December 2nd, 2015 — Wednesday — Chicago Central Hospital — 3:26 PM
The machine slowed with a low rumble.
The internal lights shut off in sequence, and the platform slid out of the cylinder, bringing Kai back into a room surrounded by monitors, cables, and medical equipment that looked as though it had been gathered from several different departments. On the nearby screens, images of his brain appeared in colored cross-sections, maps of electrical activity, and reconstructions far too detailed for anyone without medical training to understand.
Kai opened his eyes, removed the sensors attached to his head, sat on the edge of the platform, and rubbed the back of his neck.
The door opened.
Elise entered first, a digital folder held against her body. Her stomach was already changing the way she walked, although she still tried to move at the same speed as always. Cosmic came in right behind her, closing the door and scanning the results on the monitors before even looking at Kai.
Kai watched both of their expressions.
"So, how screwed am I?"
Elise almost laughed despite herself, catching it just before it reached her face.
"Well, if you were a normal human, I'd say you had a few hours left to live."
Kai nodded naturally.
"Right. Great news, then."
Elise approached the main monitor and enlarged one of the images. Cosmic stood beside her while she examined the data.
She pointed to a region marked by pale lines and irregular patches. "The lesions in your brain were still practically raw when we ran the tests months ago. Now they're much smaller."
Kai tilted his head, staring at the image as if the difference should have been obvious.
It wasn't.
Elise brought up the previous scan and placed the two side by side.
"This makes it easier."
Now he could see it. In the first scan, the marks spread in thicker lines, almost like cracks. In the new one, several had shrunk or disappeared.
"I still don't understand how you haven't shown any side effects." Elise looked away from the screen and faced him. "With this level of damage, you should have experienced memory problems, disorientation, loss of consciousness... something."
Kai opened his mouth.
The concern on her face stopped the answer before it came out.
Elise was running his scans while managing her own pregnancy. Telling her about the dead friend and the out-of-body states would not make any of that easier.
Kai only shrugged.
Elise narrowed her eyes at the monitor.
"Anyway, your Viltrumite physiology continues to impress me. At this rate of recovery, it shouldn't take long for your body to stabilize completely."
She enlarged another region.
One of the scars had a different color from the rest. The edges looked more recent and inflamed, as if something had pressed against the injury from inside.
"The only thing that concerns me is this one." Her finger traced the mark on the screen. "It's different from the others. It looks like it was put under stress."
Elise turned toward him.
"You've been using that energy again, haven't you?"
Kai did not try to lie.
"Mark and I faced a difficult opponent." He rested his forearms on his knees. "The situation ended badly for the new Guardians and put two of them in the hospital. I used the energy to deal with it."
Elise's expression hardened.
"Kai."
He already knew that tone.
"I told you not to use that energy. Or the eyes."
Kai let his shoulders drop slightly, accepting the lecture before it had even gathered strength.
Elise placed the folder on the counter.
"I know you." She pointed at him, without aggression but leaving no room for mockery. "You lie to yourself that you don't care, and in the end, you sacrifice yourself to help other people."
Kai looked away toward the images. "It wasn't exactly a sacrifice."
"You damaged your brain again."
Elise rested one hand on her stomach and took a deep breath before continuing.
"You need to care more about yourself. How would your mother feel if you had died there?"
The question stripped away every prepared answer.
Kai stayed quiet.
"And besides..." Some of the firmness left her voice. "Cosmic and I care about you."
Elise placed a hand on Kai's shoulder.
"You're going to be our daughter's godfather."
Kai lifted his eyes.
Surprise crossed his face before he could hide it.
"Godfather?"
Elise nodded.
Kai looked at Cosmic, who merely confirmed it with a short movement of his head, as if the decision had already been discussed and settled some time ago.
"Sounds like a good choice." Kai leaned back in the chair. "Someone with a damaged brain as her godfather."
Elise exhaled, finally abandoning the lecturing tone.
"She'll have two responsible parents. You only need to show up for birthdays and not teach her anything criminal."
"So my responsibilities will be limited."
"Extremely."
Cosmic let out a low laugh.
Elise retrieved the folder and returned to the scan.
"The fact is that, even with this new stress, your brain is still recovering. Your body is gradually adapting." She moved through more data on the screen. "Provided you don't get yourself killed before then, it's possible that, in a few years, you'll be able to use that energy without suffering such severe damage."
Kai pointed to a sentence on the screen that he did not understand.
"Does that mean I'm cleared to use it?"
"It means the opposite."
Elise stepped away from the monitor and rested a hand against her lower back. Her face tightened for an instant.
"Damn it. I need to use the bathroom again."
Kai looked at her stomach.
"I'm guessing she's winning the argument in there."
"She's using my bladder as a pillow."
Elise picked up her bag from the chair and walked toward the door.
"I'll be right back. Don't leave without me."
The door closed behind her.
The silence lasted only long enough for Cosmic to follow the sound of her footsteps down the corridor. Once he was certain Elise was far enough away, he turned his attention back to the monitors.
"You truly haven't experienced any side effects?"
Kai watched the bluish reflection of the images on the screen.
"I didn't want to worry Elise."
Cosmic went still.
Kai continued before he could insist.
"But I have."
"What kind?"
Kai leaned his shoulders back against the chair, keeping his voice as casual as if he were describing a headache.
"Honestly? All of them."
Cosmic turned his entire body toward him.
"Dissociative states?" Kai counted on his fingers. "Well, unless you consider seeing two other versions of yourself outside your own body normal, then yes."
Any trace of lightness vanished from Cosmic's face.
"Hallucinations?" Kai raised another finger. "Unless you think seeing the ghost of a dead friend is normal, that one too." His hand lowered. "And to make it worse, sometimes it feels like he's the one in control."
Cosmic remained silent for several seconds, concern showed plainly on his face now.
"I considered asking why you didn't tell me sooner." He placed both hands on the counter. "But knowing you, I should probably be surprised you told me now. I could have helped."
Kai did not argue. "I know."
"How are you dealing with it?"
Kai looked toward the door Elise had left through.
"It's fine. I'm much better now and I know when it's going to happen, so I can keep control." He touched the side of his head. "We already know that as long as I don't overuse the Void's energy, everything stays fine."
Cosmic studied him a moment longer. When he spoke again, his voice had regained its usual calm.
"You sound convinced of that."
"I am."
Cosmic slowly let out a breath. "I believe you. That does not mean I believe whatever is happening inside your head." His gaze returned to the images of Kai's brain. "And it is a fact that Elise said your body is adapting. But tell me if the side effects become more frequent or get worse again."
The door opened.
Elise entered while adjusting her coat and found the two of them silently staring at the monitor.
Cosmic switched to another image.
Kai straightened in the chair.
Elise looked between them.
"Did I miss something?"
"Nothing important," Kai answered.
Cosmic nodded with enough naturalness not to raise suspicion.
Elise narrowed her eyes, but decided not to pursue the argument.
Cosmic closed part of the scans and turned toward Kai.
"Didn't you say you would bring your brother and that you wanted to tell him?"
Kai rested his elbow on the arm of the chair.
"I did."
Elise pulled over another chair and sat down carefully.
"Then why didn't he come?"
Kai looked at Cosmic with his usual practicality.
"He's angry with me. After we came back from Upstate, he wanted to know why I said I didn't trust Amber." Kai shrugged. "The conversation didn't end well."
Cosmic raised an eyebrow.
Elise asked, "What did you say?"
"That she had every right to be angry about the lies." Kai kept his eyes on the images of his own brain. "But she already knew who he was and still used his disappearance during the attack against him. Then, while he was looking for William, she let some guy keep flirting with her."
Kai paused.
"Mark is young and doesn't see it. He still thinks wanting something to work is the same as seeing it clearly."
Elise crossed her arms over her stomach.
"Wait. You're twins. You're the same age. And that was enough to make you fight?"
Cosmic remained silent.
Kai realized his mistake when Elise's eyes moved from him to Cosmic.
Cosmic did not change expression.
So Kai continued before she could ask more.
"He accused me of thinking the two of them wouldn't last."
Elise waited.
Kai kept his tone simple, without provocation.
"I only confirmed it."
"I still do not understand all the rules you create for relationships on Earth." Cosmic tilted his head slightly. "But I understand that you were trying to protect him."
Elise turned toward him.
"You do?"
She returned her attention to Kai. "That's a horrible thing to say about your brother's girlfriend."
"I wasn't going to say anything else. He was the one who brought it up." Kai looked away toward the monitor. "When he deleted Kiana's message from my phone to protect me, he also decided what was best for me."
Elise narrowed her eyes.
"So you decided to do the same thing?"
"It wasn't the same." Kai kept his tone simple. "But it was for the same reason. The difference is that I said it directly to him. He just didn't like the answer."
Elise held her serious expression for two seconds before shaking her head.
"Men."
Cosmic began shutting down the monitors before the conversation could become another lecture. Elise organized the results in the folder, separating the files. Kai removed the final examination patch attached near his temple and threw it into the trash.
While putting everything away, Elise mentioned that she still had several medical appointments and visits to make during their days in Chicago.
Before closing the folder, she pointed at Kai.
"You're having dinner with us while we're here."
There was no question in her tone.
Kai picked up his coat from the back of the chair.
"You think I'd miss out on free food?"
Elise looked satisfied.
The three of them left the room together.
Elise walked in the middle, complaining about the hospital, the parking lot, and the daughter who had not even been born yet but already refused to let her sleep properly. Cosmic carried the folders and listened to everything with the patience of someone accustomed to it.
Kai followed beside them, responding with short remarks and enough mockery to earn several empty threats from Elise.
To anyone in the corridor, they looked like nothing more than a family leaving a medical appointment.
Elsewhere — A Distant Galaxy
Allen pushed against the side of the ship, his body angled into the hull while debris passed around him at high speed.
Meteorites and fragments of rock crossed space in every direction, some large enough to tear the ship in half. Allen adjusted his thrust with every shift in trajectory, guiding the vessel between the larger fragments until they reached a clear region.
Once the last fragment passed safely away, he released the hull and moved a few yards back.
His voice entered the passengers' minds directly.
"There. You're safe now. I'll be going!"
Allen raised his wrist and checked the device attached to his forearm. Data flashed in front of his single eye.
He checked the remaining data on the device, then looked in the direction of Earth without quite stopping. Not yet.
He had one more mission to finish first.
His body leaned forward.
The next instant, Allen shot through space and disappeared among the stars.
Minutes Later — Back on Earth, Downtown Chicago — 4:20 PM
Kai left the hospital and walked along the sidewalk without hurry, his hands inside his coat pockets.
Downtown was crowded. People left office buildings, crossed streets before the lights changed, and gathered in front of coffee shops. Car horns mixed with the sounds of buses, footsteps, and conversations. Everything kept functioning as though the world did not hide laboratories beneath universities and human beings transformed into machines.
The image returned without being summoned.
His hand tearing through the metallic structure.
The head separating from the body.
The creature collapsing before Mark shouted for him to stop.
Kai tightened his hands inside his pockets.
Why was that my first choice?
He could have restrained it. He could have examined the situation for one more second. He had more than enough speed, strength, and perception to do so.
Even so, he had attacked to kill.
Another memory followed immediately.
He remembered the warehouse before he remembered the faces. The way everything had simplified. Enemies. Threats. The Void making it easy in a way that still felt wrong to think about.
Kai slowed his pace.
How much of that was the Void?
He stopped near a corner, watching the movement on the other side of the street. A man held a store door open for a woman. A deliveryman argued with a taxi driver. Two children pulled their mother toward a display window.
Kai started walking again.
Mirage had died because of them.
So had Viktor.
Those men had kidnapped, tortured, and killed. They were not innocent.
They were garbage.
His jaw tightened.
They deserved it.
Kai crossed another two blocks before recognizing the building ahead.
The commercial building that had belonged to Machine Head occupied a large portion of the street, tall, mirrored, and expensive. The windows destroyed during the fight against Battle Beast had already been replaced. Employees entered and left through the lobby as though nothing had ever torn through walls, shattered entire floors, and left heroes in the hospital only weeks earlier.
Kai slowed down and lifted his eyes.
A black car stopped in front of the entrance.
The driver stepped out first and opened the rear door.
Titan emerged wearing a tailored dark suit. There was no hoodie, no beanie, no trace of the man who had asked for help on top of a building. He adjusted his jacket, looked at the facade, and walked toward the entrance.
Two employees received him immediately.
One opened the door.
The other lowered his head respectfully.
Titan entered like the owner of the place.
Kai went still.
Nolan's voice returned with perfect clarity.
He's trying to use you to climb the hierarchy.
Kai watched Titan until the glass doors closed behind him.
His jaw locked.
His hands closed inside his pockets.
"Bastard."
He crossed the street, entered the first side alley, and disappeared between the buildings.
Ten minutes later...
The new glass on the upper floor lasted less than a week.
CRACK!
Infinity tore through the window in an explosion of shards. The wind invaded the office with him, scattering documents and knocking objects from the newly replaced desks.
One employee threw himself behind a couch.
Another froze, clutching a folder to his chest.
"Damn it!" someone shouted from the back of the room. "They just fixed the glass!"
Kai did not even look.
Titan stood near the main desk, examining documents with two men in suits. The moment he recognized Infinity, he dropped the papers and let the transformation cover his body.
Stone climbed over his arms, chest, and face.
"Wait—"
Kai crossed the room.
"You used us."
Blue eyes glowed behind the mask.
His fist struck Titan's face before he could finish raising his guard. The layer of stone cracked, fragments scattering across the carpet.
The second blow destroyed what remained of the protection over his face.
Titan was ripped from the floor and launched across the office. His body tore through a desk, knocked over a shelf, and continued dragging expensive furniture until it struck a column.
A purple flash appeared near the upper part of the room.
Isotope materialized on the interior walkway. The moment he saw Kai, he stepped back.
The corridor doors opened at the same time.
Security guards entered with their weapons raised, spreading across the entrance without finding a safe angle to fire.
Kai ignored all of them.
Titan was trying to stand when Kai reached him.
One hand closed around the collar of his suit and lifted him. Titan's feet left the floor as Kai hovered a little over three feet above the carpet, holding their faces at the same height.
The guards adjusted their aim.
Titan raised one hand.
"Easy! Don't shoot!"
The guards stopped.
Kai glanced at the weapons.
The blue in his eyes intensified.
"Smart choice."
Titan gripped Kai's wrist but did not try to free himself. He knew he couldn't.
"You don't understand, kid." His voice came compressed by the collar. "I am the best thing that ever happened to this city."
Kai's fingers tightened around the fabric.
The jacket's seams creaked.
"The best thing?"
"I know the streets. I know the people. I know who needs to disappear and who needs protection." Titan held his gaze, difficult as it was. "With me in charge, this city will improve."
It did nothing to cool Kai's anger.
He lifted Titan another three feet.
The guards retreated without lowering their weapons. Isotope remained on the walkway, body tense, prepared to disappear at the first wrong movement.
Kai looked at the man trapped in his hand.
A faint pressure began to form around his fingers.
Blue was ready, screaming to be used.
All he had to do was decide Titan was the same as the cartel men. Another criminal. More garbage using family, the city, and good intentions to justify his own power.
Titan noticed something change.
The confidence in his face gave way.
For an instant, no one in the room moved.
Kai stared at his own hand clenched around the collar.
Is the Void messing with my head...
Or is this me?
The question cut through the anger without erasing it.
The blue eyes remained lit, but the pressure around his fingers stopped growing.
"You think you're better?"
Titan did not answer.
Kai brought his face closer.
"Then this is how it's going to work." His voice came low, cutting through the silence of the room. "If you step out of line, if you start doing the same things he did... I'll end you myself."
The glow in his eyes gradually faded.
Kai released the collar.
Titan dropped to his knees, one hand touching the floor to regain his balance. He coughed once before lifting his head.
Kai landed in front of him.
His gaze passed over Isotope, loaded with disgust and contempt.
Then he turned away.
The employees moved out of his path. The guards kept their weapons raised, but no one tried to stop him.
Kai shot through the other window.
The glass exploded outward from the building, and Infinity disappeared into the Chicago sky.
During the flight, Nolan's voice returned once more.
They're the kind who learn by making mistakes. And they keep making them until there's nothing left.
Kai passed over the buildings, increasing speed.
Good thing we were here.
Downtown shrank beneath him.
Inside the destroyed office, Titan stood and adjusted his torn jacket. Dust and small fragments of stone were still falling from his shoulders.
He looked at the second broken window.
"This guy is dangerous."
Isotope descended from the walkway in a purple flash and appeared beside him.
Titan ran his fingers over the cut on his face, where the stone layer had not completely stopped the first blow.
"For a moment, I thought he was going to kill me."
Isotope followed the point in the sky where Kai had disappeared.
"We need to do something about that."
Titan stayed silent for several seconds.
The employees were beginning to stand. The guards lowered their weapons. Wind entered through both shattered windows, scattering what remained of the documents across the floor.
"We need someone capable of dealing with people like him."
Behind them, someone looked at the shards spread across the office and cursed.
A Few Days Later — December 8th, 2015 — Guardians Headquarters — 7:18 PM
The headquarters' main area was silent when the doors opened.
Black Samson entered first.
He wore his old uniform, the same one from when he still possessed his powers, now fitted to his body as if he had never stopped wearing it. Energy ran beneath the fabric in faint pulses, soft lines of light following his arms whenever he moved his hands.
Monster Girl came right behind him.
She looked slightly younger than she had before the fight. Her small face and thin arms completely concealed the body capable of transforming into a massive creature. Even so, she walked firmly, without hesitation or any need for support.
The moment they took a few steps forward, the lights came on.
"Surprise!"
Rex, Dupli-Kate, Shrinking Rae, and Frost were spread around an improvised table. A crooked banner hung over the monitors, with WELCOME BACK written in letters far too large. Robot remained a little farther away, although his position beside Monster Girl made it clear that he was pleased by her reception.
Monster Girl stopped.
Her eyes moved over the banner, the group, and then — almost inevitably — landed on the table.
Several cartons of milk.
"Is this some kind of joke?"
Rex raised his hands.
"Before you use my body to test whether the walls are still reinforced, I wasn't the one who chose the packaging."
One of the Kates picked up a carton and offered it to Monster Girl.
She did not take it.
"I was in a coma, came back younger, and you decided to welcome me with milk?"
"It's good for your bones," Shrinking Rae commented, holding back a smile.
Monster Girl turned her face toward her.
Rex pulled one of the cartons from the table and opened the top. Instead of milk, the smell of alcohol spread through the air.
"I replaced the contents."
Monster Girl looked inside.
Then at him.
The corner of her mouth began to rise.
"You filled milk cartons with alcohol?"
"I prefer to think I improved the product."
Monster Girl snatched the carton from his hand.
"Now it makes sense."
The Kates began distributing the others. Frost took one, opened it, and smelled it before trying it. Shrinking Rae raised hers in a toast, while Rex was already drinking as if expecting formal recognition for the idea.
Robot approached Monster Girl.
"You should not consume alcohol while you are still recovering."
She took a sip while looking directly at him.
"Then don't tell the doctors."
Robot remained silent.
Rex pointed at him.
"That was a yes."
Frost set her carton on the table and turned her attention to Black Samson. Since he had entered, small electric discharges had moved across his fingers whenever he touched a metal surface.
"Is it true your powers came back?"
Black Samson closed his hand.
Energy concentrated around his fist, making the nearby lights flicker. He opened his fingers again before damaging anything.
"It appears so."
Frost raised her eyebrows.
"You nearly died and came back stronger?"
Monster Girl set the carton down harder than necessary.
"Of course he did."
Everyone looked at her.
She pointed at Black Samson, indignant enough to turn the complaint into a performance.
"They cracked my skull, I went into a coma, and I lost several more years of my life." Then she pointed at herself.
Black Samson crossed his arms, already seeing where this was going.
Monster Girl pointed at him again.
"But he suffers severe trauma, nearly dies, and gets his powers back."
Rex took another sip.
"When you put it like that..."
"Life is unfair."
Monster Girl picked up the altered milk carton again.
Around the two of them, the Guardians resumed talking, pushing cartons across the table, arguing over who had made the banner, and pretending no one had spent the last several days waiting for news from the hospital.
Robot remained beside Monster Girl.
Over the Following Days — Chicago
Cosmic and Elise remained in the United States.
The original plan had been to stay only as long as necessary for her exams and Kai's, but the pregnancy already made long trips an unnecessary risk. After several examinations of the unusual pregnancy, they decided to remain in Chicago until their daughter was born.
Kai spent most of his free time with the two of them. The rest, he spent with Nolan. Apparently, the two had similar tastes in movies and television shows. Since Mark spent his time with Amber, watching something together and ordering food became a routine.
As for Cosmic and Elise, sometimes Kai was called to help with something.
He carried furniture into the apartment and helped assemble equipment that Cosmic thought might be different enough for someone not from Earth to put together incorrectly. Kai began visiting the apartment without needing an invitation.
He would walk in, take something from the refrigerator, and sit down as if he already knew where everything belonged. While he helped Cosmic deal with a pregnant Earth woman, Cosmic always asked about side effects, about the eyes, and about any sign that the hallucinations were becoming worse. Kai answered just enough to keep every visit from turning into a consultation.
And little by little, the place stopped feeling temporary.
December 15th, 2015 — Grayson House — 6:34 PM
Mark was sitting on the couch with Amber when the emergency phone vibrated on the table.
Both of them looked at the device.
Mark began to stand, but the screen lit up before he reached it.
INFINITY RESPONDING.
His body relaxed.
Amber noticed the change and leaned against his shoulder again.
"So you don't have to go?"
"No." Mark looked at the message one more time. "Kai's already on his way."
Situations like that repeated throughout the rest of the month.
When Kai answered a call, Mark stayed.
Gradually, the two stopped appearing together everywhere.
Nolan approved.
He saw it as part of the training he had been trying to impose for weeks. They needed to trust their own strength, make decisions without immediately looking for their brother, and deal alone with problems they once would have faced together.
"It's better this way," he commented one night, watching Mark return alone. "You need to know who you are without depending on each other."
The problem was that Nolan had started using Kai as the standard Mark was expected to meet. Every comparison fed a resentment Mark did not want to admit, and the silence between the brothers grew a little easier each time.
While Nolan was satisfied, Debbie noticed something else.
Nothing serious. They still shared a room and still provoked each other during meals. But there were small silences where comments would once have existed. Mark spent more time with Amber. Kai disappeared to visit Cosmic and Elise or answer some call without waiting for his brother.
Debbie watched without applying pressure.
And on the nights when she was alone in the bedroom, her eyes eventually returned to the closet.
Damien Darkblood's coat remained in the same place.
She had not found the courage to throw away the notebook.
She had not examined every page again either, but its presence was enough. Whenever Nolan came home late, the memory of the bloodstained uniform returned. Whenever Kai returned from a mission without providing many details, the photographs from the massacre followed immediately behind.
The date still proved Damien had been wrong about him.
That was what Debbie held on to.
Even so, sometimes she looked at her son for a second longer.
Then she would adjust his shirt collar, ask whether he had eaten, or complain that he had entered the house covered in dirt.
The doubt was not yet strong enough to change the way she treated him.
But it already existed.
December 25th, 2015 — Grayson House — 8:11 PM
Christmas dinner covered almost the entire table.
Debbie had prepared enough food for twice the number of people present and kept emerging from the kitchen with new dishes despite everyone's protests. Nolan was opening a bottle of wine. Mark and Amber sat side by side. Kai occupied the chair across from them, moving food around his plate while listening to half the conversation.
For a few hours, everything went well.
The problem began when Amber mentioned a trip she wanted to take with Mark during the break.
Amber rested her arm against Mark. "We're trying to find a week when Mark can go without disappearing."
The comment came as a joke, but the way her eyes shifted toward Kai made it seem like she wanted him to take over whatever Mark would normally do and leave him free.
The corner of Kai's mouth moved before the words did.
"Of course. Mark has the terrible habit of running off to save the world. He's awful."
Amber did not seem bothered.
It was just Kai being Kai.
But Mark still resented their argument at the beginning of the month, along with Nolan's growing habit of comparing the two of them.
Mark looked at him, his expression tightening. His hand touched the table with slightly more force than necessary, just enough to get Kai's attention.
Kai lifted his eyes from his plate.
Debbie stopped serving the potatoes. Nolan remained with the bottle tilted over his glass, watching both sons.
Mark set down his fork.
"Can you not do that today?"
Kai tilted his head.
"Do what?"
"Keep waiting for her to do something wrong."
"I'm not waiting."
"You said you don't trust her, and you still haven't apologized."
Kai went back to moving the food around his plate.
"Because I still think the same thing."
Amber removed her hand from Mark's arm.
"Mark, you don't need to."
But he was already staring at his brother.
"You don't even know her that well."
Kai said nothing. He only maintained his calm posture, which seemed to irritate Mark even more.
Mark pushed his chair back a few inches.
"Just because Kiana left and traded you for some Korean actor doesn't mean Amber's going to do the same thing to me."
Some of the sound left the table.
Debbie reacted immediately.
"MARK!"
Amber looked at Mark, surprised by what had escaped before he could think.
Kai remained motionless.
There was no obvious change in his face. No anger. No pain.
Only his fingers stopped around the fork.
Nolan continued watching in silence.
Mark was breathing harder now, waiting for a response that would justify his own outburst.
Kai set down the utensil.
"That was unnecessary of me. I'm sorry, Amber."
The simplicity of it disarmed part of Mark's anger.
Kai picked up his glass and took a sip.
Debbie tried to restore the table's movement.
"Let's leave this conversation for another day."
Kai nodded and resumed eating.
He knew anything said at that moment would only make the night worse.
The conversation gradually changed, first through Debbie's effort, then because no one wanted to turn Christmas into a larger fight. Amber remained quieter. Kai participated whenever someone asked him something, never returning to the subject.
Mark also tried to act normally.
But the guilt began before dessert.
Every time he looked at his brother, he expected to find some reaction. Kai offered none. He kept the same expression as always, as though Kiana's name had touched nothing.
That made it worse.
Later, while Amber helped Debbie put away the dishes and Nolan had left the room, Mark found Kai near the stairs.
Kai walked past him.
Mark remained where he was.
The justification came more easily than the apology.
He started it. I'm right.
Even so, the weight remained.
December 28th, 2015 — Mauler Twins' Laboratory — 10:16 PM
The green liquid began draining from the tank.
Pumps worked beneath the floor, pulling the fluid through tubes connected to the base while the human form inside slowly descended. The body was complete now, no longer the unfinished collection of exposed tissue and half-formed organs that had occupied the tank weeks earlier.
It looked like a child approaching adolescence.
Light-brown hair. A young face. The arms, legs, and every small detail had been formed exactly like Rex, though several years younger. Sensors covered the chest, forehead, and wrists, monitoring a heart that was already beating despite the lack of consciousness.
One of the Maulers followed the readings on the computers.
"Growth complete. Minimal and stable brain activity. No genetic rejection."
The other watched the body through the glass.
Robot remained several yards behind them, motionless inside the armor.
"Your progress exceeded projections."
The Mauler at the computer turned in his chair.
"I don't want praise. I want payment."
The twin beside the tank extended one large hand.
"We fulfilled our side of the agreement. Now fulfill yours."
Robot opened a compartment in his forearm and removed a small device resembling a flash drive, coated in dark metal. He placed it on the workbench between them.
"The Immortal's body is being held in a GDA facility. The coordinates and technology you requested are stored on this device."
Both Maulers looked at it.
"That concludes my side of the agreement."
Behind them, two stretchers had been positioned side by side.
The young body was removed from the tank and placed on the first one. Thin cables were connected to the sides of its head, leading to a central machine filled with processors and neural-monitoring panels.
Beside it, a second tank remained active.
Too small to hold an ordinary adult.
Inside it, submerged in transparent liquid, was Robot's true body.
Deformed flesh compressed around a fragile, incomplete frame. The arms were far too thin, curled against the chest. The underdeveloped legs would not have had the strength to support his weight. The disproportionate head rested inside a brace, surrounded by breathing tubes and connections that kept the brain active.
The Maulers looked at the creature inside the tank.
Then at Robot's red armor.
Then back at the tank.
One of them opened a slow smile.
"So that's what's inside there. Disgusting."
Robot did not react.
The Mauler approached the glass, studying the original body as though examining a newly discovered species.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes."
"I wasn't asking to be polite." He pointed toward the young body on the stretcher. "The transfer is going to hurt. And you won't be the one waking up over there."
Robot's visor remained fixed on him.
"It will be a complete copy of my consciousness."
"Exactly. A copy." The Mauler touched his own temple. "You'll stay trapped in this body until you die. That thing will open its eyes believing it's you."
The other twin joined the conversation.
"That's why, when we clone ourselves, we mix the memories so neither of us knows who the original is. Prevents uncomfortable questions."
"And keeps the clone in his place."
"You're the clone."
"We're not starting this argument now."
Robot walked toward the tank.
"Proceed. I am aware of the consequences."
The armor opened.
The chest plates separated in articulated sections, revealing wires, connections, and the internal structure linking the machine to the body inside the tank. The Maulers disconnected the external cables first. Then they released the supports holding the container inside the armor.
The tank opened.
Liquid drained into a reservoir below, exposing the deformed body to the laboratory's cold air.
His breathing came short and uneven.
His mouth moved with effort.
"L-let's... be quick." Every syllable seemed painful to force out. "I d-don't know... how long I can... survive in oxygen."
The Maulers exchanged a look.
This time, there was no joke.
They carefully removed the body and placed it on the empty stretcher. Sensors were attached to the head, neck, and chest. A smaller respirator was fitted over his face, but the signals on the monitors remained unstable.
On the other side, the young body remained motionless.
One of the Maulers positioned the neural device over Robot's deformed head. Metal arches descended around the skull and locked onto the connection points.
An identical set was placed on the new body.
Both stretchers were connected to the central machine.
A map of Robot's brain appeared on the monitor.
The number of connections filled nearly the entire screen.
The Mauler beside the lever looked at the original body.
"I know I already said this."
His hand closed around the control.
"But it's going to hurt."
The lever came down.
Electricity tore through both stretchers.
The original body arched violently, the small fingers closing as a drawn-out scream escaped through the respirator. On the monitor, the neural connections were copied one by one. Lines of light left the first brain map and appeared over the second.
A transfer bar appeared at the bottom of the screen.
3%.
7%.
12%.
The new body began to convulse.
The second Mauler left the operation in his brother's hands and picked up the device Robot had placed on the workbench. He inserted it into another computer and waited for the files to load.
A black screen appeared.
"Right. Now for the good part."
A sequence of symbols appeared, followed by an authentication request.
His smile disappeared.
"This piece of garbage is encrypted."
He tried another command.
The system blocked the attempt.
"We'll have to wait for him to wake up."
Behind him, an alarm sounded.
The transfer bar stopped at 41%.
The neural maps began flashing.
The Mauler at the controls leaned over the panel.
"Damn it!"
The original body's readings spiked all at once. Hundreds of new connections appeared on the map, overlapping with the transfer process and causing the processors to lose synchronization.
The second Mauler abandoned the computer and ran toward the central machine.
"What happened?"
"This wasn't designed for a brain and neural network this dense." His fingers moved across the controls, diverting power between the processors. "This thing's brain is overdeveloped."
The original body writhed on the stretcher.
The screams no longer formed words. His arms struck the restraints, too fragile to break them, while his vital signs crashed and returned at irregular intervals.
The bar moved backward.
39%.
"If this continues, he'll die before the copy is finished."
"Then stop explaining and increase the capacity!"
The other Mauler tore the cover from a side panel. Thick cables appeared beneath it. He pulled out two, switched the connections, and rerouted power from part of the laboratory into the machine.
The lights dimmed.
The empty tank went dark.
Nearby computers restarted one after another.
The bar began moving forward again.
45%.
58%.
71%.
The young body arched on the stretcher, eyes moving beneath the eyelids as the brain received memories, language, calculations, and years of consciousness within seconds.
The original body stopped screaming.
His mouth remained open beneath the respirator, but there was no longer enough strength to produce sound.
89%.
One of the lines on the neural map broke.
The Mauler corrected it manually.
96%.
Another alarm began.
"Hold the power!"
"I'm holding it!"
99%.
The entire machine trembled.
Then the bar reached the end.
TRANSFER COMPLETE.
The electricity stopped.
The laboratory fell into silence, broken only by the alarms from the two cardiac monitors.
One of the Maulers kept his hands on the panel, waiting for another failure.
"Did we do it?"
The young body drew in a breath.
His eyes opened.
He stared at the ceiling for several seconds, disoriented, before turning his head toward his own hands.
The other Mauler examined the readings.
"Looks like it."
Robot sat up.
No armor accompanied the movement. No motor supported his spine or calculated his balance for him. His feet touched the floor, and the new body remained upright on its own.
He opened and closed his fingers.
Ran his hands along his arms.
Touched his own face, feeling skin where there had once been only sensors and metal plates.
"Wow."
His own voice. Human. Young.
Robot looked at his hands again.
"This is incredible. I've never felt this good."
A weak sound came from the stretcher beside him.
The joy disappeared.
Robot turned his head.
The original body was still breathing, but the intervals were growing longer. The chest could barely rise. The vital signs fell with every new reading.
Robot ran toward him, stumbling on the first step because he did not yet fully understand the balance of the new body.
"No!"
He held the deformed hand between both of his.
"We can fix this. We can put you back in the tank. Build another support system. Improve the respirator."
The original body's head moved a few millimeters.
"It's... all right."
"It isn't."
"I've... already lived... long enough."
Robot tightened his grip around that fragile hand.
The copy carried every memory belonging to the body in front of him. Every day trapped inside the tank. Every instant inside the armor. Every place viewed through cameras because his own eyes could never reach it.
And yet, he was the one who would continue.
"Now you... can live... for both of us."
His breathing failed halfway through the sentence.
"Do... everything I never could."
Robot tried to answer.
No words came.
The original body drew in air one final time.
Then the fingers lost their strength inside his hands.
The cardiac monitor became a continuous line.
Robot remained bent over the stretcher, holding the body that had been his until only a few minutes before.
The Maulers did not interrupt.
One of them merely silenced the alarm.
After some time, Robot released the hand and took a step back. The new body looked even smaller beside the stretcher.
The Mauler near the computer was the first to return to the agreement.
"Right." He raised the encrypted device. "What's the password?"
Robot wiped his eyes with his sleeve.
"Don't pretend you forgot." The Mauler waved the device between his fingers.
Robot straightened his posture.
"I'm sorry."
His tone changed.
"But I'll reveal it after I arrest both of you."
The Maulers went still.
Robot spread his arms.
Part of the ceiling exploded.
Drones identical to the old red armor descended through the opening, thrusters lit, weapons charged, and visors fixed on the twins. Others entered through the side doors, surrounding the laboratory before the Maulers could reach any equipment.
Robot touched the side of his own head.
"I want to thank you for the body."
An entire row of drones raised their arms at once.
"And for the chip you implanted."
The first Mauler closed his hand around the device.
"You treacherous little bastard."
The drones fired.
The two twins leapt in opposite directions as pulses of energy crossed the space between them. A workbench exploded. The empty tank cracked from top to bottom.
Robot pointed at the Mauler on the right.
Three drones advanced together, restraining one arm and striking his chest with repeated blasts. The twin was pushed against the wall, but he grabbed one of the drones by the leg and used it to knock down the other two.
The second Mauler flipped a metal table and threw it at Robot.
He tried to move out of the way.
The new body responded an instant too late.
The side of the table struck his shoulder and threw him to the floor.
Robot rolled and stood quickly, but the movement came out awkward. His mind knew every action.
His muscles did not.
The Mauler noticed.
"He doesn't even know how to walk yet!"
Robot retreated while controlling the drones through the chip, sending new units to intercept them. One attached itself to the back of one twin. Another fired cables around his legs. The Mauler tore through both and smashed the drone's visor against the floor.
Then he ripped a reinforced door from the wall and threw it through the line of drones. The passage behind it was left open.
Robot recognized the escape route.
"Block the exit."
The drones moved.
Too late.
One twin grabbed the encrypted device and charged through the opening. The other followed right behind him, taking shots to the back without slowing down. Both smashed through the laboratory's outer wall and disappeared into the tunnels before the remaining units could surround them.
Robot tried to advance.
His leg failed on the second step.
His knee struck the floor, and he caught himself against a workbench.
The drones stopped around him, awaiting new orders.
In the distant tunnel, the Maulers' heavy footsteps disappeared.
They had escaped.
Robot remained kneeling for several seconds, breathing quickly. The new heart pounded inside his chest, his muscles ached, and the shoulder struck by the table was already beginning to swell.
Sensations he had never experienced outside artificial readings.
He looked toward the stretcher.
The original body remained motionless beneath the laboratory lights.
Robot stood more carefully.
He had lost the Maulers.
But he was standing.
For the first time in his life, he was standing on his own.
December 31st, 2015 — Chicago — 11:41 PM
The tension that had passed through Christmas had not completely disappeared.
Although Kai did not resent what Mark had said about Kiana during the argument, he recognized the bad atmosphere before it could turn into another fight and left the house shortly before midnight.
Mark watched his brother leave. For an instant, he once more considered apologizing and pulled his phone from his pocket, but put it away without writing anything. When Amber arrived, he grabbed his coat and left with her.
Minutes later, in the same square where she had watched the fireworks beside one of the twins years earlier, Eve saw Mark and Amber arrive together.
Mark wrapped an arm around Amber as they searched for a place among the crowd. She moved closer to him, smiling.
For an instant, Eve remembered that other night.
The boy who had remained beside her while fireworks streaked across the sky. The inconvenient wish that it had been Mark.
She already knew it had not been.
Even so, as long as no one said aloud that it had been Kai, she could still push that truth into some less inconvenient corner.
Pink energy covered her clothes before Mark or Amber looked in her direction.
Eve rose above the buildings.
And, in an even more inconvenient twist of irony...
She found Kai a few minutes later.
He was flying alone over the city. He saw her approaching and slowed down.
Neither of them said anything.
The fireworks began below them.
"Happy New Year." Eve's words came out almost ironically.
"You too." Kai matched her tone. "Bad day again?"
"No. Just the usual." She watched him for a moment. "I heard you're still making brilliant decisions. Like telling Mark his relationship isn't going to last."
"Did I lie?" Kai shook his head. "And apparently, Mark plans to announce what I said to the entire world."
Eve did not answer.
They stared at each other, neither willing to decide whether they actually wanted to talk.
The silence stretched too long.
Eve turned in the air, ready to leave.
"Hey." Kai's voice came firm.
She looked over her shoulder.
"What?"
Kai held her gaze.
"Want to make another bad decision?"
Eve did not answer right away.
She looked down at the square. Mark and Amber had disappeared beneath the fireworks and the crowd.
Then she looked back at Kai.
"You make that sound like a difficult offer to refuse."
"It should be."
She turned toward him anyway.
They ended up together again, this time in the treehouse Eve had built far from the city. When morning came, Kai left before either of them had to talk about it.
After that, January passed quickly between classes, patrols, and subjects no one seemed willing to discuss. And finally, the first dark roots had begun to show beneath Kai's white hair.
It was subtle.
Almost imperceptible to anyone who did not see him every day, but enough to show that his body was finally beginning to recover.
Debbie continued avoiding Damien Darkblood's notebook in the closet.
Her suspicion toward Nolan had not disappeared. Her doubts about Kai remained as well. Even so, she continued pushing both away, clinging to the family's routine while that normality still held together.
With classes resuming, Kai and Eve returned to their usual dynamic.
They spoke when necessary, traded sarcasm, and maintained the same rehearsed indifference as always.
Pretending nothing had happened seemed easier.
Meanwhile, Titan consolidated his control over the operations Machine Head had meticulously left behind.
But the transition did not come without resistance.
Eventually, several members of a criminal syndicate from outside Chicago began moving in on routes, distribution points, and territories that now belonged to Titan. Unknown men appeared in neighborhoods under his protection, collected debts that did not exist, and tested how much power the new boss truly possessed.
Titan needed more than ordinary henchmen.
He needed people capable of facing the kind of threat normal weapons could not solve.
February 15th, 2016 — Commercial Building in Downtown Chicago — 4:38 PM
Titan stood in front of the reconstructed office window.
Behind him, most of the floor still bore signs of renovation. New furniture occupied the places of what had been destroyed. Sections of the walls had been rebuilt, and the replaced glass reflected a cold, gray Chicago.
The boy in front of the desk did not look impressed.
He was young, with an athletic body, expensive clothes, and a defensive posture trying to pass for arrogance. His arms were crossed, but his hands gripped his own elbows with too much force.
Titan turned toward him.
"Here's the deal, kid. I want you to join me." He rested both hands on the desk. "I need people like you at my side."
The young man examined the office, then looked back at him.
"And what do I get out of it?" His tone came far too casual to be natural. "I already have money. I don't need anything else."
Titan tilted his head.
"Don't you?"
He walked around the desk without hurry.
"I only found out you existed because my men reported that several people invaded our territory and all of them were found beaten." He stopped a few steps from the boy. "Looks like they tried to rob the wrong person. Good for them."
The young man did not react.
"You have money. You have abilities." Titan looked over the expensive clothes and the tension hidden beneath the crossed arms. "But it looks like you're living inside a cage without ever looking outside."
The boy's jaw hardened.
Titan noticed the movement.
"Or maybe you're afraid of what's out there."
His fingers tightened around his elbows.
For an instant, the office disappeared.
Blue eyes.
The sound of both arms breaking.
The humiliating certainty that even with powers, someone was still above him.
Someone who always had been.
The young man looked away.
Titan noticed the silence, but did not press immediately.
"Alone, we can fall." He returned behind the desk. "With someone watching our backs, we become stronger."
The boy raised his face.
The hesitation was still there.
So was the anger.
Titan extended his hand.
"What do you say, Brandon?"
Brandon stared at the hand for several seconds.
Then he released his own arms.
"I... I'm in."
Interlude — Everyone Moves On
Becky walked down the stairs of her house holding an open laptop in front of her body, as if avoiding touching it more than necessary.
She reached the living room, breathing out hard.
"Derick! I can't believe you used my laptop to watch porn."
Derick remained lying on the couch.
"I didn't do that."
"You didn't even have the decency to close it!"
He looked at the screen, then at her, maintaining an absurd level of conviction.
"Maybe you developed a thing for feet."
Becky slammed the laptop shut.
"Go to hell. And stop being disgusting. If this thing caught a virus, you're paying for the repair."
"Technically, if it has a virus, the website is to blame."
"You just admitted it!"
Derick opened his mouth, realized his mistake, and returned his attention to the television.
Becky left muttering, taking the laptop with her.
From the kitchen, Janet complained, "Can you two stop shouting? Your father is sleeping."
Neither of them corrected the "your."
Later that day in an office in downtown Chicago, July waited for the machine to finish filling her cup.
The place was elegant beyond reason. Glass walls, desks that were too clean, and people who seemed to consider being two minutes late a moral failure.
"July, when your break is over, we still have three reports pending."
The woman walking past her appeared to be a little over thirty-five. Immaculate suit, tied-back hair, and the expression of someone who had already found something wrong before opening the documents.
July watched her walk away.
"My break started forty seconds ago."
Janet stopped beside her and placed another cup beneath the machine.
"She's grumpy." She pressed the coffee button. "She's picking on you because I was the one who got you this position. Ignore her."
July blew on her drink.
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
Janet picked up her own cup and sighed.
"But we really do need more competent people." She looked at the reports piled on July's desk. "The spreadsheet Kai automated for me still helps to this day. Without it, half the people on this floor would've killed themselves by now."
July looked toward the desk from a distance. "That thing where the columns organize themselves? He made that? When?"
"A few years ago, while you, Becky, Derick, and Mark were shouting in the living room about some new movie that was coming out."
July took a sip.
"I hate talented people."
"You get used to it... But without that help, I wouldn't have made it this far."
In an office inside the Reed family mansion, Bruce sat at the end of the table, turning a sealed bottle between his hands.
"Man, I'm going to be a father."
Chris lifted his eyes from the documents.
"This again? I already told you not to worry."
"Not worry?" Bruce stopped moving the bottle. "A kid costs money. A house costs money. Everything costs money."
Chris leaned back in the chair.
"And you want to go back to work."
"I want to earn more, and I'm not asking my shitty rich family for a cent." Bruce rubbed his hands together. "And I'm not doing anything like what we used to do back in Russell's days. No fighting people in capes, hidden laboratories, or lunatics trying to take over the city."
"Then manage one of my family's casinos. Problem solved."
Bruce looked at him.
Chris pushed a folder across the table.
"Administration, security, and collections. No fighting superheroes. Nothing involving going through walls."
Bruce opened the folder and scanned the numbers.
"Collections?"
"Only from people who know exactly what they owe."
Bruce thought for a few seconds.
Then closed the folder.
"I can do that."
At a Russian military base, Andrey remained in front of the tank.
The liquid inside was dark. Too dense to see through clearly.
But the silhouette was still there.
Had been there for months.
Inside the tank was someone he knew.
And, according to Mikhail, the key to making him stronger.
Cassie stacked the final pieces of protective equipment in the corner of the gym while Henry collected the gloves left across the floor.
The class had ended almost twenty minutes earlier, but a few students were still leaving while discussing the fights.
Henry looked at his daughter and shook his head.
She's been like this since Kai pulled away.
Eventually, he said aloud, "If you keep taking out your frustrations like that, everyone is going to stop training here."
Cassie placed another pair of gloves in the box.
"I don't have any frustrations. They need to learn how to lose."
"You beat all of them in seconds during every fight."
"That was the exercise."
"Even the adult men."
Cassie stopped, thinking for a moment.
"They need to learn faster."
Henry threw a towel toward her with a half-smile.
She caught it in the air, returning the smile.
On the other side of the world, Seoul stretched beneath the windows of a two-story penthouse.
The city lights passed through the bedroom glass, reflecting over clothes laid out for the following day, marked pages, and a stack of scripts left beside the bed.
Kiana lay on her back, her legs resting against the wall and an open script held above her face.
Her eyes moved over the same scene again.
She went back two pages.
Read it once more.
A voice came from the lower floor.
"Kiana!"
She did not look away.
Claire appeared at the door soon afterward, already wearing a coat and carrying a bag over one shoulder.
"Didn't you hear me?"
"I did."
"Then why didn't you answer?"
"I was reading."
Claire looked at the script.
"You were reading when I got out of the shower. And before I went in."
Kiana turned another page.
"I have an important scene this week."
"You already memorized it."
"I can improve."
Claire entered the room and pulled the script down far enough to see her face.
"Reading that over and over isn't going to make the series end any faster."
Kiana went still.
She let the page rest against her chest for a moment.
Claire continued.
"Let's eat. You didn't have a proper lunch, and you'll start complaining about a headache in two hours."
Kiana lowered her legs from the wall and sat up.
She closed the script.
"I want real food."
"That's exactly why I came to get you."
"And nothing that keeps moving on the plate."
Claire was already leaving the room.
"No promises."
Kiana grabbed a coat from the back of the chair and followed her, tying up her hair as she passed through the door.
Their voices faded down the stairs.
Then the penthouse grew quiet.
The script remained closed on the bed.
Beside it, on the small table near the pillow, there was a photograph.
Kai and Kiana were together in it, her head resting on his shoulder with an enormous smile, while he let a half-smile escape without looking at the camera.
The lights of Seoul continued passing through the glass.
The photograph remained where it was.