Sighing heavily I hold back the annoyance at my burned hands as Mark gets a phone call.
"Markus, dude we gotta go." He says seriously. Not even using my hero name, that's how I know it's the real deal.
Rex Splode frowns as I stretch my arms. "Fine, leave the cleanup to us." He grumbles as we ignore him.
We both shoot into the sky faster than a normal person can track. Flying on our way to the Pentagon.
"Ass holessssss!"
I hold in a laugh at Rex splodes fading voice as we fly far above the city and into the clouds.
*****
Mark and I enter our dad's hospital room. My heartbeat speeds up as he's finally awake.
"Dad/Dad!" We say at the same time rushing over.
"You're okay!" Mark says as Mom shakes her head.
"No, he isn't. But at least he isn't in a coma anymore." Mom says happily as I sigh. I'm happy he's awake but I'm scared. Scared of what may happen.
Scared of what Dad may be. What if he's under mind control? Or everything he's ever told me, and Mark, a lie.
"Dad you sure got roughed up, what type of villain did this to you?" I question. My eyebrows raised.
He looks at me intensely. His face was neutral but with that same hardened detached look.
"Markus! You shouldn't be asking your father questions about things so early!" Mom scolds me as I nod and rub the back of my head.
"Sorry mom..."
I apologize as Mark hugs Dad hard.
"Ribs ribs!" Dad says urgently as Mark backs away sheepishly.
"Sorry." He mumbles as Dad smiles.
"Mark, Markus. While I was out of it I've heard you two have been busy. I want to hear everything." He says as I smile, but it's strained.
*****
News of the guardians + my Dad being missing has been spreading. It will only be a matter of time before the public learns of their deaths.
A bit above our house Me and Mark float in front of Dad in our casual clothes as he looks at the two of us.
"Show me what you two have, but against each other." He says as I raise an eyebrow.
"You... want us to fight?" Mark questions as Dad shakes his head.
"No, a quick spar. See how much you've improved in this month." He says as I shrug.
Looking to my twin. I brush my hair out of my face and wait for him to make the first move. My arms crossed as Mark seems to struggle to take the initiative.
After a small amount of time though he charges. Fast, but slower than me. And way slower than Natasha.
Deciding to play passive I dodge my brother's charge calmly. He shoots past me in surprise before turning to me slowly.
"Dude, I know that's not as fast as you can go. Do I look like someone you can hold back on?" I chastise my younger twin who sighs.
"Fine, let's do this."
That makes me smile. I clench my fist as we make eye contact. If he won't hold back neither will I.
In a burst of movement we vanish, using speed we would never use against the villains we run into. As there's no reason to.
But against each other? It's fair game.
-BOOM!!-
Me and Mark meet fist to fist as the air ripples. Disengaging I shoot around him. Circling him as he charges blindly.
Expecting the lack of patience from my less experienced twin, I anticipate his blind charge and counter in kind.
Catching his fist. I outstretch his arm and guide him forward. My other arm goes under his elbow as I toss him away.
As my brother goes flying away I shoot forward after him. My fist meets his face hard as an explosion of wind happens on impact.
-Spurt-
I cringe as I feel Mark's nose bleed. Floating away Dad speaks again.
"All right that's enough," he says as me and my brother pause. Looking at him as Mark wipes his nose.
"You two are even in physical strength and Markus has the advantage in speed. Your issue Mark is that you're still too tense when you fly. Relax," Dad critiques Mark who grumbles a bit.
"You two are the first twin-born Viltrumites in thousands of years. So it's safe to say you two will always be about equal in raw power you're entire lives.
But some things separate you two that were recently made abundantly clear to me."
Dad's eyes scan me and Mark as he furrows his brows.
"The difference between the two of you is instinct and skill. Markus leans more into his Viltrumite instincts. He fights without thinking but not foolishly.
That's one of the things that makes him a better fighter between the two of you Mark. The other is not so much your fault. Markus is more skilled."
I nod, I've been trained by the best in hand-to-hand combat since we have a good amount of money cause of Dad's hero work and Mom's real estate.
But I'm barely above average at fighting in my opinion. But that's better than nothing as Mark has never trained himself in the art of hand to hand.
He beats villains by just straight overpowering them. But when fighting me. Even while not holding back. He's on the losing end cause I'm more skilled and just as strong.
"His training before getting his powers gives him the edge when you two fight. In a fight of who falls first, I can tell you now Mark that you lose 10 times out of 10
But we can change that. You two are special. Twin brothers. You two need to be equal in everything and always on the same page. Then you will be true forces to reckon with."
Dad uncrosses his arms his face serious. But a calm smile on it as well.
"Come at me, don't try too hard. But just enough." I look to Mark who nods at me.
We shoot toward Dad at full speed. He has an uncharacteristic grin on his face as we coordinate with each other.
I let Mark charge first my twin crashing into Dad both his fists outstretched as Dad blocks him with his forearms crossed.
While that's happening I zip in and land a kick to Dad's ribs sending him back a bit as his smile widens.
"Woah, you two fight hard. If you could hurt me this would be bad" Dad taunts as I move ahead of Mark.
My fist meets his raised arm as he smirks before Mark lands a hard punch that sends him backward.
Dad rubs his jaw a bit that one stinging but we still can't draw blood.
"Looks like we can hurt you!" Mark taunts me as I smile slightly.
"Yea, you're fucked old man." I chide in as Dad laughs
"Heh, not bad. But you have to be able to take a punch as well-" Dad moves to punch Mark as I get in front to block for my brother but we're interrupted.
"Nolan!" I hear Mom's voice call as the three of us look down.
There's mom with her arms crossed and Cecil a few paces behind her as I sigh.
****
"We picked this up near Mars, an hour ago. He's back" Cecil raises a mysterious device towards our TV that projects a blurry image of a green and orange blur shooting through space.
"With the guardians gone, we're gonna need you to handle him, Nolan," Cecil says calmly as Dad sighs.
"I'll stop him." Dad's voice is firm but Mom's face shifts.
"Nolans been back a week! He shouldn't be doing anything right now" she interjected as I nodded.
Mark and I have the same idea but I beat him to the punch.
"I'll handle him," I say as Dad looks at me. His gaze is hard but warm.
"You should be able to handle him." He says with a nod as I grin
"Hell be here in twelve minutes." Cecil chimes in as Mom looks concerned.
"Nolan, how will he breathe in space?" She questions Dad who smirks.
"That's the thing. We don't."
****
In my Sentinel suit, I shoot up into the atmosphere at my top speed. A smile on my face as the wind blows my long hair.
Just as I'm about to exit the Earth's atmosphere I take a deep breath. I can hold my breath for maybe 2 hours but that's all I need.
Rising into space I slow down. My eyes Scanning the area warily as I spot a blur in the corner of my eyes
Spinning around I block a heavy double hand slam from an orange alien. The force of the attack makes me grun in effort.
(Hey, you're early! And you shaved your mustache! Nice hair too!) The orange alien's voice is projected in my head as I scowl.
Scowling I shoot forward. Tackling the alien away from Earth.
He's surprisingly sturdy. Punching him in the face he blocks with his forearms as we disengage.
(Not bad! I see you're still not much of a talker!)
The orange alien gets some distance from me with a smile. My two eyes meet his one then we go into action.
Fist meet fist. Knuckles meet knuckle. Each punch kick and block are fluid. Our arms move in no less than blurs that would be too fast for anyone on earth minus about 4 people to be able to track.
We engage in a deadly dance. The orange alien still smiling. Looks like he's not taking this that serious.
Kicking him in the gut he's sent flying toward the moon, but I'm already behind him with my arms raised.
Slamming down into his back I send him away from the moon, he rights himself and recovers disturbingly fast.
Smiling at me even wider his single eye observing me.
(Not bad looks like Uraths champion packs a punch. Let's see if you can take what you Dish though!) His voice resonates in my head as he charges.
'Urath? Did he mean earth or..?' My thoughts are interrupted by the orange alien closing the distance in no less than a second.
He grabs me in a football like tackle(American football nerds) we go crashing into the Moon
My back breaks through the hard rock easily as we shoot right through the body mass of the moon, we emerge on the other side. The dark side of the moon.
My eyes widen as I scan my surroundings, my arms cross as I note my air reserves getting smaller. Looks like he knocked the wind outta me.
But I can hold on for about half an hour that should be enough. Atleast based on my poor estimates.
It's dark, on this side of the moon. The sunlight is obstructed, but I can still see. If that makes sense. Like a cat with night vision.
My vision isn't that affected, it's like being in a dark room. You can still make out figures but can't really see anything.
This allows me to block a punch with my arms crossed in an X as me and the orange alien begin to clash on the dark side of the celestial body.
Our clash grows more intense as I kick him deeper into space. He looks a bit serious.
(You fight different. Are you really the same guy from 3 years ago?) He questions as I raise my eyebrows.
(I think the guy you're talking about is my dad.) I speak back to the telepathic alien for the first time (he's busy so I'm handling you in his place.)
(Oh! That explains it! You're tough! But not even close to as strong as your dad.) The orange alien says as I scowl a bit.
(It's too dark here dude let's talk on the other side,) I suggest as the alien nods.
We fly over to the bright side of the moon where the sun shines on it as I sit down on the celestial body.
(Alrighr dude who are you?) I question as the alien picks up a boulder and sits on it.
(I'm an evaluator from the coalition of planets. To see if your planet has someone capable of defending it from planet conquering monsters and other things.) The alien explains as I nod.
(Dude, I have zero idea what any of that means I'm not even going to lie to you) I respond blankly. The alien raises his eyebrow? I'll assume it's an eyebrow as he digs into his pocket.
(Well you guys signed up for it! Look, request from planet Urath.) The alien shows me a screen showing a different blue planet named urath.
I sigh through our mental link in annoyance.
(Dude this is earth! Not Urath!) I yell through our links as the orange aliens one eye widens almost comically wide.
(Oh... I'm in so much trouble) the alien sits up. His face blank as he outstretched his hand to me.
(Well thanks for letting me know. I'm allen by the way.) Allen introduces himself to me as I smile.
(Sentinel. Nice to meet you Allen.)
We shake hands on the moon before Allen shoots off into space. As he Flys away I notice discomfort growing in my lungs as I shoot back towards earth. Running out of air.