"Honey, that fight, we-" Olivia couldn't find any more words. She'd watched on TV as Clark had fought with that alien warrior. They tore through the city around them as if it were made of paper.
David rested a hand on her shoulder, "We're proud of you, son. You should be proud of yourself as well. You did your best."
The family of three were getting ready to eat dinner. Clark was sat down, staring at his reflection in his plate, while his parents took the meal out of the oven. He'd fought Battle Beast yesterday, they hadn't eaten together then, he'd came home and collapsed straight into bed, exhausted. When he fell asleep, he dreamed that he was drowning in an ocean of blood.
"Thanks, yeah, I'm proud." Clark replied, he forced himself to smile.
Dinner was quiet. Clark moved the food mechanically from his plate to his mouth. He'd sat through his lessons earlier in the day in the same way, there, but not really present.
When Clark had finished his plate, he stood up quickly, "Thanks for dinner! I gotta go train!"
Olivia opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but Clark was already out the door. Her hands were balled up into fists at her sides.
Olivia lowered her head. Tears trickled slowly down her cheeks. David got up and came behind her, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
"He's dealing with things we can't imagine honey. He's a little distracted. That thing-that lion creature-it nearly killed him. He just needs a little time to get back to himself." David comforted Olivia as she wept.
Olivia sniffled, she wiped the tears from her face, but they kept falling, "You're right, I know-I know, it's just-"
She choked back a sob, "-I just miss him."
Hundreds of miles away from his parents, Clark flew through the air. The wind howled past his ears and the sky exploded with deafening claps as he pierced the sound barrier. The noise was a distraction, it made the ache in his chest feel quieter.
'So many people died because of me.' Clark thought to himself.
The initial exhiliration he'd felt after surviving against Battle Beast had worn off in a couple minutes. It was replaced by a sadness that made him feel so so small.
When he'd changed into Battle Beast's body, he'd lost all self awareness. His human cognition, the ability to recognise his reflection in the mirror and view himself as seperate from the rest of the world, was swallowed whole by bloodlust.
He remembered the fight, all of it. When he thought back to that terrible and endless thirst for blood, he felt frightened of what he might've become. If Battle Beast hadn't chosen to leave, he would've continued to fight until death stopped him. And in the process, earth would be destroyed beyond measure.
He hadn't won the fight. And it wasn't a draw.
Clark touched down at Guardian Headquarters. No one else was there. He headed to the gym and started the treadmill. He ran, in his normal body, pushing himself until he couldn't hear the sound of his thoughts.
Meanwhile, at the GDA facility beneath the pentagon, Cecil was heading up a tactical meeting.
Cecil drummed his fingers against the table, "So what have we got?"
The other people present were lead researchers or key figures in the GDA. None of them were known to the public. The meeting was taking place in the white room, a top-secret project that normal people wouldn't be able to see even if they were stood right in front of it.
The head of the biometrics department cleared his throat. He flicked his fingers across the screen of his tablet. A screen on the wall began to play footage of the fight between the Silver Giant, and the alien warrior known as Battle Beast.
"Their bone density exceeds the limit that our machines can calculate. If most of the force from their punches wasn't being absorbed by their bodies, they would've shattered down to the upper mantle." The biometrics head announced. He'd spent his entire career studying superheroes. The fight between the two alien warriors still left him in a cold sweat.
A senior member of the biological testing department, wearing a long white coat, spoke up, "We've tested the residual blood from the battlefield. We've thrown everything at the cells, radiation, extreme temperatures, viruses, nothing works."
Cecil rubbed his temples, he could feel a headache coming on, "So your standard planet destroyer. Only somehow a crappy tinbox like Machine Head manages to hire him."
Everyone at the table kept silent.
Cecil sighed, "So tell me, could this warrior defeat Omni-Man?"
The important figures looked at one another nervously. Eventually, the head of the biometrics department answered, "Well-yes, in direct combat Omni-Man would only be able to last for a few blows. But-"
Cecil cut in forcefully, "And if it wasn't the real Battle Beast?"
Everyone in the room knew who Cecil was referring to.
The biometrics department head stuttered, "Y-yes, the Silver Giant would undoubtedly be able to defeat Omni-Man, even if he doesn't possess the same combat experience as the real Battle Beast. But-"
Cecil slammed his hands down on the table, "Stop with all the damn buts, if you've got something to say then say it!"
The biometrics head swallowed anxiously, "Yes, sorry sir. Bu-I mean-I mean, we've seen how the Silver Giant acts when he takes on Battle Beast's form!
After we'd evacuated as many civillians as we could, we declared the area they were fighting as a state of emergency! We put a complete shutdown on it! The rest of The Guardians weren't allowed within ten miles of them!
The Silver Giant displayed no evidence that he was aware of his actions during the fight! He didn't even react when Battle Beast cut through his tendons! Battle Beast could've killed him at any moment, he never once tried to retreat!
There were no living beings nearby for the Silver Giant's bloodlust to react to. That allowed him to regain his sanity and change into a different body.
But sir, if they fought in a populated area, the Silver Giant could slaughter millions before we evacuated enough people to stop his bloodlust! Omni-Man can fly, if he goes off-planet, the Silver Giant won't be able to catch him, not in Battle Beast's form!"
The biometrics head was breathing rapidly, as if he'd just ran a marathon. His forehead was slick with sweat and his hands trembled. After he'd finished speaking, he slumped back into his chair.
Cecil was silent for a long time.
'We wanted a weapon that could kill Omni-Man. Now we've got one, but if Omni-Man flies off, millions could die and we'd be left with fuck all to show for it.' Cecil thought to himself.
The GDA had contigency plans for every possible scenario. Omni-Man was different. They could throw every weapon in their arsenal at him, and at best they might manage to leave a scratch. The only other option was Mark.
But Cecil knew that Mark didn't have a chance at beating his father. Nolan was stronger, and faster. He'd fought for thousands of years. Mark could never win.
Until the Silver Giant had appeared, Cecil's plan had been to send Mark against his father. It was a suicide charge, but they had no other choice. He'd slaughtered The Guardians, so long as he remained on earth, he was a ticking time bomb. Nolan had already removed earth's strongest and last line of defence. He'd effectively cleared a path to world domination.
Cecil didn't know why Omni-Man had betrayed the Guardians. Since he'd arrived to earth, he'd spent decades protecting the planet from countless threats. He'd saved tens of millions, maybe even billions of lives. And when he slaughtered the guardians, he'd thrown it all away.
His wife. His son. Everyone who'd thought of him as a friend. All of it, gone, in a single night.
They were keeping the truth from Debbie, and Mark, and the public. But they'd find out eventually.
"Meeting adjourned." Cecil declared. He got up and left without another world.
Donald hurried to catch up, "Sir, you were supposed to-"
Cecil raised a hand, he kept walking, "I know what I was supposed to do Donald."
Cecil arrived to the teleporter. He gave an order to the technicians, "Get the Silver Giant's location. Send me to him."
"Yes sir!"
The teleporter began to hum. Hundreds of tonnes of water were released underneath the machine, rapidly cooling the superheated parts before they became scorched and useless.
A high pitched whine echoed inside the teleportation chamber. It was ready. Cecil stepped inside. With a blinding burst of light, he dissappeared.
Clark heard a sudden whooshing noise. He recognised the sound.
Beep!
The treadmill's tracks began to slow. Clark held the decceleration button until it came to a stop. He stepped off.
Cecil and Clark were the only two people inside The Guardian headquarters. Other than their breathing, it was completely silent.
"I need to tell you something kid." Cecil said.
Clark's expression didn't change. Sweat dripped slowly down his neck and shoulders.
Cecil recognised the haunted look in the kid's eyes. He'd seen the same thing in the mirror years ago.
Cecil looked over to the bloodstain on the wall, "Omni-Man killed The Guardians. We've been keeping it under wraps because we didn't have any way of dealing with him. The best we could think of was getting Mark to confront his father. Chances are that his dad would beat him to a pulp."
Before he'd fought Battle Beast, the news would've made Clark feel as if the ground beneath his feet was giving way. But just a day ago, he'd thought that he was going to die. In fact, he hadn't just thought it, he'd felt it, with complete and utter certainity. That feeling had shifted something irreversibly inside of him.
"If I changed into Battle Beast, I could beat him." Clark replied. There was no emotion in his voice, as if he were just stating a common fact.
Cecil looked into Clark's eyes. They were still the eyes of a child, "Would you do it?"
Clark didn't answer immediately. The memories of the fight against Battle Beast, that all encompassing desire for slaughter, replayed in his mind.
When he'd changed into Battle Beast, he'd lost something. In exchange for the strength he needed to survive, a part of him had to be sacrificed. If he changed into that body again, he wasn't sure how much more of himself he would lose.
"Yeah." He answered.
Clark's response was what Cecil wanted to hear. It was the pillar to dozens of newly-drafted contigency plans to deal with Omni-Man. It also made him hate himself even more.
Cecil looked down at his shoes, "I'm sorry kid."
Since the day he'd taken on the role of director, Cecil hadn't once slept through the night. To do his job, to keep the planet safe, he had to slice away parts of his humanity. The job was his whole life.
Clark heard something in Cecil's apology. It was the sound of loss. The emotion was an invisible thread that connected the two of them.
Clark was grieving for the lives lost in the fight against Battle Beast, and for the part of himself that he could never get back. But seeing someone else, who had lost even more than he had, made him feel slightly less alone.
Clark clenched his fists. A spark ignited in his chest, 'I have to keep going. I have to protect people, I have to be there for my parents.'
Clark took a deep breath, "Me too."
Cecil nodded his head. The air around him began to shimmer with energy. The teleporter didn't take him immediately like it usually did.
"This isn't where you need to be kid. Go home, be with your family. They need you, just as much as you need them. Take it from someone who's stood in your shoes for a long, long time." Cecil said.
The energy surged. In a flash of white light, Cecil dissappeared.
Clark was left standing alone in The Guardians headquarters. His cheek suddenly felt wet. He realised that he was crying.
He thought of his parents faces, and the way he'd almost fled from the house after dinner. The world felt too heavy, so he'd ran away. But running away wouldn't fix anything.
'I need to go home.'
Clark switched into Invincible's body. He didn't want to change into the person who'd murdered the Guardians. He lifted off the ground and shot upwards into the sky. The silver mask concealed his tears.