Mark was being led down the corridor, his hands chained and his body slightly hunched forward. The noise and shouting from the courtroom were now behind him. The live broadcast had ended, but the gaze of millions of people caught on camera still echoed in his mind.
At the end of the corridor, his eyes caught a figure amidst the crowd and movement—a silhouette of a tall, strong man with blonde hair… All Might. Even without direct eye contact, Mark knew the man was aware of him. A spark ignited inside.
"You know everything," Mark said in a quiet yet sharp tone, not to himself but as if speaking directly to the figure behind him.
"You saw everything. What happened to Maddie, the lies in court… and you still remain silent."
"Aren't you supposed to be number one? If you act like this… what can I expect from the other heroes?"
The officers tried to move him forward. They pressed lightly on his shoulders and tried to tighten the chains again. But Mark did not budge. He simply stood there, the physical presence of his power making him immovable, an unstoppable weight.
"Enough," Mark said, a silent threat.
The officers paused for a moment.
Mark's gaze was cold and sharp, his stance unshakable.
Then he took a step.
With the first step, the sound of the chains echoed, but his body moved on its own. The officers tried to pull him, but Mark walked, and they were merely obstacles in his path.
As he advanced down the corridor, a void opened in his mind. The noise of the courtroom, the insults, the laughter, and the millions of eyes watching on the screen… all of it vanished in an instant. In its place came solitude.
As the cold, gray walls of the prison approached, Mark felt it once again: he was completely alone.
No one was by his side.
No one understood him.
And this loneliness fed both the emptiness inside him and the beginning of his growing power and rage.
At the end of the corridor, the doors opened with a heavy clang. The dark, empty cells of the prison… were his new home.
Mark took a deep breath.
And silently, with the new power inside him, he accepted this solitude.