Author's Note: If you're enjoying Inevitable and want to read up to 30 chapters ahead, you can support the story (and me) over on P atreon: banmido.
I update daily, and every bit of love and support helps me keep this story alive. Thank you for reading, y'all make this possible.
___
The sun had started to dip below the edge of the clouds, bleeding soft gold into the windows of the Grayson home. Light pooled on the carpet like warm oil. But it didn't reach the cold tension that hung in the living room.
Cecil Stedman stood near the hearth, his cigarette untouched in his hand, smoke curling up from the tip like it had nowhere better to go. His sunglasses reflected the dim light of the room and nothing else. He hadn't said anything in nearly a minute.
Nolan sat in his usual chair, one leg crossed, fingers steepled beneath his chin. He didn't speak either.
Debbie sat on the edge of the couch, watching the exchange like someone caught between two tectonic plates.
"You know," Cecil said finally, "I can't stop thinking about the timing."
Nolan didn't move. "What timing?"
"The Guardians," Cecil said. "Them going down when they did. The whole thing.. it's just strange."
"Strange things happen every day," Nolan said. "Especially in our line of work."
Cecil nodded. "Sure. But usually not to them."
No one spoke.
He continued, voice calm.
"They've been through hell before. Countless invasions, global threats, kaiju attacks, temporal anomalies... And yet, this time, no survivors. No warning. No evidence."
Nolan blinked. "But there was evidence. Bodies. Wreckage. Hell, even enough blood to drown the floor."
"Yeah," Cecil said quietly. "Just… not the kind that leads anywhere."
He began pacing slowly, hands behind his back.
"I guess what gets me," he said, "is how perfectly everything lined up. They were all in the same place. All at the same time. No sign of distress. No call for backup."
"They were responding to an alert," Nolan said.
Cecil turned. "Right. But the alert came from inside their system. Not externally. That's… unusual."
"Systems fail," Nolan said with a shrug. "Or maybe someone used theirs against them."
"Maybe," Cecil agreed. "But whoever did it… they were fast. Surgical. Efficient. Like they knew every move the team would make before they made it."
Nolan's voice stayed level. "So a mole."
"Could be." Cecil stopped pacing. "Could also be… timing."
Nolan looked up slowly. "What do you mean?"
Cecil met his eyes. "Well… isn't it odd that you weren't with them?"
A pause.
Nolan didn't blink. "Is it?"
"You work alone a lot, sure. But you've fought with the Guardians before. When threats like this come up, you've always had their back."
"Because I was needed."
Cecil smiled thinly. "And this time, you weren't?"
"I wasn't contacted," Nolan said. "And I wasn't nearby."
"Right," Cecil said. "You were at home with your family."
"Is that a problem?"
"Not for me," Cecil replied, too quickly. "Just… funny, you know? The one day they need help the most... the one day they all die... is the one day you're off the grid."
Debbie frowned. "Are you suggesting something?"
Cecil looked at her. "No. I'm just observing. Patterns, timing, proximity. You know me."
Nolan leaned back slightly, voice cool. "You're obviously circling something, Cecil. Just say it."
Cecil didn't flinch. "If someone were behind it… someone capable of taking them all out… it'd have to be strong. Unbelievably strong. And smart. Not just brute force but someone who understands how they operate. Someone who's seen them fight and watched them closely."
"And you think I fit that description?"
"I think a lot of people don't fit it," Cecil said. "And that narrows the list."
The air in the room went still. No one moved. The distant hum of traffic outside felt far too loud.
Nolan's voice stayed flat. "If I had been there, they might still be alive."
"Maybe," Cecil said.
"Or I'd be dead, too."
"Maybe," Cecil said again.
A long pause stretched.
"Either way," Cecil said at last, "it's a shame you weren't there."
Nolan's jaw ticked.
Debbie rose from the couch. "If you're done making implications.."
"I'm not implying anything," Cecil said smoothly. "I'm just… gathering pieces. We lost our top team. No known enemy. No motive. The only missing piece is who and why."
"I don't have your answer," Nolan said. "You're barking up the wrong tree."
"Maybe." Cecil turned to go. "But some trees bark back."
He paused at the door.
"If anything comes to mind, Nolan, anything at all, you let me know."
"I will," Nolan said.
Cecil gave a short nod. "I'd hate to find out you were holding out on me. Would definitely complicate things."
He walked out without another word.
The door clicked softly behind him.
Debbie turned to Nolan, eyes searching.
He didn't meet them.
He stared forward, quiet, calm. Thoughtful.
The clock ticked again.
And this time, the house felt even quieter.
____
The school hallway buzzed with its usual morning chaos of lockers slamming, half-awake students dragging their backpacks, and that faint, lingering stench of cafeteria slop and disinfectant.
Mark and Naruto walked side by side toward homeroom, Mark holding a math notebook, Naruto just stuffing his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie.
"You know, I think I actually aced that geometry quiz yesterday," Naruto said, grinning.
Mark gave a low hum of disbelief. "You barely put your name in the right spot. Let's not get cocky."
Naruto smiled. "It's progress."
But the mood shifted.
A heavy thud echoed behind them. Then another. And another. Like bootfalls, but louder.
It was Todd.
He barreled down the hallway like a heat-seeking missile, shoving past a group of sophomores with no regard for personal space. One girl spun, nearly dropping her phone.
"What a dick…" someone muttered under their breath.
"Excuse you!" another snapped, stumbling to the side.
Mark turned and spotted him. His brow furrowed. "Wait, is he? Why is he?"
Todd stalked forward, eyes locked on Mark like they had unfinished business. His jaw was set and his shoulders were squared.
"Look, Todd, why don't we just-" Mark began, raising a placating hand.
But Naruto was already moving.
In one fluid motion, he grabbed Todd by the collar, lifted him clean off the ground, and slammed him against the lockers with a clang that made everyone within earshot flinch.
"Enough of this," Naruto said flatly, voice low, unimpressed. His golden hair caught the flickering hallway light, his face unreadable.
"Whoa, whoa!" Mark rushed forward, palms up. "Hey! It's okay, it's okay, I swear!"
Todd coughed, feet kicking an inch above the tile. "I only came to tell your cousin I'm sorry for kicking his ass!"
Naruto blinked.
Mark froze. "…What?"
"What?" Naruto echoed, still holding him.
Todd wheezed, voice raspy. "Amber. She told me to come say sorry. And to give you her number."
Mark looked utterly lost. "What are you talking about?"
Todd groaned. "She said she found some old photos of me okay? Like bad ones. She said she'd delete them if I did this one stupid thing and never bothered you again."
Naruto slowly lowered him down to the ground.
Todd stumbled, clutching his throat.
Naruto dusted off his shirt. "You good?"
Todd coughed. "Yeah. Peachy."
He pulled a crumpled paper from his pants pocket and slapped it against Mark's chest.
"Here. Take it. Have a crappy life with her or whatever. You both suck anyway."
He turned, staggering down the hall, mumbling something bitter.
Mark looked down at the paper in his hand.
Naruto watched Todd limp away, then glanced at Mark. "I wonder what the photos were."
"They must've been really bad," Mark said, half-laughing, half-dazed.
Naruto clapped him on the back. "Well? Better go have your date with destiny."
Mark started to turn toward Amber's locker then Naruto's phone buzzed.
He pulled it out, thumb hovering over the screen. The moment he read the message, his face shifted. Serious. Cold. Like a switch flipped.
Mark noticed. "Who is it?"
Naruto exhaled through his nose. "Downtown. Another attack."
Mark's grin vanished. "Of course there is."
He glanced down the hallway, where Amber was just now opening her locker.
Then looked back at Naruto.
Naruto already knew what he was thinking.
"She's not going anywhere," Naruto said. "But those people don't have time."
Mark nodded, jaw tight. "Let's go."
Naruto turned, hoodie already drawn up.
The hallway noise fell away behind them.
And in a blink they were gone.
____
Downtown was chaos.
Flaxans flooded the streets in the hundreds, maybe thousands, and all armed with crackling plasma rifles and towering shoulder cannons. Their green skin gleamed beneath sleek white armor. They fired indiscriminately into crowds. Civilians screamed, scattering like ants beneath a boot.
One man crawled through the debris, both legs broken, dragging himself by raw, bloody hands.
A shadow passed over him.
Then a large foot came down.
Hard.
CRUNCH.
The Flaxan Commander was massive and wrapped in crimson and silver armor. He roared with a guttural snarl and crushed the man beneath his heel, spraying gore across the concrete.
"Brax moyi!" the commander bellowed in his alien tongue, signaling his troops.
They moved with brutal precision.
Overhead, a sleek hoverbike weaved through the crumbling skyline. Robot piloted it with calculated grace, eyes scanning the carnage below. Behind him, Rex Splode clung to the backseat, and Dupli-Kate crouched between them.
"I have bad news," Robot said flatly, analyzing streams of data pouring in from the battlefield.
Rex threw his hands up dramatically. "Oh! Robot has bad news, guys! Did you hear that? Robot has bad news! Someone alert the press!" He leaned forward. "Go ahead, metalhead. Hit us with it."
Robot didn't flinch. "There are too many of them. Their armor has been upgraded. Weapon systems optimized. And most importantly," he paused, "they've rendered themselves immune to our time stream. So time-based countermeasures are ineffective."
Kate frowned. "Wait, what does that mean?"
"It means," Robot said, "we should consider the city lost. I will contact Cecil and advise a nuclear response."
The air went silent.
"What?!" Mark shouted from behind, flying alongside the cruiser.
"No way!" Eve said, her eyes wide with disbelief.
"We're not nuking anyone, Robot," Mark snapped. "There are still people down there!"
"And we're not giving up," Eve added, glowing with energy.
Kate rolled her eyes and unbuckled. "Yeah, what are we? Fight Force?"
Rex sighed. "I love you, man. But sometimes you've got a screw loose."
"I do not use screws. My fastenings are magnetic interlocks," Robot muttered.
Mark surged forward with a battle cry, catching a Flaxan missile mid-flight and flinging it back. It detonated mid-air, leveling an entire battalion in a blaze of flame and smoke. He shot through the explosion like a bullet, knocking soldiers aside with fists and flying debris.
But the Flaxan Commander was waiting.
He caught Mark mid-flight, snatched his leg out of the air, and slammed him into the pavement. The impact cracked the ground beneath them. Before Mark could recover, the Flaxan leapt up and came crashing down, landing directly on his chest.
BOOM.
Mark gasped as the wind knocked out of his chest.
The commander began pummeling him with massive fists, over and over, each hit like a thunderclap.
WHAM. WHAM. WHAM.
Mark's arms came up weakly to block, but it barely slowed the assault, as his vision blurred in black and red.
Then, suddenly, Mark caught the commander's wrist in a burst of adrenaline.
His eyes flared in anger and he pushed back.
"You hit like a wet noodle," he growled and drove a punch into the commander's jaw, sending him flying into the side of a skyscraper.
Naruto landed a moment later with a crash, cutting through Flaxan soldiers like a buzzsaw. No hesitation. No holding back. His fists broke armor. His elbows shattered skulls. He blurred across the battlefield like a missile.
One Flaxan tried to raise its rifle but Naruto crushed its head before it could blink.
Another screamed and tried to run.
Naruto was faster however. He grabbed the soldier by the throat and flung it into a tank, detonating them both.
The Flaxans started faltering. Their aim wavered and their lines of command broke.
Rex, Eve, and Kate pushed forward in unison energy blasts, explosives, and clones clearing the streets with practiced rhythm. The tide was turning quickly and the Flaxans began to panic.
And then they started to retreat.
"Cowards!" the bloodied commander screamed in his alien language, half his armor caved in. "Brax moyi!"
But his men ignored him, running into shimmering portals that opened on the ground, and one by one, they vanished.
Smoke drifted up from the ruined city streets.
Mark dropped beside Eve, panting. "We actually… we did it."
Kate walked up, "We pushed them back." she said.
Robot hovered overhead. "For now."
But Naruto wasn't smiling.
His eyes followed the last of the Flaxans as they disappeared into the portal.
His jaw clenched.
And then without warning he took off, shooting towards the last of the retreating soldiers
"Wait! Naruto?! What are you doing?!" Eve yelled.
"I'm going to end this myself," he said.
"No, wait! Naruto!" Mark called. "Come back!"
But he was already gone.
He flew straight through the portal and vanished into enemy territory.
Silence.
Somewhere high above it all, a figure hovered. Watching. Unmoving.
Omni-Man narrowed his eyes.
____
Author's Note: If you're enjoying Inevitable and want to read up to 30 chapters ahead, you can support the story (and me) over on P atreon: banmido.
I update daily, and every bit of love and support helps me keep this story alive. Thank you for reading, y'all make this possible.