“Rex, Kate—please take care of Invincible and get him away from here,” Marie said, instantly taking command of the situation. “Robot, Eve—you’re on long-range support. Immortal, you’re with me in close range.”
Everyone moved without hesitation, following Marie’s orders. The Immortal and Marie charged directly at the returning Omni-Man, while Robot and Eve positioned themselves at a safer distance behind them.
Rex took control of the hovercraft as Kate used multiple duplicates to help support and stabilize the severely injured Mark. They sped away from the immediate battlefield.
Just as planned, Eve and Robot maintained their distance, unleashing a relentless barrage of pink and green energy projectiles from their hands.
The Immortal and Marie tried desperately to restrain Omni-Man. Marie grabbed onto one of his powerful arms, shouting, “Come on, Dad! You’re embarrassing yourself! Is this how a Viltrumite is supposed to act?!”
For the briefest fraction of a second, Nolan’s brow creased before it left just as quickly.
“How disappointed do you think Mom is going to be when she finds you like this?!” Marie yelled.
The taunt earned her a brutal punch to the gut. Omni-Man’s fist sank deep, leaving a clear imprint in her stomach. Marie was sent flying backward, crashing hard into the ground and carving a long groove through the debris with her body. Fires raged around her as she curled into a tight ball, clutching her abdomen.
“Well, there goes my plan for children in the future…” Marie coughed weakly. Blood sprayed from her mouth as she forced herself back up on shaky legs.
Nolan wasted no time, driving a spear-hand strike into The Immortal and severing his arm cleanly in the chaotic exchange.
“Your prattling annoys me,” Pride said indifferently at first, though her tone quickly shifted into open disdain. “Battles aren’t won by appealing to sentimentality. They’re won by blood and the death of your enemies!”
Golden ropes suddenly appeared and wrapped tightly around Omni-Man’s leg. Marie yanked hard on the magical tether as she shouted, “I would love to sit down and debate you on the topic of philosophy, but first—get out of my father!”
Omni-Man plummeted from the sky but still managed to land gracefully on his feet. Marie pulled herself forward aggressively, only for Omni-Man to catch her incoming fist effortlessly with one bare hand. With his other hand, he grabbed her face and slammed her down into the ground with brutal force, burying her deep in a pile of rubble and shattered concrete.
“Noblesse!” Eve exclaimed, flying downward at full speed to support her friend.
“Eve—wait!” Robot called out, trying to stop her. He didn’t believe rushing in close was the wisest approach against such an overwhelming opponent.
Eve ignored the warning and pressed on. She encased herself in a full suit of glowing pink armor while summoning a formidable energy sword into her hands.
Omni-Man heard her coming. In one fluid, merciless motion, he grabbed Marie by the leg and used her body like a living flail, swinging her hard into Eve. The devastating impact sent both girls flying backward, crashing together in a painful heap.
“A rib is definitely broken…” Eve wheezed, wincing sharply from the intense pain radiating through her side.
Omni-Man flew straight toward them, intent on finishing the job. But Robot suddenly dropped down directly in front of him, deliberately taking the full brunt of Omni-Man’s incoming fist. The punch went straight through Robot’s mechanical torso.
“Robot, what are you doing?!” Eve shouted in horror as she struggled to push herself back up.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be back,” Robot replied in his usual calm, robotic tone. “Commencing self-destruct sequence.”
His eye lenses flared a brilliant, intense green. Then, without hesitation, Robot detonated in a massive, blinding fireball.
Eve barely had time to conjure a protective forcefield around herself and Marie, shielding them from the worst of the explosion.
“ROBOT!!” both girls shouted in disbelief, their voices raw with shock and grief.
…
“Wait…” Mark said weakly, pushing himself up from Kate’s supportive hold.
“What do you mean ‘wait’? Are you sure you’re not dying? Because you sound and look like you’re dying,” Kate replied, her voice laced with genuine concern as she looked him over.
“Me? Dying?” Mark gave a troubled, pained chuckle, which quickly turned into a coughing fit. “Don’t you know… I’m—”
Rex and Kate both rolled their eyes in perfect unison.
“Inside my pants…” Mark tried again, his limbs still hanging uselessly.
“Is this really the time to be asking for a handy?” Rex scoffed as he parked the hovercraft a safe distance from the battlefield, far enough to stay out of the immediate danger zone.
“Ignore him…” Kate sighed deeply, shaking her head.
“I am… Grab the thing in my right side pocket,” Mark clarified, shifting painfully in his seat to give Kate better access.
Kate reached in and pulled out a yellow sheet of paper. “A talisman?” she asked, flipping it over in her hands curiously.
“A healing talisman,” Mark explained weakly. “There were three. That one’s my last one…”
“You mean to tell me you used up two other healing items and you still look like you got run over by a train?” Rex asked incredulously, snatching the talisman from Kate’s hands.
Kate immediately snatched it right back. “So how do I use it? Do I just rip it or something?”
“Place it like a tag anywhere on my body…” Mark replied, wincing as he fought back the tears threatening to spill from the pain.
Kate shrugged and pressed the talisman firmly onto his back.
Almost immediately, Mark’s injuries began to recede as if being pulled back into his skin. The talisman darkened rapidly around the edges as it worked. His arms audibly corrected themselves with sharp, unsettling cracks. Bones realigned, skin re-knitted, and muscles mended. Mark grunted loudly, sucking in sharp breaths through clenched teeth as the intense healing process ran its course.
By the time the talisman finished its work, it had turned pitch black and crumbled into ashes. Mark confidently jumped off the hovercraft. The talisman had healed his wounds but hadn’t restored his destroyed clothing, leaving his chest bare against the cold winter air.
He rolled his shoulders in small, testing rotations, the barrier amulet still hanging from his neck. His breath came out in visible white clouds in the freezing night.
Kate blinked in surprise at the sudden show as she wasn't expecting it and felt her face grow faintly warm as she looked at him.
“Darn, I’ll have to be more careful now…” Mark muttered after thoroughly stretching his body. ‘Billy did warn me to use them sparingly, but it was against my dad. I’m sure he’ll understand.’
“Thanks for the help,” Mark said with a grateful nod to Rex and Kate. Without another moment’s hesitation, he blasted off at full speed, flying straight back into the heart of the fight.