"Hahaha! You're absolutely right. You have skills we don't possess—maybe we'll make excellent partners!"
Billy and the others laughed heartily in the surveillance van, their monitoring duties becoming more engaging by the minute.
While everyone watched the feeds, another monitor suddenly activated, delivering breaking news.
"We understand that earlier today, six members including Homelander encountered the mysterious figure who previously attacked Vought Tower. The Seven expended tremendous effort and finally repelled the armored vigilante, though they sustained injuries requiring extended recovery time."
The news report made Hughie and Billy's eyes light up with excitement.
"That guy attacked again! And this time those bastards will be out of commission for a while!"
Their surprised reactions caught the attention of others in the surveillance vehicle. Though they'd heard about this mysterious ally before, they hadn't taken it seriously. Seeing both men's excitement made them cautiously optimistic.
"That armored man—is he the partner you mentioned?" Mother's Milk asked, his tone incredulous. He still couldn't believe such a formidable warrior would ally with someone like Billy.
"That's right!" Hughie nodded vigorously. "But this guy doesn't seem to take The Seven seriously at all. It's like he's a cat playing with mice."
Despite lacking Marcus's formidable abilities, Hughie possessed keen observational skills.
Their ally clearly was toying with The Seven. In Hughie's assessment, Marcus must possess overwhelming power to treat his opponents so casually.
"Let's move faster. Those bastards need recovery time—we can use this opportunity to investigate more leads," Billy said purposefully.
The superhuman conflicts didn't concern them immediately, and Marcus had promised to draw Vought and The Seven's attention away from their operations.
Now that Marcus was active, they had to capitalize on this window to gather useful intelligence.
The group stopped chatting and focused on surveillance screens, waiting for Popclaw to make her move. They had to locate Compound V—that was their essential mission.
After toying with The Seven, Marcus lay on his hotel bed, deep in thought.
The Ayatan in his hand could now shape a new Warframe. He needed to decide what kind of armor to create.
"There are so many different functional designs... how about creating Gauss for some fun?"
Gauss was a speed-specialized Warframe capable of achieving tremendous velocity when running, even breaking the sound barrier.
This was unique among all Marcus's available frames. With such speed, he could more easily harass his targets while drawing Vought's full attention.
"Perfect choice. If I can acquire some Speed Force later, Gauss's velocity could become even more incredible."
Marcus had extensive plans for developing Gauss's potential.
The DC universe was paradise for speedsters—numerous super-fast heroes existed there, and Speed Force wasn't uncommon among them.
The most famous was Barry Allen, the second Flash—DC's universal restart button and frequent world-saving sacrifice.
Of course, Reverse-Flash who wielded Speed Force was also noteworthy, and the various Speed Force derivatives were equally fascinating.
"Come to think of it, there are too many ways to access Speed Force, right? Heavy water for the first generation, lightning strikes for the second, drag racing for the third... Reverse-Flash developed speed through Speed Force particles, and the Flash family's speed formula is quite interesting too."
Compared to Marvel's speedsters, DC's speed-powered heroes were practically everywhere, allowing Marcus easier access to Speed Force abilities.
Thinking of this possibility, Marcus nodded with satisfaction. Maybe he wouldn't need to worry about enhancing Gauss long-term.
After finalizing his choice, Marcus was quickly enveloped in an energy cocoon as the room's temperature fluctuated wildly between extremes.
Soon, cracks appeared in the energy shell as electrical arcs burst from within, revealing a streamlined Warframe with an obvious speed aesthetic.
"Gauss's velocity is impressive, and he can manipulate surrounding temperature to recharge power and enhance himself."
As he spoke, Marcus's body was shrouded in dense mist before vanishing from the hotel room.
This was his first time mastering speed-specialized power. The urge to run at maximum velocity overwhelmed him, so he teleported from his room to the coastline.
Standing on seaside rocks, Marcus stretched and assumed a runner's starting position.
Bzzt... bzzt... bzzt...
Accompanied by subtle electrical sounds, Marcus's body became wreathed in energy, particularly around his feet where massive power concentrated.
CRACK!
Energy erupted from Marcus's feet, instantly shattering the rock beneath him into countless dust particles scattered by the wind.
Marcus's form disappeared completely, leaving only a white streak racing along the shoreline at incredible speed.
Thoom-thoom-thoom...
Marcus ran at tremendous velocity across the ocean's surface, everything around him blurring past. Behind him, towering waves rose skyward, splitting the undulating sea in two.
Electrical arcs surrounded him constantly, spreading outward as he accelerated.
Within moments, Marcus had traveled vast distances—the city behind him reduced to a tiny speck on the horizon.
This didn't slow Marcus down. He remained immersed in high-speed movement as the electrical charge around him intensified.
LIMITLESS
BOOM!
Accompanied by a violent explosion, waves around Marcus erupted instantly.
Marcus released Gauss's speed limiters, his velocity skyrocketing as the surrounding electrical energy transformed into current projectiles firing in all directions.
Boom-boom-boom...
As electricity discharged, continuous explosions appeared across the previously calm ocean surface, now churning as if under heavy artillery bombardment.
Marcus ignored the collateral effects—those attacks were merely incidental. The truly devastating force was Marcus himself.
At his current speed, charging into a city would probably destroy a significant portion of it.
"Speed is power—that's not just an empty phrase!"
Marcus marveled internally. Without even approaching light speed, he'd already achieved this level of destruction. If he could acquire genuine Speed Force and reach light velocity, he might be able to detonate stars with a single strike.