"What are you two whispering about!?"
Deborah came up carrying two big bowls of chicken and dumplings, eyeing the father and son who were talking under their breath.
"We were talking about—"
"A little secret between men."
Nolan winked at Jovian, then turned to Deborah and said softly.
"Eat your food!"
Deborah planted her hands on her hips, motioning for the two of them to hurry up and eat.
"Yes, ma'am, yes, ma'am!"
Nolan and Jovian nodded at the same time, then dug in.
The next day…
Jovian heard the alarm and slowly opened his eyes. The moment he opened the window, he saw Nolan out in the yard—sitting on top of his idiot brother Mark like he was pinning him down.
"What the hell is going on!?"
Jovian raised an eyebrow. Starting the morning at full intensity, huh?
"Mom!? What's happening!?"
Jovian went downstairs and asked Deborah, who was making breakfast.
"Your dad's teaching your brother the right way to fly…"
Deborah answered without looking up.
"Okay."
Jovian didn't say more. He could already guess what was going on.
"I really am not as good as Jovian…"
Before Jovian could even go outside to find Mark and Nolan, Mark shoved the door open and stormed into the house. He trudged up the stairs with his head down, not saying a word.
"Dad, what's wrong with Mark?"
Jovian watched Mark's slumped back and asked Nolan, who came in behind him.
"I… yeah."
"I used a little too much force, and I said some things that hurt him."
"But, Jovian—you know this. If Mark wants to become someone like us, he has to take this…"
Nolan looked troubled. He was genuinely frustrated with his disappointing son. Not everyone could be a natural genius like Jovian.
"Dad, about my idiot—"
"I mean, my best brother… maybe you should try a gentler approach."
After hearing Nolan out, Jovian offered his suggestion.
"Gentler!?"
Nolan's eyes went wide.
"Yeah. We've got plenty of time. There's no rush…"
"Just take it slow with him. As for everything else that needs doing—leave it to me."
Jovian smiled faintly, making it clear he'd handle whatever the Viltrumite mission required.
"Jovian… I'm lucky I have you. After school today, I'll take you somewhere good…"
Nolan patted Jovian on the shoulder. Having a son he could actually rely on felt almost too good to be true.
"All right! Eat up!"
"Jovian, you still have school!"
Deborah brought the food over. As for Nolan and Mark's father-son mess, she trusted Nolan to deal with it himself.
"Okay~"
Jovian finished his toast quickly, went upstairs, and knocked on Mark's door.
"Hurry up. You're going to be late."
Jovian spoke softly through the door.
"Go on without me. I'll be there in a minute."
Mark still had plenty of respect for Jovian—the brother who'd been beating him up since they were little. Even if he didn't feel like facing the world, he still answered quietly when he heard it was Jovian.
"Fine. I'm heading out."
Jovian shook his head. Mark was his brother—plus their mom would shield him—so he let it go. If anyone else tried pulling this moody-teen routine, Jovian would've slapped them on instinct. Freeborn didn't coddle people's bad habits.
At school…
Mark shuffled along with his head down. Beside him was his blond buddy.
"Hey! Mark Grayson!"
"Amber's not here today—what're you gonna do?"
Right when Mark was at his lowest, a tall guy with a slicked-back pompadour strolled over. He wore a varsity jacket and had that classic king-of-the-hallway look.
"Todd."
Mark looked at him, drained.
"I don't want trouble."
Mark shook his head. If this were right after he'd gotten his powers, he might've enjoyed teaching this musclehead a lesson. But after getting "educated" by Jovian and Nolan and realizing there were monsters way above him, he genuinely had zero interest in squaring up with a normal guy like Todd.
"Hahaha!"
"No trouble? You mean you want me not to hit you?"
Todd shoved Mark back into a row of metal lockers.
"Listen, Todd—just stop."
Mark didn't have the energy for this. He looked at Todd, tired and annoyed.
"Stop?"
"Hahahaha…"
Todd acted like he'd heard the funniest thing in the world.
"Today I'm beating you right here. Let's see who's gonna stop me!"
Todd swung a hard punch straight at Mark's cheek.
Thud!
With a light sound, someone casually caught Todd's wrist.
"Todd. Looks like you didn't listen when I talked to you."
Jovian stared at Todd with a cold, flat expression.
"Jovian…"
Todd's heart lurched. Jovian wasn't just some popular kid—he was a star athlete, a starter on the football team, and built like a heavyweight boxer. With his height and that explosive, perfect physique, Jovian was basically unbeatable at this school.
"I warned you. You ignored it."
"So you're disrespecting me."
Jovian tightened his grip a little.
"Ah—!"
Todd's face went gray. Sweat beaded on his forehead and rolled down his cheeks. His whole body trembled—he could hear his wrist creaking, like bone about to crack.
"Jovian—please, stop!"
Mark rushed over, panicked, trying to pull Jovian back before Todd's hand got crushed.
"You should call me your brother."
Jovian turned to Mark, expression still severe.
"Uh…"
Mark had never seen Jovian this icy. He froze for a split second.
"AAAH!!"
Todd's scream snapped Mark back to reality.
"Brother—stop, please! His wrist is going to break!"
Mark forced it out, feeling humiliated even saying it.
"All right~"
"Since Mark asked, I'll let you off this once. But if there's a next time, you know what happens."
"Now get out of here."
Jovian released Todd's wrist and spoke coldly.
"…"
Todd clutched his wrist. He didn't dare make a sound. He turned and bolted without looking back.
"Mark, you need to be tougher."
"When trash like that comes at you, just hit back."
Jovian watched Todd flee and looked disgusted. A Viltrumite with superpowers getting pushed around by some random kid—how pathetic was that? It was embarrassing to even admit Mark was his brother. Mark was basically someone everybody could squeeze and shove around. Not a good look.
"I need…"
"…to calm down."
Mark shook his head. He needed to cool off. He kept his gaze down and walked away by himself.
Jovian watched Mark go, frowning. They'd lived as brothers for seventeen years. Seventeen years of life built real attachment between them. If he could help it, he still wanted Mark to be okay.
He didn't need Mark to understand his glorious ambitions—he just didn't want him to become someone anyone could bully. That would be a disgrace to Jovian, the older brother who intended to become Freeborn.
"Ha…"
After leaving Jovian behind, Mark went into the bathroom and splashed his face with ice-cold water. Then he pulled cloth over his face and flew out through the bathroom window.
Mark cut through the sky. He wanted to smash something—anything—to vent the rage boiling inside him.
He was close to losing control of that destructive urge.
"Idiot brother…"
What Mark didn't notice was that up in the sky, a figure was silently watching his every move.