"Come on~"
Jovian was full of confidence. More than that, he wanted to see just how much stronger he was than Mark—who'd never seriously trained in boxing or combat sports—and whether all those years of grinding actually meant something.
"Alright!"
"Your call…"
Mark's eyes lit up. He was excited too. Back before he had powers, Jovian had always had his back at school, and whenever they messed around, Mark would lose almost instantly. But now he wasn't the old Mark anymore. He wanted to find out how strong he really was.
With that thought, Mark suddenly swung a punch at Jovian!
The shockwave from the punch alone blasted through the room, knocking chairs sideways!
Nolan saw Mark move and instantly stepped in front of Deborah, blocking the flying junk before it could hit her.
Even without the punch landing, just feeling the wind from it told Jovian exactly how terrifying Mark's strength was now.
But…
"Man, your openings are everywhere."
Jovian slipped the punch in a blink, grabbed Mark's right leg, and flowed straight into a rear-naked choke, locking him down on the spot.
"Hey—!"
Mark strained hard, fighting it with everything he had. But no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't break Jovian's hold.
"Tap out, Mark."
Jovian chuckled as Mark kept forcing it. The harder Mark fought, the more excited Jovian got—like he wasn't letting go until he'd completely put him in his place.
To be honest, Jovian was actually kind of happy.
When the two of them were close enough in raw strength that it felt like "regular people" again, technique finally mattered—and this was exactly where years of training paid off.
It was like the opening fight in Avengers: Infinity War—Hulk and Thanos weren't worlds apart in power, but the gap in experience was brutal. Thanos outclassed him, hammered him with clean combinations, and beat him so badly Hulk basically shut down.
Jovian was Thanos—the one who knew how to move, how to control every joint, how to generate force the right way, how to make it hurt.
Mark was Hulk—tons of power, no idea how to use it.
So the result was completely one-sided. Jovian pinned down Mark—who had powers too—almost instantly.
"Mark, just tap out."
Jovian smiled, still trying to talk him into it.
"I won't!"
Mark was stubborn as hell. He refused to give in.
"Mark, listen—losing to your older brother isn't embarrassing. You've been losing for seventeen years."
Jovian kept pushing.
"No!"
Mark stayed stubborn—maybe that was part of why he could become Invincible someday.
Jovian sighed. "This is a headache. Fine—how about I let you off the hook?"
"No! Don't go easy on me! Keep squeezing—I'm getting out with my own strength!"
The moment Jovian started easing the pressure, Mark got angry and shouted.
Jovian stared, speechless.
His idiot brother was unbelievably stubborn—he didn't want to tap out, but he also didn't want mercy. He seriously wanted to use his brand-new powers to challenge a guy who'd trained combat sports for over a decade, won a bunch of youth bouts undefeated, and was about to step into adult divisions on the path to going pro.
Right when Jovian didn't know what to do with him, he suddenly felt an enormous force on his shoulder.
In an instant, he and Mark were separated.
Jovian looked up and saw Nolan. He knew Nolan had stepped in—on this entire planet, the only person who could casually split them apart was Nolan.
Nolan stared at Mark with a serious expression.
"Listen, Mark. I get it—you want to beat Jovian. But you're not going to do it just because you got your strength today. Jovian's trained combat for ten years."
"There's an old saying: Rome wasn't built in a day."
"You learn things one step at a time. You build strength little by little. Fighting is the same."
"I understand, Dad."
Mark thought about it for a moment. He got what Nolan meant, and he didn't want to make his dad worry. He nodded.
"And you too, Jovian."
Nolan nodded, then looked back at Jovian—who had been enjoying the show a little too much.
"Remember: you're different now. Don't fight inside the house."
"Yeah, I got it."
Jovian glanced at the cracked floor and the tableware that had gotten blown around, then nodded.
"Good."
"Now you two little punks clean this place up—then we eat."
Nolan smiled as he gave the order.
"Yes, sir!"
Jovian and Mark moved like blurs, restoring the room in a heartbeat—everything except the cracked floorboards.
"I was going to scold you two, but Nolan already said it, so I won't pile on."
Deborah walked over to the table carrying dinner. She understood—both of them had just awakened, and they couldn't help testing it.
"Alright then… let's eat."
"So good…"
Nolan, Mark, and Jovian exchanged smiles, sat down, and dug in.
"So, Jovian—did you quit the boxing gym because you got your powers?"
During dinner, Nolan asked with genuine concern.
"Of course."
"Dad, you get it—if I throw one real punch now, they'd end up in pieces."
Jovian casually shadowboxed the air once, making the point clear.
"Yeah…"
Nolan nodded. He knew exactly what that felt like. When he first arrived on Earth, he hadn't had full control of his strength—he'd accidentally killed criminals who didn't deserve to die.
"That's a shame," Deborah said softly. "It was your dream."
She felt for him. She'd seen how hard he worked to become a pro boxer, how much he sacrificed just to get a little stronger. Now he couldn't compete simply because he'd become too strong—and that was a tough thing to accept.
"No. I'm fine."
Jovian shook his head. "I've never felt this good in my entire life."
He wasn't upset at all. Back then, he'd trained so hard because he wanted at least some chance of protecting himself against ordinary criminals on Earth. Now that he'd awakened Viltrumite power, he felt incredible.
"Oh?" Deborah's eyes brightened. "So you've found what you want to do?"
She was suddenly excited—curious about what her son wanted for his future.
Even if Jovian didn't say it out loud, she could already guess.
Probably learning from Nolan… becoming a superhero.
A family of superheroes.