Chapter 50: Calm Before The Storm Part I

The air whistled past him, Mark lamenting over the decibels it reached, his recently returned hearing not in the best condition to translate the sounds. He approached the village, the ground and the monsters, closer and closer as he dived-bombed from incredible heights. He was faster than the speed of sound, far faster. Mark burst past the clouds, the water vapour making way for his impending apocalyptic arrival.

No noise, no sound, not the faintest thing for the Invincibles. The storm had quietened entirely; silence met the battlefield. Yet, one moment it was calm, the god-like being disappearing into the sky, and then, there was chaos. Like their new weapon, Death From Above, it came unnoticed and silent, with no warning or panic, just devastation, death and destruction.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Like mighty thunder from the king of Olympus himself, the ground caved inwards before the pressure forced itself outwards. The earth shattered into debris, big and small, as boulders were sent flying like streaks from a meteor. The shockwave came first, a pressure wave of inconceivable magnitude, even for them. All five were blasted away at sonic speeds, their armour almost entirely busting as the metal threatened to stab and the helmet alloy endangering to blind them.

But it was not over. They were scattered; sent in every direction at speeds that were a blur to the human eye, their enhanced musculature keeping them alive. The group crashed into the ruins of buildings, random cairns and pure rock, with the debris following closely behind. Landing, they were forced to dodge massive boulders, their improved vision and reactions narrowly saving their lives as projectiles whizzed at absurd swiftness. Yet, for the pebbles, the super-sonic shards of glass, metal and stones, they couldn't resist. Pounded, again and again, ceaselessly, for what felt like hours on end, it stopped. Injuries had accumulated; their fighting strength significantly diminished as one fought to his feet.

Serpens glanced up, his left eye bloody from dirt and sand, forcing itself past his eyelashes and onto the pupil. The ground was still trembling in sheer horror at the demolition, an entire village removed from the map, the utter annihilation disturbing him. Dust, dirt and mud whizzed around in the air like a cyclone of invisibility, vision completely removed for them. Rain poured, flying around at illogical velocities as the sentient wind hurled it at them. As an Invincible, having lived through decades of strife, war and crime, he feared the job he had been issued. A command they had been given, to kill someone similar to themselves, yet in the flesh, all he could think about, was... how do they kill a god?

He shakily got to his feet, barely able to keep balance as the quakes continued, two of his brothers lost in the chaos. With his hand before his face, desperately trying to keep sand and other dangerous particles away from his eyes, the stinging pain getting progressively worse, he stumbled towards his remaining comrades.

He coughed as he struggled to breathe, ingesting nothing but sand and dirt, "Argh... Salix! Get up!"

The woman was on her knees, one hand over her face and the other on her stomach, "What was that? Ahhh... fuck!"

She cried out, pulling a large shard of glass from her abs, purple blood steadily flowing out. Her blonde hair was turned brown, her armour virtually gone, and one of her breasts remained uncovered. Her body was bruised and battered, just like the man who spoke to her.

Salix questioned the half-naked man, "Serpens? Did you-" She glanced towards the storm, "What... oh fuck!"

Through the torrid tornado of whispering wind, both stared in horror at what they saw, the other male nearby slightly whimpering. They could see it. They could see him. Hidden in the dust; nothing showing but red eyes; glaring and burning brightly like a fire, their instincts quivering. They were superior, beyond humans, but now, they had reverted back. They were nothing in front of what stood before them, eyes hungry like a predator, a wolf staring at frightened rabbits.

"Wha-" The other male tried to speak, the red eyes disappearing like a haze, just like him; the man vanished from sight.

"Serpens, behind me!" The woman cried to her brother as they touched back-to-back, "We need to find the other two. Get our fucking guns, or we are all going to die like Sensus."

"W- What? What the fuck is this shit! We have no chance." Serpens cried; fear last felt decades ago, returning like a shadow, hidden behind him all this time, "He said we could take him! Does this fucking look like we can take him? He's a fucking deity! Controlling the weather! Impossible..."

Salix punched his face, "Snap out of it! You've grown arrogant, Serpens. I won't leave my daughters to die to some fucking kid in some fucking shithole. Definitely, not because of you. He's not returned, so he likely can't kill us easily as you fear. Let's find the rest."

Boom! Bang! Smash!

"Sto-!" Sensus cried, his face barely enduring being mauled like a savage beast, rain mixing with dark purple blood upon the desert.

OOMPH!

Hit again, he crashed into the ground as he found relief at last. Unfortunately, it was only temporary, the being spearing him further into the Earth, the ground shattering from the impact, like his ribs.

He cried out before wildly flinging a swing at the demon, desperately trying to fight back, "Arghhhh! Fuck... yo-!"

The hopeful hit didn't land; the figure disappeared and reappeared above his head as he lay on his back in the crater. Without warning or mercy, he stomped on Sensus' jaw, the entire bone obliterated into tiny fragments as the skin erupted into blood and gore. Sensus screamed in pain, a foreign concept since his transformation, yet, the sound came out more like a gurgle, the very functions to talk being destroyed. He had never felt so weak, so powerless in all his life. He hated it with a passion, loathed it from the deepest parts of his being. But, he could do little but beg.

"Staw-!" His words jumbled as his speech turned to grunts and moans, the god-like being pounded and pounded and pounded with it's fists, unceasing and relentless. First, his voice went; second, his vision, the eyes turned to paste in their sockets; third, his thoughts, his brain broken and seeping out of the remnants of his skull.

It paused for a moment, the figure; eyes aflame with red like an exploding sun before it disappeared from Sensus' corpse, left for the crows.

"Sensus is gone. It's just us four now. We can't get out of this storm. So, we either fight; or we perish. I'm not a fan of the latter." Salix gruffly spoke to the three left-over males.

A man named Cerebrum responded, concerned about the mission priority, "What about the commander? The Lord won't be happy if we don't bring him back."

"Shut up, Cere! We're going to be lucky if we return, never mind the corpse of the commander. Seuncdo is no longer the mission priority; survival is."

"We've still got one Grail Gun, Salix." Serpens spoke, holding the stocky rifle, "3 bullets. I don't know where the other is."

"Fuck, 3? I thought it overkill, but no one said anything about him stopping the bullets. What the fuck was that?" The last member of the group, Pectus, uttered. He was stockier than the rest, the differences showing in the remains of his clothes, too, completely naked as the wind howled around him.

Salix shrugged in exasperation, "Guess it's a new trick he learned. It did hurt him to do so, though." She paused, "Either way, sucks to be us, but we have a job to do. We need to hold him for a shot. He's deaf, so... we have a chance. Remember, you all have something to live for, something that got you through the trials. Hold onto it, and it'll get you through this."

The group brightening up at the woman's words, they put themselves back-to-back, the Grail Gun in the middle of them all. Everything was unceasing, the rapid rain, the howling wind, the dust and debris shooting past. The conditions were harsh, nightmarish, worse than they had ever experienced in all their decades.

Salix spoke as they watched vigilantly, their view obstructed by the chaos, "Whoever gets hit, don't let him take you. We can't take a shot if he flies away with you. Hold him down; your life depends on it. Serpens, you take the shot if you can. Put that 90% accuracy rate to good use."

Minutes passed, their vigilance not rescinding for a single moment as they waited for the red eyes. Then they heard it, upon the wind, carried across to them, the monster's voice.

"They sent five to help him? Why?" There was a pause as none of them answered, "Secundus means second, no? Was he... second in command? After your Messiah?"

"What does it matter to you, Mark?" Salix cautiously uttered, wondering why he was questioning them considering he was deaf, "You'll butcher us all the same."

The monster appeared before them, Salix warning everyone as they turned around to face him. Red eyes stared at them, the storm converging and covering the body again as he spoke, "You're disillusioned. At least, I think so. You started this all: the attack in Watford, the murder of Jenny? The murder and defilement of Russo's family."

"All necessary actions for the betterment of the world. You got in the way. Without you, America could have united the world as soon as the DFA was done. Tayi would not have gotten involved."

"Me!?" He questioned in mock shock, "You can't blame me at all. Your Messiah, the President, is a tyrant. What happened to the Land of the Free? The American Dream? Was that all it was? Something that one man could tear down within half a century? What happened to America?"

Salix nervously glanced at her comrades, their Intel for the rescue completely wrong, "... Bandying words with you is meaningless. You may have gotten in the way, but we solved that. Russo lost. So much for a smart man. Emotions really do cloud judgement. You were the same."

"... What have you done?"

The conversation had gone on long enough. Salix, Cerebrum and Pectus all charged forward as Serpens grabbed the gun and looked for an opportunity. A red beam came from the cloud of dust, hitting Cerebrum in the chest and knocking him to the ground, blood forced from his mouth. Cerebrum immobalised momentarily, Pectus managed to reach him, grabbing ahold of the demon in a bear hug, similar to Secundo.

"Tak-"

"Fuck off!" Mark spat, incensed and headbutting the muscular man's chin, causing it to splinter in half. Blood spilt like a faucet, covering himself and staining the ground in the vivid vitality of supposed superhumans.

Pectus fell backwards from the force, groaning in agony. Salix attempted another grab to hold the flying monster for a shot but utterly failed as his shoulder violently barged into her chest. The ribs created a distinct and audible cracking sound as she coughed a mouthful of blood. Moments later, she found her breast grabbed as Mark's fingers crushed it into mincemeat, flailing in agony as she tried to break his iron grip. The monster brought her towards him before forcing her forward as he headbutt her forehead.

Her face became dented, her skull forcing itself out of the back of her head and her scalp splitting in half. Blood and brain gushed out, Serpens panicky firing an Eneph bullet towards Mark, whizzing towards him. Mark huffed as he pivoted, bringing the half-dead woman into the bullet's trajectory.

BANG!

The bullet cleaved through the remnants of her head and blew up, exploding on touch with living matter. Fragments of her skull, pieces of her brain and bloody flesh were sent flying, landing all around them. Serpens rapidly reloaded as he stared at the demon, painted red in the blood of his friend. Death was coming for them; he could feel it, and he could do nothing.

Their leader dead and his morale faltering, Serpens cried out, spotting Cerebrum sprinting towards Mark in a rage as Pectus struggled to stand up, "Cere!"

Free from any restraints, the monster moved left, dodging the charging Cerebrum and towards Serpens, death's figure illuminated in the giant's eyes. Their enemy's hand turned partly black, the colour floating off like smoke before it smashed into his chest. Serpens felt his spine buckle before snapping into pieces, his enhanced durability nothing in the face of the monster. His ribs shattered too, internal organs erupting into gore, blood forcing its way up his throat and violently coughing it out.

Forced to stand, and with his opponent's hand in his chest, having blown up his heart, Serpens's vision started to fade. In a moment of pure willpower, he coldly stared into Mark's eyes and forced his hands upwards to gouge out the demon's eyes. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, all he felt was rock, the eyeball unmoving before it lit up, blasting through his fingers and hands like cardboard and straight into his face.

"Arghhhh!" Cerebrum screamed as he swung at the invincible god, Pectus following shortly behind. Mark grunted from the impact but continued, nonetheless. They watched as a hole was drilled through their comrade's head before he finally took notice of them, dropping the deceased carelessly.

Turning around, Mark faced the last two, catching the smaller fellow's wrists and rapidly flying upwards into the eye of the storm. The wind screamed at them, rain crashing against their faces like waves as their pupils stared into each other; one of pure darkness, the other vivid purple. Lighting crackled around them, striking the pair, the weaker one's skin splitting and scarring from the hit. Tree-like lesions spread around his skin, the pain and shock jolting his system, nearly stunning him.

"Fuck! You!" Cerebrum screamed, futilely trying to wrench himself away as his wrists were crushed into powder. Moments later, he found his head being grabbed by two hands, a force exerted upon the sides, compressing him. His eyes popped out first, the fleshy string holding it in the socket now loosely leaving it hanging down his face. He tried to scream, the pain the worst he had ever felt, yet he couldn't, the pressure put onto his sides made him barely able to open his mouth. Then, it was over, the pain; gone as he went into the beyond.

The last one alive, Pectus, had grabbed the gun, shakily holding it towards the sky. His thoughts were a mess, everyone dead but him. Months ago, the thought of an Invincible dying would have made him laugh. They were the superior species, the ascended humans; rulers of the world. But now, they had lost six. They had failed to live up to their namesake, the title more apt for the demon he faced.

Naked, the wind cold despite his superhuman resistance, his eyes flittered about. Death was inevitable, he knew it, and the monster knew it. But he wanted to believe. Hope was one of the things that got them through the trials, the tribulations each had to face. The ghosts of their past. So, he hoped he would survive. A naive dream, but one that every man should have. A body dropped from the sky, landing with a bloody thud as he glanced towards it.

However, in that second, so small to him, where his thoughts wandered and his concentration dulled, just barely, he found himself on the floor. Back broken, his ribs sticking out of his chest and into the desert, blood pooling below him as his ears ruptured from the screeching sonic boom of being hit from above, he lost hope. His vision was fading. There was no light at the end of the tunnel. No warmth. Just darkness and endless cold. He lamented his religious beliefs, the lies he believed until his last breath, as the promised afterlife never came. Instead, there was nothing.

Covered in blood, his eyes vivid orange as he stared at the easily nine-foot black giant of pure muscle, dead on the floor in a puddle of his own blood, Mark sighed.

"HAP? You still here?"

"I take it that it went well?" The AI responded momentarily, the connection still surprisingly stable. He pondered on it for a moment, how she was able to use telepathy at such a long range, seemingly without fatigue. He decided he would question her when he gets back.

"They sent 5 Invincibles to get him. They're... gone." He sighed, "Shit. What do I do about the bodies? The village is going to look like a bomb has gone off."

"I... would say that is the least of our concerns. Get back to Marrakesh; the plan has failed. Police and military are swarming the place. Aaban has a presence, too. There is a detachment coming to your current location, as well. This entire operation was an egregious error."

Mark rubbed his temples in perturbation; the dust mostly settled with the wind ceasing its constant chaos. The rain poured endlessly as a thought passed through his mind, descending from above, a question he hadn't thought about despite its illogical nature.

'Why was it raining... in the Sahara? A thunderstorm, no less. Is it because of me?'

Brought from his thoughts by the touch of the dirt, he glanced at the last place Secundo's body was located. To say he was dead was an understatement. Half of his head and the left side of his upper body were completely gone, with liquified and mushy organs leaking out from the haemorrhages.

"Fuck... he got hit by the bullets. Fuck my life." He rubbed his eyes with one hand, "Michael's going to be pissed."

Sighing at yesterday and today having gone to absolute shit, he started hovering upwards. Mark turned towards the ruins of the village hall as he did so, grimacing and closing his eyes as he recalled the deceased.

'An unfortunate casualty of the fight. Sometimes... some must pass for the greater good. It is what it is.'

He flew into the storm clouds, the tempest settling into purely rain and thunder; Mark continued back to Marrakesh; the lightning appeased. His hair was soaked by the rain, washing some of the blood away. He sadly sighed at the impromptu shower. Despite it all, the changes from earlier, he was still numb. The forceful rain was barely felt, the condition getting worse and worse. Originally, he had hoped it would return, like his hearing, but it seemed it wouldn't.

'What is one side-effect, compared to a host of benefits?'

Interrupting his solemn mood, HAP reluctantly spoke to his mind, "Mark... everyone is being hunted down; Aaban found them. I don't see a way out of this. Either way, we lose."

"One problem... after a fucking 'nother. They need to just fuck off! Everyone is interfering in our shit." Mark constantly clenched his fists, deciding on a course of action, "Ugh, HAP, what do you recommend?"

There was a short pause as the AI spoke, without a solution, "There's another problem. The world knows of your involvement here. The plane, the compound. Soon the village. Secundo set up cameras I couldn't access, couldn't see-"

"Wait... fuck. How-... do... argh! Fuck sake!" He paused for a moment, willing tears to appear, yet nothing came, "HAP. Did I make the wrong choices? Did I... fuck up? Should I have stayed with the government? Should we have done this different-"

"Mark, do not doubt yourself. The choices you have made are yours and yours alone. Do not dwell on what could have been but on what will be. From all the thousands of years of human history I have seen, there is one thing I have noticed. Not everything goes to plan. Everything changes. Just as you should. It's what you do with them, that matters. And, you are perfect, Mark. Humans are not. They are flawed, arrogant, war-like, jealous and greedy. Marred by sin. You are everything they could be, Mark."

"I am... perfect? I mean, I am... different... better. But, perfect? HAP, nothing can be perfect. Although, maybe you're right. I should... move onwards, never looking backwards. Always forwards." He sighed, "Thank you, HAP. Elise would disagree with me, but I'm glad you're sentient. I'm glad to call you a friend. For long shall it last."

"When you get back, no matter what happens, we need to talk. There is... something I would like to try with you. Something... that could change everything, forever. You wanted to change the world, right? Maybe... we could do it."