Ch: 351-354 (Invincible – animated series arc)
351 The Thick Of Things (Invincible – Animated Series)
I felt myself assuming my new identity as my mind and body settled into the hospital bed. The memories that usually slammed into my head just flittered by without any rush or pain. It was humbling to have the memories of 17 years of life go through the front of my brain, which in some respects was a boring normal life. My name was Markus Sebastian Grayson and my friends called me Mark.
However, there was one exception to that so-called boring life. I was the son of the most powerful hero on the planet, Omni-man. I had been let in on the secret years ago and had been hoping for a long time for my powers to kick in. Why did it have to take so long to inherit even a fraction of my father's power?
Because I could have been born completely human and there was no way to tell until my powers activated. Then, for no particular reason, I was working at my part-time job at Burger Mart and suddenly gained super strength. Yep, it was just an arbitrary moment with no catalyst or explanation.
Then I started slowly gaining more abilities. My toughness shot through the roof, I learned how to fly, which was pretty awkward, and gained enhanced hearing. It was a bit overwhelming at first, because going from a normal everyday life to having powers was both a rush and a huge worry.
Being an idiot and a teenager, I confessed all of that to my parents. Neither of them looked happy that it was finally happening and I wouldn't find out until later that it was for much different reasons. Mom because she had wanted a normal life for me and my dad... well... that was how I ended up in the hospital.
I know what you're thinking. You let the powers go to your head. Yeah, I really did. But, that wasn't why I was in the hospital. You see, I had fully embraced the hero life, calling myself Invincible. I even had my dad taking some time out of his own busy schedule to teach me a few things. He even bought me my first real costume. Those were some of the greatest bonding moments we had together since I was a kid.
The problems started when something he did in secret before came to light. We had all thought it had been a great battle against some unknown foe, which Omni-man fought against, alongside the Guardians of the Globe, who were a bunch of superheroes that came together under government oversight to handle the things normal people couldn't.
The truth was, it was Omni-man himself that the Guardians of the Globe had fought against and they were all decimated, with most of them dying and Omni-man barely surviving. He grew stronger and more powerful because of it, too. That was his thing.
Oh, and he was an alien from an advanced civilization bent on conquering the universe. The Vultrimite Empire sent scouts out to various planets to prepare them to join the Empire, whether they wanted to or not. Yeah, that didn't go over well with me when he tried to recruit me to his cause.
Being the idiot teenager I was, I chose to fight him. Yeah, yeah, I know. He trained me, knew all my moves, and was a whole lot stronger, faster, and smarter than I was. He devastated me. He used me like a battering ram and killed thousands of people, destroyed most of downtown Chicago using my body like a weapon, and beat me into a pulp halfway around the world on the side of Mount Everest.
We had been talking the whole time as my dad pummelled me and did his best to convince me that human lives were meaningless. We would live for thousands of years, barely growing older as time passed, and that a human's lifespan was barely a blink of an eye to our race. He also told me how he saw my mother as little more than a pet.
He mangled most of my body, and my face was ruined to the point that I could only see shadows, with my eyes mostly swollen shut. I had lost several teeth, both cheeks and my nose were broken, and my breathing was so laboured that I was sure both of my lungs were full of blood. He ranted at me about starting over and wasting another 17 years to have another kid to replace me, too.
I had to admit to myself that it really hurt to hear him say those things about me and my mom. Then he asked me a question. A very important question. Since all of humanity was worthless, and their lives meant nothing, what was I going to have left in my life after 50 years? I answered with the truth and ignored the chance he gave me to defend humanity.
"I'd still have you, dad." I whispered and saw the instant conflict on his face.
Thankfully, it was enough to stop him from punching my head in completely, which I was grateful for. As I lost consciousness, I saw him flying away up into the air and felt sad at the sight, then felt nothing until I woke up here. I still must have died, though. I wouldn't have been able to slip in if there wasn't a spot for me to fit in.
Now, here I was on a hospital bed, wrapped up in bandages and casts and looked like an Egyptian mummy, with my legs up in traction. I had to hold back my body's natural powers and regeneration, to keep up the ruse that I needed time to heal, because I wasn't alone in the room and there were several cameras and recording devices.
I slowly opened my eyes to look at the fairly pretty older woman with dark hair sitting beside the bed. "H-h-hey, mom."
"Don't try to talk. You're going to be okay." Debbie Grayson said as she stood, then her hand reached for me and gently caressed the side of my face. "You're safe now, Mark. It's all over." She turned away slightly and paused, sighed as she picked up a cup of water with a straw in it, and turned back to me. "Here, drink."
I sucked up a small amount and swallowed. It tasted funny, so I was sure it was dosed with something, probably to keep me relaxed. A touch of Panacea's power told me it was full of muscle relaxers and pain medication. The IV drip had something similar and was also a saline solution full of nutrients.
"I'm so proud of you." Debbie said and put the cup down before her hand went back on my face.
"Th-thanks." I whispered and she smiled at me.
"You didn't have to stand up to him like that." She said and ran her fingers though my short black hair.
"Yes, I did." I responded and her smile grew.
"You could have run... or pretended to agree..." She continued.
I shook my head and hissed in fake pain.
Debbie put her other hand on my face and held my head still. "I said don't move, Mark. You were severely hurt and... and he... he..." She broke down crying and almost laid on top of me to hug me as she cried her eyes out.
I had a cast on one arm that covered my hand and a cast on my other forearm, which meant I only had the one hand free to hug her and hold her. I patted her back and didn't complain or tried to push her off, even though she was technically making my injuries worse. That didn't matter to me as much as comforting my mother.
"Shh. It's okay." I whispered and rubbed her back a little. "Like you said, it's over now."
Debbie cried for quite some time, right up until she realized she was draped over me and was hugging a severely injured person. She gasped and tried to let me go and push herself off.
I held onto her. "I said it's okay." I whispered and eased my hold on her slightly, so she could move back without having to stop hugging me.
Debbie moved back just enough to look at my face and her own face was tear streaked with a worried expression on it. "Mark..."
"I'll be fine." I reassured her. "You know I will."
Debbie nodded and used a hand to wipe at the tears.
"Allow me to do that." I said and intentionally used my cast covered hand as I very lightly bopped her on the nose. "Oops. Wrong hand."
Debbie looked surprised for a second and then laughed. It didn't stop the tears, it just changed the source. I used my other hand to cup the side of her face and my thumb caught a few of them. She looked grateful for both attempts to help her wipe off her face.
"Don't worry. Things are going to be better now." I promised and she nodded.
"I should go and let you rest." Debbie said and stepped back from the bed, gave me a sad smile, and picked up her purse.
"I'll be out of here before you know it." I said to her as she walked to the door. It hissed open for her and she gave me a glance, seemed to steel herself, and stepped out into the hallway.
I pretended not to hear what she and Cecil Stedman, the head of the Global Defense Agency, talked about. It also let me know that this wasn't just any hospital, it was run by the Global Defense Agency and was top of the line.
After a few minutes, mom thanked him for his kind words, for his support, and walked away. I was sure she would be heading home, now that I was awake and she could stop worrying about if I would ever wake up after the beating I took. Either that or she was going out for a drink. Actually, I could use a drink, too.
Cecil stepped into the room and the door hissed closed behind him. "That was a hell of thing you did there."
I heard the respect in his calm voice. "Thanks."
"You've been out of it for about three days." Cecil said and paused, which gave me a minute to look at him. He wore a normal suit and he was pretty old, had a scarred face, was half-bald, and the remains of his scraggly white hair was almost like a mullet. "My guys got you patched up good; but, it was hit and miss for a while. They thought they lost you a few times before they managed to stabilize you."
I sighed at him confirming it. "I figured as much. Dad didn't really hold back at all."
"No, he didn't." Cecil said and then chuckled. "Until he did. That was a nice verbal shot you gave him at the end. It made him pause. Made him think."
"Yeah." I said and felt a little proud of that, then I tried to take a deep breath and felt the pressure from the bandages around my chest and pretended to take a small coughing fit. I wasn't going to give away that I wasn't as hurt as they thought I was. Not yet, anyway.
"Get some rest, kid. We'll talk later when you're healed up a bit." Cecil said and turned around to leave.
"Wait." I said and he paused. "Will you really tell me what's going on?"
"That depends on if you still want to be a hero or not." Cecil said and turned back to look at me.
"A hero? After what just happened?" I asked and his mouth firmed up into a line.
"Yeah, that was rough kid. Plenty rough." Cecil said and then seemed to make a decision. "Just so you know, your mom was there in the monitoring room with me when that went down. She heard it. All of it."
"She heard... everything dad said?" I asked, tentatively. "About her? About... me?"
Cecil nodded and didn't say anything.
I let out a soft sigh. "No wonder she broke down after telling me it was over."
Cecil nodded again and stayed quiet.
"I suppose it's better that she knows the truth." I commented.
Cecil gave me a searching look. "She knew Omni-Man was the one that killed the Guardians of the Globe. She didn't say anything to you about it, mostly because she was holding out hope that there was a good reason for it." He huffed. "We all were, actually." He turned away from me again. "How unfortunate for us that the good reason was because it was to make it easier to be conquered."
It was my turn to stay quiet this time, because I knew he had a lot more to say about that.
Instead of continuing, Cecil went to the door and it opened for him. "When you're better, I'll ask you that hero question again. Maybe if you have a better answer for me, there's more I can tell you." He stepped out of the room and gave me a little wave. "There's definitely a lot more to show you. When you're ready."
The door closed after those cryptic words and I closed my eyes. I knew there was someone watching me, so I stayed silent and didn't try to do anything, like sitting up or seeing how far I could actually move my limbs. Staying right where I was and figuring things out was the best course of action I could take right now.
How was I supposed to have fun in this world with a start like this? I asked myself and then chuckled out loud. It's definitely an interesting way to kick off my next adventure, that was for sure.
I laid back and let myself wallow in Mark's more recent memories, essentially reliving the last few months for myself, and I winced in metaphorical pain at a lot of them and the people watching the live feed should be reassured that I was still severely hurt and needed to recover more.
How could I have been so stupid with how things went with my ex-girlfriend Amber? I should have called her out on her hypocrisy about honesty and coming clean when she broke up with me. All I was trying to do was keep her and my family safe by maintaining my secret identity while keeping my hero and civilian lives separate.
Even with that, I had still confessed to her because I wanted to include her in my life, and the bitch had the gall to admit she had known I was a hero for weeks and didn't tell me, while she also treated me like shit, because I had to go save the world and lied to her about it, as if that was the wrong thing to do and I didn't spend the time with her.
I actually felt relief as I thought about it, because who needed that toxic shit in their lives? Not me, that's who. I no longer had to worry about her discovering my secret, either by accident or by her seeing all the signs I had accidentally left for her to discover. I also didn't have to keep lying to her.
Then again, she could tell anyone my secret identity, or worse, let it slip in public and all the local villains could get their revenge on my friends and family. I mean, it wasn't like I could swear her to secrecy, not after how she told me off and claimed I made her feel stupid and unimportant because I hadn't trusted her, except I had trusted her and she totally blew me off for it.
My friend William also knew my secret and he made almost no effort at all to keep it. He let it slip a bunch of times, and in public no less, and that was annoying and made me angry. How could he be so stupid to risk both his life and mine like that? It boggles the mind. He also reamed me out for being insensitive and said I deserved it when Amber broke up with me. Really, dude? Fuck you, too.
Last up in my most recent memories was Samantha Eve Wilkins, or better known as her superhero name Atom Eve. She didn't wear a mask or bothered trying to hide her identity; and yet, she would get upset if anyone talked about her being a superhero when she was out of costume. She also berated me for how I handled things with Amber and that she understood where my ex was coming from.
I had been smart for once during that argument and hadn't brought up her own ex cheating on her with Dupli-Kate, an Asian woman with the power to split herself into three bodies, which Rex Sloan was enjoying in the shower at the time when Eve walked in on them. Unlike me, he was a total asshole about the whole thing and acted like he did nothing wrong, because it hadn't been the first time he had cheated on her.
If I had done something like that, everyone and their dog would have been yelling their heads off at me for it. Rex-Splode? He barely received a talking to by the junior team leader named Robot about ruining the trust of his teammates, then it was forgotten as if it didn't matter. Eve did quit the team over it, so at least she didn't have to look at his face every day during team meetings.
Now, here I was, after getting my ass thoroughly beaten by my father, and I was wondering why the hell I was such a pussy in my civilian life while at the same time I kicked ass and took names in my hero life.
Also, I caused more than my fair share of collateral damage, both personal and professional, and that was not good. At all. I realized then that I needed to change my behavior, both in my civilian and my hero lifestyles, and my stay in the hospital would give me the chance to do so without anyone questioning it. Using the trauma to fix myself was the perfect excuse and I was going to abuse it as much as I could.
First up? Remembering how long my injuries healed in the past. It didn't take me long to discover my missing teeth usually grew back, which explained why my dad always had a perfect smile. I also usually took a week or so to heal a single major injury and I currently had 4 mostly immobilized limbs.
So, two weeks should be a good timeline to heal myself up completely, taking into account Mark's normal regeneration rate and then adding in my abilities, which included my divine body and my Kryptonian heritage. It would also let my recovery explain why I was much more powerful than I used to be.
Yes, this was the best way to fundamentally change who Invincible was and to save myself a lot of future headaches. Should I keep the name, though? I kind of preferred Atlas, since I used it in a few worlds now and this was just the latest one.
It made me chuckle again as I thought about retiring my current hero persona, which was a slim and short muscular build with dark hair, and replace it with the tall, blond, blue-eyed and bulging muscle build that was Atlas. Could I use this recovery time to adjust myself to that? Maybe say it was dye to explain the hair change when I'm out being a hero?
It was something to think about for the next two weeks as I recovered. That was plenty of time to make a decision about how I was going to live my life from now on.
352 Surprises All Around
The medical team monitoring Invincible's recovery over the next two weeks, were shocked as his height increased, his muscle mass doubled, then doubled again, and expanded out. His thin face widened slightly, letting him lose the immature look he used to have, and he ate food like he was starving. The changes were added to his file and their boss Cecil Stedman was very interested in them.
Since Mark Grayson was the only half-Vultrimite they knew about, anything that happened was information they needed to have, if only to figure out how to use it against him. They were an agency in charge of the safety of the entire globe, which meant saving them from everyone, even their heroes if they went bad... which was exactly what his dad had done.
Surprisingly, Debbie Grayson didn't notice any of the changes as she visited every day and she looked happier and happier as her son recovered much faster than he had in the past. The bruises faded after only a couple of days, the cuts and abrasions a few days later, the smaller bones in his hands and feet by the end of the week, then finally the major bones by the middle of the second week.
When Debbie was home resting, Cecil met with Mark to give him the good news. He would be released in a couple of days. He was then informed about his father flying out of the solar system on a straight trajectory before they lost the ability to track him, which meant Omni-man was leaving for a long time and might not come back, since there wasn't a whole lot of anything out in that direction.
After explaining how Cecil faked his father's civilian identity's death to cover up Mark's absence from school and Debbie's from work, Cecil brought Mark into the main research room, or the White Room, and explained they drugged the nation's water supply to hide a certain light wavelength from everyone's perception.
Mark was also told about the various threats that the Guardians of the Globe usually fought on a regular basis, which was mostly random giant Kaiju monsters that became a problem their normal armed forces couldn't handle.
When Cecil asked if he could call upon Invincible when he was needed, Mark had refused. The old man sighed with resignation, clearly disappointed, even as all the scientists and soldiers around them at the time had bristled at the rejection and some of them called Mark names for being a coward.
The young man cursed at them as he told them off and warned them to let him finish what he was saying before judging him, even though they had no right to judge him anyway. It was his life and it was his decision if he wanted to waste it by protecting them. That shut them all up, even the soldiers.
Then, Mark turned to Cecil and said he was retiring the Invincible name and his costume, because he didn't want people to associate him with what he and his father did during their fight in Chicago. Mark wanted it laid to rest and to move on from the massacre he was a very unwilling participant in.
With that said, Mark announced a new Global Justice hero would start showing up in different towns and cities when he was needed. He would be named Atlas, with died blond hair, a more iconic costume, and the power to fill in for both Omni-man and Invincible. With the different hair, a bigger build, and a fully exposed and slightly different face, no one would associate a dark haired high school kid with the new hero.
Cecil actually chuckled at the ruse, surprising everyone, and he clapped the young man on the shoulder. "If you can pull that off, we'll do everything we can to support you. Money, resources, training, you name it and it's yours."
"Thanks, Cecil." Mark said, gratefully.
"You'll need to up your quick-change game if you're changing your hair every time you put on a costume, though." Cecil said and let his shoulder go.
"Don't worry, I'll be practising a lot over the next two weeks of my mandatory recovery at home. I won't use any powers unless it's strictly necessary." Mark responded.
Cecil nodded. "If anything happens before then that needs a new hero's attention, I'll call you."
"I'll be ready." Mark agreed.
The pair split on amicable terms and it would become the beginning of a great working relationship that would eventually benefit the entire world.
*
The government car dropped off my mother and I back at the house. I thanked the driver for the lift, earning a surprised look from him, and my mother helped me walk to the front door as the car drove away. I was hamming it up a bit, just in case anyone was watching. She used her keys to open the door and we went inside.
When I turned to ask her what she wanted for a meal, she held a hand up to stop me.
"I'm going to go lay down for a while." Debbie said and tried to walk around me.
I caught her arm and pulled her into a hug instead. "No, you're not going to avoid me."
Debbie frowned at me and opened her mouth to order me to let her go.
"No, mom. You're hurting and I'm the only one that knows exactly what you're going through." I said and scooped her up into my arms. She let out an 'eep' sound and I carried her into the living room. I set her down on the couch and then sat beside her. "Bottling it up isn't going to do either of us any good."
Debbie tried to glare at me and she barely held it for a few seconds before she sighed and leaned into me and hugged me. She started silently crying and we sat there for a little while as she let it out.
The doorbell rang and I used X-Ray vision to see Amber standing on the step. I sighed and patted my mother's back, which she took as permission to let me go. I dabbed at her face with a napkin before I handed it to her and stood. The doorbell rang again and I walked across the living room and down the short hallway to the front door. I prepared myself for the confrontation and opened the door.
Amber looked startled when she saw me. "MARK!" She gasped and tried to lunge forward to hug and kiss me.
I held a hand out and caught her shoulder to stop her, which startled her again. "What are you doing?" I asked her and held her firmly away from me, despite her grasping hands.
Amber blinked her eyes at me, as if she couldn't believe what I was doing, then she tried to move to the side and hug me again, so I stepped with her and kept my hand on her shoulder.
"Why are you here?" I asked and kept my face blank.
"M-Mark, I... I was... when I heard... and I saw..." Amber stammered and her hands dropped to her side.
"So? Why do you care?" I asked and she caught her breath. "You broke up with me almost a month ago, Amber. What was it you said? Oh, I remember. I made you feel stupid and unimportant because I was busy saving people instead of spending time with you."
Amber winced at that and looked embarrassed. "I didn't mean it like that."
"Yes, you did, because you also told me you knew I was a superhero for weeks. The fights we had about it during those weeks were all on you." I said and her dark skinned face flushed to a darker color. "Just before I left your room for the last time, you told me to fly away, flyboy, or take the stairs, because you really didn't give a shit. You then said you wanted to be alone." I added and she looked really sad. "Well? What's changed since then? I'm still me and I'm still going to try and save people."
Amber sighed. "Mark..."
"Don't you still feel stupid and unimportant?" I asked and she looked away from me. "Have you finally realized how unfair you've treated me over something I tried to include you in by admitting the truth, and you blew me off because you already knew. Me baring my soul, endangering myself and my family, didn't mean anything to you and meant everything to me."
Amber didn't say anything as a tear formed at the corner of her eye.
"By breaking up with me, you thought you were making me suffer for lying to you, and all you did was crush the growing love I had for you. For no reason. Other than you being petty, that is." I said and she wiped away the tear. "Well, it worked. I suffered for letting you into my life and opening myself up to you. Doesn't that make you happy?"
Amber let out a soft sob and wiped at her face. "No." She answered. "Mark, I..."
"You can keep your apology and your self-justification to yourself, since we both know you wouldn't be here if I hadn't gone through what you saw." I said, cutting her off, and she didn't deny it. "Go back to your normal life, Amber. You know that's something I can never do with you, not in this line of work."
Amber finally turned her head back to look at me and she saw the resolve on my face. She nodded and stepped backwards, getting herself out of my reach. She was half-turned around to leave when two people walked up the walkway to the front door. It was two people I really didn't want to see right now, because I was not in the mood to be nice about what I was going to say to them.
"Mark!" William gasped when he saw me and I noticed he only saw me and not Amber, whom was partially hidden in the shadow of the house's porch. "I'm glad to see you're all right! After everything on the tee-vee about you and Omni-eeee..." He stopped what he was saying when he did notice Amber and rubbed the back of his head. "Ah... hey, Amber."
I glared at him. "Really, Will? You're letting my secrets out in public again?"
"Huh?" William asked and looked confused.
"You just said..." I barely stopped myself from ranting at him. "You know what? Fuck it. Go ahead and tell the whole world, you dunce. You're going to eventually anyway."
"Hey!" William and Eve said at the same time.
"Don't you start." I said pointedly to Eve.
"What did I do?" Eve asked and looked like she was getting angry.
I pointed at Amber. "Just like my supposed best friend Will, you immediately took her side when she dumped me. You didn't even bother seeing things from my perspective and you told me I was wrong and that I deserved it!"
Both Will and Eve opened their mouths to refute that, and they couldn't.
"Yeah, and you were wrong. Amber knows it, I know it, and now you two know it." I said and crossed my arms. "Is there anything else you want to say to me?"
"You're an asshole." Eve said and glared at me. "We came over here to make sure you were okay after what happened, not for..." She waved her hand around. "...whatever this is!"
"I was expecting an apology." I countered and didn't say anything else as I looked expectantly between an angry Eve and a shocked Will. He had fallen silent after my 'supposed best friend' comment.
"You're going to be waiting a very long time for it." Eve said, her voice low.
I gave her a disappointed look and kept my arms crossed. "Then I should thank you for showing up out of the blue at my house instead of visiting me in the hospital, where you knew I was for the last two weeks recovering from my horrendous injuries."
All three of them looked guilty, especially Eve, since she could have flown over and visited whenever she wanted and she didn't.
"This welcome home party has been a huge success!" I sarcastically said. "Thank you all for coming."
The three of them looked surprised at my parting shot, which was why I said it, and I stepped backwards to shut the door in their faces.
I stood there for nearly a full minute and used my telepathy to restrict them from talking about my secret identity. Anytime they were going to mention it, to themselves or anyone else, they would feel guilty about not keeping it a secret. It wouldn't compound and increase into a heavy emotional weight, though. I didn't want to be cruel about it, just give them a reminder for a while.
"That was really mean, Mark." Debbie said from behind me.
"I know." I said and turned to look at my mom's disappointed face. "It was the only way to get them to realize they were wrong. When Cecil releases the announcement tomorrow in the news, this will be the conversation they are going to remember first."
"About your secret identity?" Debbie asked.
"About my former secret identity." I said and stepped forward to hug her. "It's not such a valuable secret if Invincible isn't a hero anymore after all the injuries he suffered."
Debbie hugged me back tightly. "Are you sure about that?"
"It's the best way to get past it all, mom." I said and kissed the top of her head. "For me, for you, and for everyone else. We need to put it behind us and move on."
Debbie sighed sadly and held onto me. We stood there for several minutes and I watched through the door as Will, Eve, and Amber exchanged sad looks and then went their separate ways. Without me as a common denominator between them, they didn't really have anything in common or had any real reason to spend time together.
"What do you want for supper?" I asked her.
"I'm not in the mood for fast food again." Debbie said and didn't let me go. "It's all I ate for the last two weeks because I didn't feel like cooking."
I chuckled. "You still don't."
"No, I don't." Debbie agreed.
"Then I'll whip something up for us to share." I offered.
"Boiling mac and cheese does not count as cooking." Debbie joked and I chuckled.
"It does for college students." I responded. "That and ramen noodles. The mountain of salt keeps them coming back for more!"
Debbie chuckled, too. "I think there are hamburger patties in the freezer."
"Then that's what I'll make." I said, proudly. "Hockey pucks."
Debbie laughed and let me go to smack me on the arm. "You are not burning them black!"
I grinned at her for getting the joke right away and took her hand. She let me lead her into the kitchen and we spent the next half an hour prepping everything to have hamburgers and french fries for supper. It was nice to see her smiling after what happened and I would do my best to keep that smile on her face.
*
The world reeled again at the news that the up-and-coming hero Invincible was forced to retire because of the injuries he had suffered at the hands of Omni-man. It was a huge blow, especially to the people that expected the young man to grow into his role as one of the main protectors of the planet.
His friends had taken the news the worst, especially after their confrontation with him in his civilian identity the day before. With the knowledge he was so hurt that he had to give up being a hero, his confrontational behavior made a lot more sense to them. It also made them feel really guilty about how they acted.
They knew they were in the wrong and they had to stew in their guilt until the next time they saw him, which was going to be at school in about a week for both Will and Eve. Amber wouldn't see him at all, not since she knew Mark would intentionally avoid all the places she usually hung around, specifically so he wouldn't see her.
Mark's enforced time off ended fairly quickly, with him training and secretly researching the files Global Justice had, and he went back to school as if nothing happened. Surprisingly, no one at the school noticed that Mark was a bit taller than he used to be, or that his sweater and loose jeans were hiding a lot more muscle than they used to. Even his regular bully had approached him and gave him a manly hug and told him to stay strong after the death of his dad.
Mark occasionally faked a limp whenever Will or Eve looked over at him in the hallways, making them feel really bad about the whole thing, as well as guilty about not protecting his secret identity better. They also assumed it was tearing him up inside to not be able to help people anymore, especially after the confrontation with Omni-man.
They only shared a couple of classes and Mark made sure to sit as far away from them as he could. He wasn't trying to avoid them, he was just making sure that if they decided to approach him, they did it intentionally and it wasn't only because they were close by and just happened to meet. He wasn't going to make it easy for them to earn his forgiveness.
The first day of school passed without incident, with both Will and Eve not being able to dredge up the courage to cross the proverbial distance between them and Mark to apologize to him. Then the next day happened and also passed by, with Mark eating his lunch alone in the cafeteria with everyone else giving him space, and they couldn't bring themselves to cross the physical distance between them, either.
Was a simple apology too much to ask for? Mark asked himself. Or were there too many things for them to apologize for that made it difficult for them to even start to say they were sorry?
By the end of the week, Mark was truly disappointed with them and didn't bother looking at them anymore. His expectations were pretty much gone at that point and he didn't care if they actually felt sorry or not. They never said anything out loud, no matter how they felt inside, and he couldn't forgive them for something they never apologized for. So, he gave up on them and completely ignored them.
Both Eve and Will noticed the change in Mark's attitude towards them and they realized a little too late that they had waited too long to apologize and try to recover their friendship with him. They had lost it and it was their own fault.
353 Atlas Makes The Scene
The weekend gave me two whole days of being away from high school and I was going to use them wisely. Atlas needed to make his debut and there were a couple of things I needed to take care of before they went out of hand.
The first thing I did on Saturday morning was assume my hero persona, bulked myself up with more muscle, and put on my mostly white costume with gold boots, belt, and wristbands. The golden emblem of the Earth on my chest would work well as a representation of both my name and the Global Defense Agency.
I stepped away from home and appeared in a back alley in Arlington, Virginia. I sent a text to Cecil about my upcoming arrival and flew up into the air and was noticed almost right away. People shouted, and pointed, and some took pictures with their cell phones. I hammed it up and waved to a few of them as I flew across the city to the Pentagon where the GDA was headquartered.
The guards at the gate waved for me to land and I did so with a smile on my face. They looked grateful that I hadn't ignored them and flown over them as one of them called it in. I told the other one I had an appointment with the GDA to sign up and that the director was expecting me. He looked relieved and the guy on the radio confirmed I was supposed to be there.
The gate was opened and I thanked them, surprising them, and I walked inside and over to where Cecil told me to go. A fairly pretty agent waited for me at the side entrance and she blushed when she saw me. I refrained from flirting with her as she led me to Cecil's office, even if she did give me a few blatant hints that she was okay with off-site fraternization as long as it didn't interfere with her job.
I did tell her that I appreciated her honesty and candidness, since I had been lacking that in my life so far. It made her blush and preen in equal measure, then we reached Cecil's office and she whispered a few things to Cecil's secretary. The older woman gave me a very pointed look, nodded once, and hit a button under her desk. The door behind her buzzed softly and then clicked open.
"Go right in, Mr. Atlas. The director is waiting for you." The secretary said.
"It's just Atlas when I'm in costume, no mister needed." I said and gave her my best Gilderoy Lockhart smile as I walked by her desk. Both she and the agent that escorted me blushed and started whispering behind my back about how formfitting my costume was.
Cecil took one look at me and barked a laugh. "HA! Damn, kid. You really did pull it off."
I did a couple poses to show off and he kept chuckling.
"The new costume is inspired, I'll give you that." Cecil said and motioned to the chair in front of his desk. "I doubt anyone that sees you is going to think you're a villain."
I sat down on the chair. "That's why I picked it. It's kind of hard to even think I'll do anything bad when looking like this."
Cecil nodded and sat back in his chair. "I like the stylized Earth emblem the most. It really stands out."
"Yeah, it's the first thing most people see, which is why I chose it." I said and took out a piece of paper with a copy of it. "Feel free to merchandise it and share the profits with me."
"We'll have posters done up by the end of the week." Cecil said and took the paper and slid it into a folder on his desk. "Our PR department is going to be all over the new look."
I nodded. "That's good, because I'm free for the entire morning for any photos you might need to take for promos or advertising."
Cecil hit a button on his desk phone. "Carol, get Glenn on the line. I need his expertise on the best way to promote a new hero on our roster."
"Yes, sir. Right away." The woman responded and fell quiet for a moment. "He's on his way."
"Thank you." Cecil said and let the button go. His happy face changed to look stern. "Are you sure you're ready for this, Mark?"
"I'm more than ready, Cecil." I said and leaned in a little. "You should get used to calling me Greg while I'm in disguise."
Cecil reached up and rubbed his temple. "Right, you're Greg Veder like this. Sorry about that."
I waved his apology away. "It's going to be an adjustment for everyone, so don't worry about the occasional slip-up. I'll try to not act like I did before, too."
Cecil nodded just as the door to the office opened. A slightly overweight man wearing an expensive suit and another man holding several cameras and a rolled up backdrop entered.
"Holy shit!" Glenn gasped when he saw me. "You're going to shatter the hero world with a look like that!" He rushed over to me and waved for me to stand. "Ohhh, yes. Your abs alone will be worth about 20 percentage points in your approval rating."
I glanced at Cecil and he had a hand over his face, as if embarrassed, then Glenn started issuing orders in a constant stream and gently ushered me along as well to position me where he wanted me to stand.
"Set up over there near the window, Clint. We'll use the natural light to make the off-white costume pop those muscles out in stark relief. The flash won't be needed. Use the tripod and balancer. Have the video camera running all the time. We can sell access to the background video for a mint!"
The morning dragged on as many, many pictures were taken. I wasn't sure why changing into normal clothes counted as promoting my hero persona; but, Cecil didn't object and neither did the entire secretarial pool and all of the female agents that had somehow snuck into the director's office to personally witness the photoshoot.
"This year's Hottest Hero calendar is going to sell like hotcakes if they make him the cover." Someone whispered and all of the women nodded.
I couldn't let that comment go unrewarded, so when Glenn said to change back into my hero costume, I went behind the change screen and intentionally let part of my back and my backside stick out past the edge. A nearly collective gasp came from the women on that side of the room when I bent over and pulled off my pants and then my underwear.
It showed them that I was going commando as I stepped into my hero suit and pulled it up and over myself. It covered me from neck to toe and they let out a few muffled moans when I stepped out for a few more hero poses to be shot. The costume hugged everything on me and showed me off to full effect, just as Glenn said the natural light would.
The photoshoot ended just in time for lunch and I was invited by no less than fifteen women to join them in the cafeteria. I looked over at Cecil for his opinion and he shrugged and motioned to his door.
"It seems I'm free for the next hour before I have to clock in for work." I said and they all cheered, then I was pretty much dragged out of his office.
I made sure to talk to each of them on the way to the cafeteria and used their names. They looked both surprised and pleased that I had taken the time to learn their names before starting work at the agency and I said it was the least I could do before assuming such a huge responsibility. They were my coworkers and not knowing their names would be insulting.
My reputation was really high with them by the time we reached the cafeteria and several tables were pushed together and I was told to sit and my meal would be brought to me. I asked for two, because I was still growing, and that made a lot of them immediately drop their gazes to my crotch. I kid you not.
We started talking about agency procedures and I kept up with them, thanks to both telepathy and having the agency guidebook and regulations in my inventory. I could quote the regs word for word and impressed a lot of them, especially when I interpreted them properly for real-world applications.
The food was delivered by the select few that had made the trip through the line and the trays were dispersed among everyone, with two of them reaching me. I thanked them for it and started eating as I continued the conversation. I chewed with my mouth closed, too.
When lunchtime was over, there were a lot of disappointed faces when I stood up, because our time together was over. I had to hold in my laugh at their expectant looks and every last one of them thought that if they had been the only one at my table, I might have promised to meet them again for another meal, maybe dinner at a restaurant, and could have kissed them goodbye.
"Thank you all for making my first day at work the best it could have ever been." I said and thought about going to each of them and lightly kissing their cheeks, then decided that would be way too much for them to accept. A select few getting a kiss would be accepted; but, all of them? No, that would upset them because then they wouldn't feel special. "Have a good day, ladies."
I walked away from the table and all of them watched my butt. I could almost feel them all blush, because they all knew I wasn't wearing anything under my thin hero costume. I went back to Cecil's office and the secretary waved me inside as she also stared at my butt. Cecil had several preliminary pictures on his desk with Glenn hovering near him and looking anxious as they were browsed through.
"I'm heading out to patrol a few cities." I said.
"Start with Washington DC for a bit and move on to New York for an hour. The gangs are acting up there." Cecil said without looking up. "After that, it's your choice."
"Got it." I said and tapped my ear. "I've got my earpiece in if you need anything."
Cecil waved me off and I left the office.
"Good luck, Atlas." The secretary said.
I stopped by her desk and smiled at her. "I'm sorry you couldn't join us for lunch."
She smiled back. "Sometimes work has to come first before social obligations."
I knew exactly what she meant, so I moved close and bent down. "I completely agree."
She didn't move away or stopped me as I moved in and lightly kissed her cheek. "What was that for?"
I moved back and stood up. "Everyone else had an engaging conversation. I figured you deserved a little more than an apology for missing it."
She got the implication that only she had been kissed and smiled. "Be safe out there."
"I will." I said and walked away. As soon as I was near an exit, I went outside and flew up into the air. I had a patrol to do and then a visit to the HQ of the Guardians of the Globe. There was someone there I needed to visit and something that had to be dealt with before it became a bigger problem than it already was.
*
Two preteens were relaxing on the couch as they watched the television, when Rudolph 'Rudy' Connors, otherwise known as Robot, twitched when the Guardians of the Globe's base sensors sent his implant the telemetry data of an approaching UFO, or unidentified flying object. They were supposed to be hidden inside their mountain base in Utah and something had found them.
"I know that twitch." Amanda said as she reclined on the couch and flicked the remote to change the channel. "What's up?"
"Something... no, someone is approaching the mountain." Rudy corrected when the telemetry updated.
Amanda tossed the remote aside and sat up. "Oh? Are we going to fight them?"
"That depends on... wait." Rudy stopped talking and walked over to one of the many consoles he had wired into the base. He used the television as a monitor and brought up the long range camera feed. Right there on the giant screen was a man in an off-white costume and he floated right at the edge of the mountain as his eyes seemed to roam over the landscape.
"Hello there, gorgeous." Amanda said and flicked her long brown ponytail over her shoulder.
Rudy gave her an incredulous look. "Really?"
"What? He's a hottie." Amanda defended herself.
Rudy sighed and typed up a few things at the console. The targeting information popped up for the weapons system and both he and Amanda saw the man visibly twitch and his eyes locked onto the long range camera. He made several hands signs, which were military signals and not the sign language of the deaf.
"White flag. I come in peace. Requesting entrance." Rudy interpreted.
Amanda gave the television a look and then looked at Rudy. "How are you supposed to respond to that?"
The man on the screen made hand signs again.
"Open the roof access. Don't shoot." Rudy told her.
Amanda was surprised. "Can he hear us?"
Instead of using more hand signs, the man nodded and gave a thumbs up.
"I'd say that's a yes." Rudy said and shut down the targeting system and started the sequence to open the roof access for flying heroes. "We need to suit up and greet our guest."
Amanda gave him a pointed look and he sighed.
"I'll suit up, I meant. Can you wait for me?"
Amanda shrugged and walked towards the designated landing area in the base's hangar.
"Dammit." Rudy said and ran for his lab. He really should stash a few suits around the base to make it easier for him to be ready for action. As he ran, he used his communicator watch to contact the rest of the team members. He doubted they would arrive in a reasonable amount of time.
Amanda entered the hangar bay and she couldn't help her thoughts as they went to the worst place they could. Since she was in a preteen body, because of the evil curse placed upon her, every time she met someone knew, they either underestimated her and called her a kid or they were a pervert that liked she was a kid and could fulfill their fetish.
She was 24 years old, for fuck's sake! She might look like she's only 12, thanks to her powers de-aging her every time she transforms; but, she was a woman through and through and they had no right to judge her without knowing all the facts.
Amanda tried to not scowl at the man gently floating down to the floor from the high roof access. She did not feel envy that he could fly. No, she did not. She also did not clench her teeth to stop her moan at seeing how ripped he was and how the costume hid nothing about his body. Nothing at all. Her eyes betrayed her as they locked onto the bulge at his crotch, too.
The too handsome for words blond man landed right in front of her and Amanda braced for the condescension he would heap onto her for her looks as she finally tore her gaze away from something she desperately wanted to see at full mast. She also wanted to suck it, play with it, and have some fun with it, even if her physical body might not be able to handle it.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Monster Girl." The man said and held a hand out for her to shake. "You've been doing great work and the Guardians are lucky to have you as a member."
Amanda caught her breath and automatically reached out and took the offered hand. The shock of being treated with respect was almost a bit too much for her to handle, then she sucked in a sharp breath when he lifted her hand and lightly kissed the back of it. She blushed and wondered why the hell he would do that to a 12 year old.
The man chuckled at her reaction and didn't let her hand go. "It's the person inside that matters, not what we look like, or what other people see when they look at us."
Amanda blushed again and looked into his eyes. She knew he believed that and she wasn't sure how to handle it. Everyone else she met always caused a misunderstanding because of her looks and she was almost always the one that had to apologize for her behavior afterwards when she reacted to them. Of course, her eyes betrayed her again as they dropped to his bulge.
"Yes, exactly." He said with a chuckle, clearly amused.
Amanda looked back up at his face and didn't see disgust or desire there. "You're a weird one."
He laughed and she had to smile at how happy it sounded. "Thank you for the compliment." He said and shook her hand normally before he let it go. "My hero name is Atlas."
"You can call me Amanda." Amanda said, mostly because she was sure he would keep calling her Monster Girl if she didn't tell him otherwise. That would get annoying really fast.
"Then you can call me Greg." Atlas said and smiled warmly at her.
Amanda was surprised that he would give her his real name so quickly and it also made her feel tingly down there. She tried to ignore it, because her damn eyes went right back down to his package that she wanted to unwrap.
"Welcome to the Guardians of the Globe's main base, Atlas." A robotic voice said as a tall, orange, and nearly humanoid looking robot walked into the hangar. The huge yellow eyes and odd shaped parts really set it apart, though.
"Ah! You must be the team leader, Robot." Atlas said and held a hand out to him. "Cecil said he chose you specifically to lead the team and to choose the new members."
"You know Cecil Stedman?" Robot asked and shook the offered hand.
"Of course I do. I signed up with the Global Defense Agency this morning and they already have their PR department salivating over my chest icon and they're trying to adopt it. The custody battle will be one for the ages!" Atlas said with a laugh.
Amanda laughed as well and Robot wasn't sure if he should or not. He always had a difficult time parsing out normal human interactions, since he spend so many years sequestered in his confinement tube and only saw the world through television monitors until he made himself a new body.
"I don't know if he'll keep me independent or if he'll ask you to add me to your roster, though. This is all new to me and I'm still feeling things out, you know?" Atlas stated and looked at Amanda. "If you're not busy, would you mind giving me a tour of the base, just in case I do get assigned here? I don't want to waste Robot's time with something like that."
"I wasn't doing anything important, so sure." Amanda agreed and gave him a smile as she held out a hand, which he happily took. "We can start with the common areas that everyone uses when they're here."
"Sounds good." Atlas said and they started walking towards the door that led to the rest of the base. "Can we stop at the kitchen first? I skipped supper during my patrol of New York and had to put down two gangs that were in the middle of a turf war." Atlas said.
"Only if you make something for the rest of us to eat." Amanda responded, clearly wanting someone else to cook for her. Because she was so short, she hated having to be so careful when using the stove.
"That's not a problem. I've cooked for large groups before." Atlas said and Amanda's ponytail bobbed as they left, the two of them talking about the best food to make for energetic heroes.
Robot stood there and wasn't sure what to do now, with his scheduled relaxing afternoon ruined. His watch beeped and he saw the response to the summons he sent. The rest of the team would be there in half an hour and that made his decision easier. He followed Amanda to the kitchen to let her and the new hero know how many people they had to make food for.
354 Intermission: Monster Girl
The rest of the Guardians of the Globe showed up just as I finished putting the pasta salad together and Amanda finished chopping the sub sandwiches in half to make enough for everyone to share. We dished them up onto plates along the counter and the approaching heroes looked surprised. Black Sampson, Dupli-Kate, Rex-Splode, Shrinking Rae, and their newest member Bulletproof, gave the plates odd looks.
"If we were going to poison you, we wouldn't be so obvious about it." I joked and they all stared at me. "You're right, Amanda. They all have sticks up their asses if they can't take such an obvious joke."
Only Shrinking Rae objected, her face frowning. "I'm not stuck up!"
I gave her a look and then smiled. "You're wearing glasses over your hero costume instead of having Robot make you goggles or contacts."
She opened her mouth to respond hotly and then realized I was right. She easily could have her vision correction lenses be a lot less obvious and have a much lower chance of being distracted when she lost them in battle. Wearing glasses like that was pretentious and made her look arrogant.
"Those are good suggestions." Robot said, completely missing the point, and he grabbed a plate before sitting down at the large table.
Amanda picked up her own plate and handed me mine, then she took my hand and led me over to the table as well. She sat me down and pulled her chair over next to mine and sat right beside me, in an obvious bid to claim my attention, and started eating. The other heroes gave us searching looks, probably waiting to see if we visibly choked, then they all seemed to shrug at the same time and grabbed their own plates.
"I made plenty of salad, so don't hold back if you're hungry." I said to no one in particular and started eating, too. "It'll keep in the fridge for three days when stored, so help yourselves."
"Thanks, Atlas." Amanda said and scooped some of her larger portion of salad into her mouth without chewing it, then did it again and again, finishing it in moments. She brought her plate over to the large bowl and gave herself two more scoops of salad, then came back to the table and started in on her sub sandwich.
Rex-Splode chuckled and used a spoon to taste the pasta salad. "Holy shit, that's good."
That spurred the others to try it and they all devoured their portions as quickly as Amanda had. They gave me a look, as if asking permission, and I had to laugh.
"I said to help yourselves." I waved at the counter where the large bowl was.
Shrinking Rae was the first to go over and took two scoops. "He really did make a bunch of it."
The bowl was quickly surrounded and they refilled their plates before everyone sat back down at the table and enjoyed the food.
I finished eating first, since I didn't take more than a single serving, and I introduced myself and how I had joined Global Justice that morning. I didn't make the joke about my symbol being adopted and Amanda gave me a knowing look and seemed happy that I hadn't shared it with the others.
"You're going to be an associate or a potential team member?" Black Sampson asked.
"I only just signed up, so I have to settle in before decisions that important are made." I responded and he nodded. "Plus, I know having someone none of you know shoved onto your team would disrupt you all, because you would be expected to work closely with me with no notice and that's not the best way to build good team dynamics."
That had the other heroes nod and smile, except Bulletproof, since he was the newest member and just joined, which caused the very thing I just mentioned. No one commented about that, though.
"I'm not locked into any one city for my patrols, unless Cecil decides to divert me to somewhere, then I'll do that first and then patrol everywhere else."
They all looked at me like I was crazy.
"What is it?" I asked.
"You... patrol... the whole country?" Dupli-Kate asked and took a large bite out of her sandwich.
"No, I don't." I responded and they all relaxed slightly. "I patrol the whole world."
Several spoons dropped to the table and Rex had a rotini noodle roll out of his open mouth.
"I can fly at supersonic speeds, so it makes sense for me to check anywhere I can reach during my patrol times." I explained and none of them stopped staring or resumed eating. "But, that's neither here nor there. I came here to meet you all and I can see that you all are working together well, even with your different personalities."
They all watched as I stood and I turned to smile at Amanda, whom blushed at the attention.
"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could I bother you by asking to see a demonstration of your powers?"
Amanda's blush faded and her face went blank. "You said you read my file, so you know what it means when I do that."
"I do, and I apologize for it." I said and reached out to gently touch her shoulder. "It's quite necessary for me to gauge your abilities and I wouldn't ask you to do it if it wasn't important."
Amanda looked deep into my eyes and I let her see my sincerity. "It's fine. Let's go to the training room."
I slid my hand from her shoulder and down her arm, then took her hand. "Thank you."
Amanda's blush rushed back at the gesture and she stood up, her hand gripped in mine, and she led me out of the room.
I heard everyone start talking at once behind us and ignored it for now. "Just so you know, that wasn't only an excuse to get you alone."
Amanda's hand tensed in mine. "It wasn't?"
I had to chuckle at that. "I do freely admit that you're damn cute as you are and I can't wait to see what you'll look like when you're older."
Amanda's walking stuttered from hearing that and she tripped over her own feet before she fell. I easily caught her and scooped her up into my arms to cuddle her. She blushed hard at being held like that and she looked at my face to see if I was going to make fun of her for it.
"I wasn't joking, Amanda. I really can't wait to see what you look like." I told her.
"Atlas... Greg... you know what my curse means. Every time I transform, I get younger."
"Yeah, and if you didn't, you'd grow normally and then you could transform and start getting younger again. You are essentially immortal from age-related death." I explained and her eyes grew wide. "How awesome is that? You are a living, breathing, fountain of youth."
Amanda didn't respond as her mind whirled about her curse being put into such a positive spin. She only stared at me as I carried her into the training room that she hadn't had the chance to show me where it was, because we hadn't gone on a tour of the base yet. Surprisingly, she didn't ask me how I knew where to go and she stayed silent when I set her on her feet and I stepped back from her.
"Please go ahead and transform for me. I want to see the extent of the damage you've suffered from the curse." I politely asked and her face went red again. "Don't be embarrassed about that, Amanda. I'm seriously trying to help you and need to see your alternate form."
"I... I know. It's just that... you're so sincere and... no one else has ever... the concern I can hear in your voice..." Amanda babbled before her words trailed off and she dropped her head to look at the floor.
I stepped forward and cupped her chin with my hand to lift it and locked eyes with her. "I said to not be embarrassed. You're in pain, even if you pretend everything's okay. So please, go ahead and change. I promise I won't think any less of you when you show me."
Amanda took a quick breath. "You asked for it." She said and the swirling energy engulfed her and her form changed and grew into a hulking muscular orc with rough green skin that made her look quite hideous.
My hand was still cupping her chin, too. "That's horrifically fascinating."
Monster Girl huffed and then barked a masculine laugh. "It's funny to hear such pretty words from such a pretty face."
I smiled and chuckled, too. "I get it." I said, because I looked as handsome as she looked ugly. I let her chin go and stepped back as I looked at her up and down to take in her new and expanded form completely. "Have you been experiencing anything like Gender Dysphoria? You spend an awful lot of time in a male body while fighting, which severely heightens both your adrenaline and hormone production during times of great stress."
The masculine orc face grimaced. "That's a really personal question, Greg."
I held up my hands in a clear sign I wasn't going to push. "Hey, I was only going to ask if you started liking girls, too. Because you know, that's hot as shit and a huge turn on for most guys."
Monster Girl looked shocked and then started laughing. She paused briefly and looked at my smirking face, then kept laughing. She did that twice more before she calmed down enough that the swirling energy covered her body again and her form shrunk back down to reduce her to her 12 year old human body.
"So, what's the verdict?" Amanda asked as her amusement faded away. "Do I pass inspection?"
"That depends." I said and she frowned at the non-answer. "How long have you been active as a hero? That wasn't in your file."
Amanda gave me a deadpan look and didn't speak for a moment, then she sighed. "About 3 years before I joined the Guardians of the Globe."
I felt a bit shocked at that and she saw it on my face. Instead of apologizing, I worked the math out in my head. It only took a second and the shock on my face didn't fade away. "On average, you lost about a year of your life for every three months you've been physically active as a hero."
Amanda blinked her eyes at me several times. "How did you figure that out? Robot needed a week and several computers to come up with that answer!"
"That's because I said average, since there are down-times and less activity, and busy times and lots of activity. It only balances out now when we're looking at it, because we have a set time and a set age, both before and after." I explained and she blinked her eyes several times again. "The sample size is the key. If we only used the times you were transformed, the result would be much more alarming."
Amanda looked like she wasn't sure what to say to that.
"Put it this way. The brief time you just transformed can be easily measured from your previous physical self to the new one, because the time itself was brief. If that is the only measurement you take, then the results are skewed because you only have the one measurement for a brief transformation and not every possible length of transformation and what could be the result afterwards."
Amanda's unsure look changed to horror. "N-no! I don't believe it!"
I immediately caught on to what scared her as her thoughts pretty much screamed at me. Robot's own tests for her alternate form only measured the short transformation and nothing else, and all his extrapolations about her condition were based on that. It also explained why he hadn't been able to do anything to help her, because he had incomplete data.
I stepped forward and put my arms around her, which she didn't recoil from. In fact, she hugged me back hard and she started sobbing. "Shh, it's okay. It's only as bad as you think it is."
Amanda's sobbing hiccuped briefly with a laugh and her hands slapped my back once before her fists hit me twice. "Sh-shut up, you jerk."
I chuckled and held her close to let her cry herself out. When she was done, she stepped back with a wet face and a smile. I used a napkin to dab at her eyes and then handed it to her.
"Thanks." Amanda said and she did a more thorough job cleaning her face off. Surprisingly, she didn't do the cliche move of blowing snot into it before she handed it back to me with a smile.
"Naw, go ahead. You have to do it now." I said and handed it right back.
Amanda nodded and folded it and then blew a huge honker right into the middle of it, wiped her nose off, and then daintily held it between her fingertips to hold out to me.
"You're such a classy lady." I said sarcastically and took it with a look of disgust on my face.
Amanda laughed, just like I knew she would, then she stepped back in close to look up at my face. "Greg, I... I'm..." She shook her head and smiled. "Thanks."
"You're welcome." I said and motioned towards the door. "Can you give me that tour while I work out how to help you after your very generous fluid donation?"
Amanda made a disgusted noise and didn't ask what happened to the napkin. "I have to wash my hands anyway, so sure."
The first stop was the closest bathroom and then the next half an hour had me shown all the different places inside the Guardian's base. It had a lot of wasted space, especially with only the small group they had. They didn't even have a plane or anything inside the mostly empty hangar.
Amanda talked the whole time about her adventures and seemed comfortable with telling me everything, even the more gruesome details. Apparently, our shared moment was enough for her to relax around me. She even pretended to accidentally bump into me a few times to grope my butt and managed to trip over a supply box in the main storage area and gave me a gentle caress through the front of my hero suit.
Since I couldn't let that go without rewarding her for being so sneaky, not to mention successful, I let myself grow hard for her. Her eyes widened as her face went completely red. She couldn't resist or stop herself as her hand caressed me again, deliberately this time, and her fingertip tracing the outline as she bit her lip.
"Supply closet?" I asked and she moaned, grabbed my hand, and ran over to the side of the storage room and pulled open the closet. She shoved me inside the fairly large space and hopped up to kiss me hard, then she gripped the neck of my suit and dropped down to pull it down past my waist.
"Oh, baby." Amanda moaned and briefly slipped her mouth over the tip to taste me and she licked her lips. "Come to mamma."
I was only a little surprised that she didn't waste any time as she availed herself with my hardness. Her hand stroked me, her other hand played with my balls, and her tongue licked me all over as she wallowed in the pleasure she hadn't had in a while and she sucked and played with me to give me a very good blowjob.
If I had needed proof that she had sex before, and I didn't, that was plenty. She definitely knew what she was doing and she had a lot of fun getting me off, too. I mean, she really enjoyed worshipping me and having me in her mouth, not to mention that her own sexy smell filled the closet as she rubbed herself.
The thing was, we both knew she wasn't going to do anything more than suck me off. Her physical body couldn't handle anything else and she felt ashamed that she couldn't go all the way, especially when I finally let go and filled her mouth with liquid warmth.
Amanda moaned loudly and swallowed it all with ease, surprising me again, then she knelt on the floor to stare up at it with a look full of longing and regret. I reached down and pet her hair for a moment, then I gripped her ponytail and tugged on it, making her gasp and then moan.
"You don't think one blowjob is going to be enough, do you? Keep sucking." I ordered.
Amanda blushed at that, then she smiled before she kissed her way up my shaft and she gave me that same longing look. Her mouth slipped back over me and she moaned louder as I used her ponytail like a handle to help her suck me off again. She definitely liked that I wasn't trying to push her for more than that, even though every other guy she had been with always tried to strip her off and screw her, no matter what she looked like.
I wasn't going to embarrass her like that, especially since I knew she wasn't ready for more. No, I had a much better plan in mind. Inside my inventory, I looked at all the MRE ration meals I had and mentally counted how long it would take for her to eat them all in a constant stream.
It wasn't nearly enough for what I wanted, so I had to take one out and used my copy power to make thousands more of them that I stacked around us and all along the walls, so it looked like they had always been there, just out of sight. Now I just had to figure out how to convince her to eat constantly as I slowly used my Chronomancy power on her to age her up to her real age.
Amanda did something with her tongue that made me moan and it distracted me from my thoughts. I glanced down at her and saw her smug face, letting me know she did it on purpose to get my attention. I let out a chuckle and lifted her up to give her a kiss right on the lips. She looked shocked I would do something like that, then I put her back down on the floor and shoved myself back into her still open mouth.
She moaned and her mind was full of happy thoughts as she went back to work on me. She hadn't enjoyed herself like this for a very long time and she couldn't wait to see if I really could figure out how to fix her. Why? Because she wanted me inside of her really really badly. She was even contemplating trying it right now, even knowing it would hurt like hell, and she wouldn't really enjoy it as it tore her up inside... and she still wanted to try it.
So, I told her what I wanted her to do to fix her problem. I barely had the words 'chronomancy' and 'eat constantly' out of my mouth when she sucked on me so hard that I thought she had been replaced with a vacuum. Of course, I blew my second load right then and she looked inordinately pleased as she swallowed it all again, then she surprised me by standing up and stripping off, revealing the immature body that she was fully ashamed of.
"Come on, buddy. Hurry up with the meals and the powers." Amanda said and motioned to the stacks of MREs around us. "Show me how to work them and we'll get them all activated. I need my breasts and my ass back ASAP..." She paused gave me a very sexy look. "...and so do you."
I really couldn't argue that and did as she asked, used my power on her as she ate in a constant stream for nearly half an hour, then I did her in her 24 year old body and she loved every second of it.
Also, she was right. Her ass and her tits were spectacular.