Late at night, clouds swallowed the moon.
Mark moved like he was sneaking into a crime scene, carefully pushing open the front door of the Grayson house. He cracked it just enough to peer through, watched the living room for a moment, and when he was sure no one was there, he tiptoed inside.
"Mark…"
The instant he stepped over the threshold, a low, authoritative voice spoke right next to his ear.
"Hey, Dad—you know I didn't want to come back this late…" Mark blurted out, hands half-raised like he was surrendering. "Honestly, I could've gotten home earlier, but I'm a good person, and I can't just stand by while evil runs around unchecked, so I stepped in and—uh—helped…"
He kept his eyes lowered, tense as hell, rushing the explanation out like it might save his life.
"Mark, are you okay?"
The speaker handed him a mug of hot milk.
With the faint light in the room, Mark finally saw the face in front of him.
"Wait—Jovian?!"
Mark took the milk, staring in disbelief that he'd just mistaken his brother for his father.
"Of course it's me." Jovian, wearing a simple shirt, nodded. "Who else would it be?"
"Where are Mom and Dad?" Mark scanned the room again. This time he was sure there was nobody else here. "I… wanted to talk to them."
His expression carried this uncertain weight, like he'd been rehearsing something in his head the whole way home.
"Did they go upstairs already? Are they asleep?" Mark asked, assuming the obvious after not seeing Nolan or Debbie anywhere.
"No." Jovian shook his head. "Mom and Dad went on a trip. They left this morning. They won't be back for a while."
"Huh?!" Mark froze, genuinely stunned.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?" For a second, he honestly felt excluded. Like, seriously? Was he the extra kid in the house?
"So… I'm telling you now," Jovian said flatly. "Or do you not consider your own brother a person?"
Jovian lifted an eyebrow. The way he said it made Mark's instincts scream that he was about two sentences away from getting punished.
"No, no, that's not what I meant!" Mark backpedaled instantly, survival mode fully engaged. He had the strong feeling that if he didn't explain himself properly, something very unpleasant was about to happen.
"I know what you meant." Jovian didn't press it. "Sit down and tell me. Why were you looking for them?"
Jovian turned around and dropped onto the couch like he owned it, calm as ever.
"Hey—are you Mom and Dad?" Mark's pride flared. "Why should I tell you anything? Even if they're not here, you can't just act like you're in charge of me!"
"Great." Jovian didn't get angry. He just pulled out his phone and started dialing.
"What are you doing?" Mark asked, watching him with a growing sense of dread.
"As you can see," Jovian said, tilting the screen so Mark could read it, "I'm calling Mom."
Mark's eyes locked onto the name Debbie and the familiar number. Jovian wasn't bluffing.
"Why are you calling Mom?" Mark asked, confused—then his brain clicked. "Is it because I said I wanted to talk to them? I mean, I'm not in a rush or anything—"
For half a second, Mark actually felt a warm little glow in his chest. Jovian messed with him all the time, sure, but… he was still his brother.
"Of course not," Jovian said, smiling like an angel. "Don't flatter yourself. I'm just going to tell her her son has really grown up—staying out past midnight like a real man."
"Shit!" Mark snapped, furious. "You're serious?!"
At that moment, Jovian's face might as well have been a demon's.
Mark lunged, trying to snatch the phone right out of Jovian's hand.
"You think I'm the kind of person who jokes about things like this?" Jovian asked calmly. "I'm always serious."
He shifted to the side effortlessly, and as Mark flew past, Jovian gave his back the slightest push—just enough to "help."
Mark went face-first into the floor.
Thud.
Luckily, the flooring had been reinforced by Dr. Genus earlier, or Mark might've punched straight through it. Instead, Mark's face took the full impact against an alloy surface that felt harder than steel.
His nose immediately started swelling.
"Shit…!" Mark groaned, cupping his nose. "Has our floor always been this hard?"
"Mark," Jovian said, looking down at him, amused, "you're really not mature."
"You should be learning from me more." Jovian's tone stayed light. "Since I'm in a good mood, talk. What did you want to tell Mom and Dad?"
"Hey, that was just me being careless," Mark said, forcing himself back to his feet. He brushed dust off his clothes and glared, eyes burning with determination. "The real show is just starting. You can't beat me like you used to."
"Right now, I'm so strong I scare myself."
"Oh?" Jovian chuckled. He knew Mark had taken down a bunch of notorious Earth villains lately, and it had gone straight to his head. Mark was starting to lose track of what his "strong" actually meant.
"Watch me!" Mark shouted, charging straight at him.
Smack.
Jovian didn't even stand up. As Mark closed in, Jovian simply lifted a hand and delivered one brutal, clean slap.
Boom.
The hit stunned Mark so completely his body spun in midair twice before he wobbled and crashed onto the floor again.
"…"
Mark didn't say anything.
He just lay there holding his cheek, silently contemplating his entire life. It was hard to imagine how much psychological damage one good slap could do to a wild Mark.
Beep… beep…
At that moment, the call connected.
"Jovian?" Debbie's familiar voice came through the speaker. "Why are you calling me this late? Is something wrong?"
"Nothing serious," Jovian said warmly. "Mark just missed you. He wanted to talk."
He lowered the phone to Mark's ear.
"Here," Jovian said pleasantly. "Say hi."
"Mom…" Mark said, voice cracking a little. "I miss you…"
"Mark, you're already a young man," Debbie said, instantly slipping into mom-mode. "You need to learn how to face life positively even without your parents around. We can't be by your side forever…"
"And honestly, you're not as reliable as Jovian. So you should learn from him more. If you've got problems, ask Jovian."
"Alright—enough. I'm trying to take pictures of the meteor shower."
Click.
She hung up.
"…"
Mark stared at the phone in silence.
He got slapped into the floor… and then got told to learn from the person who slapped him.
What the fuck?!
So he really was the bonus kid, huh? Like those buy-one-get-one-free deals where the "free" item comes with a sticker slapped on it.
"You heard her," Jovian said, voice soft and satisfied. "Mom told you to learn from me—and to ask me for help when you need it."
"So now," Jovian continued, watching Mark carefully, "are you ready to tell me what you wanted to talk to them about?"
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