Chapter 6

A metal fist straight to his face didn't even faze him, but a 'decent punch' by his old dad left him reeling on the floor in pain.

Bullshit, if you asked him.

He was already partially blacking out from his dad's fists when he failed to dodge or block properly, however he was sure he went unconscious for a solid minute, when his dad's kick met his liver.

Regardless of the pain he felt and just how much his body begged him for rest, he didn't stop getting up. Why? Because he didn't like the look on his father's eyes. That look which was so cold and calculative. Just a few hours ago he had seen so much pride in his father's eyes when his mother mentioned his success at stopping a criminal.

Which is why he wouldn't stop getting up, he wouldn't stop trying to punch his dad -as bad as that sounded- all because he wanted to see that proud gaze again.

So, he tried. Again, and again. He had lost count of how many times his dad had sent him crashing to the ground. All that matter was just getting one good punch at his dad.

It was very dark in the dessert, unsurprising considering the time. The only light came from the moon, which was enough to take notice of things but not to accurately pinpoint them. It was fine for him anyways; he could hardly see after taking countless punches on the face.

He used his other senses to locate his father's position through his blurry vision. Once again, he went flying towards the sound of his dad's heartbeat and soft breathing, he brought his fist back towards his waist to gain as much force as possible. He didn't care that it was an easily seen through attack and anyone with reflexes as fast as his dad would see it coming from a mile away.

His father wouldn't dodge, that much he knew. He wasn't even considered a threat to his father. Hell, his father hadn't even move from that place in the air since they arrived here. He used all the energy left in his tank, surpassing any of what he previously thought was his fastest speed. His eyes were closed in preparation of his last strike; therefore, he couldn't see if his speed caught his dad off guard or not.

All his senses but touch fell asleep, he realized this as he couldn't no longer hear his father's breathing or smell the copper taste of his blood on his fist and face. He only knew his sense of touch remained, when he felt his dad's hand catch his punch. A second after, he also lost his sense of touch, as he had finally fell completely unconscious.

If he had his eyes opened, he would have witnessed his punch pushing in his dad's hands, until it softly collided with his shoulder. And he would have seen his father's cold gaze leave as a surprised one took its place.

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When he woke up, he felt it would have been better to remain unconscious. His whole body was aching. He absentmindedly noticed he was tucked in his bed. At least his dad still had a heart, after the beating he took last night, he was starting to worry.

Glancing at his clock standing on his bedstand, he noticed it was almost eleven in the morning and today was Tuesday...

Muttering a few curses that his mother would have been surprised - and enraged- to hear, he leapt out of bed ignoring his aching body as he raced towards his bathroom. Finished with his business, he grabbed his phone and made his way towards the kitchen, while messaging back to Eve that he overslept.

He noticed his dad sitting at a couch reading a newspaper, "Morning Dad!" He yelled while putting bread on the toaster.

"Murnin'," his father replied while sipping a cup of coffee. He felt his father watching him scarf his breakfast down as fast as he possibly could. That was when he noticed his father gaining an enlightened look.

"I called your school and said you were sick, you're free from it for today." Nolan nodded to himself, as if satisfied at having done so.

With the whole bread shoved inside his mouth, his cheeks bloated from it, he gave his father the most deadpanned gaze he could muster. His father only sheepishly scratched his head.

"Also, don't tell you mother, " He added. Mark could only roll his eyes at that.

"Okay," he replied, agreeing with his dad. His body also didn't want to go to school after all. Even if most of his conscious mind wanted to see Eve again.

"Instead, we are going for more training! And to meet a friend of mine after," father explained today's plans, he honestly didn't mind more practice. Sure, it left him feeling like a beat-up sandbag, but he knew this would only make him stronger.

He gave his father a nod and slowed down in eating. Once, he was done, he changed his clothes for something sportier.

He walked down the stairs and found his father in his superhero suit, waiting for him at the door.

"Make sure to lock the door, Mark." With those words, his father walked out and took to the air. He could only admire how fast his dad went, in a few seconds, he appeared to be a dot in the sky. Grinning at someday reaching or better yet surpassing his father, he locked the door behind him and followed after his dad.

He didn't know how long they were flying, his whole body felt tired, his dad had him speeding up at random intervals and forcing to not slow down. After flying over various countries like France, Egypt, Africa, and more, he finally recognized they were back in the city where they lived. They slowed down and he curiously looked over the city as he followed his father.

They reached a secluded house where they landed. Nolan headed to the door and knocked on it three times, waited two more seconds and did it again.

The door finally opened, revealing a middle-aged man, with mostly white hair and a weird haircut.

"Nolan!" The stranger exclaimed as he hugged his father. "What brings you here my friend?"

"Art, my son, Mark, wants to follow my footsteps. We need a suit for him." My father explained, the old man then turned to me, studying me for a few seconds, before smiling and nodding.

"A little young, no?" The man commented to my father, "I'm Art Rosenbaum." He extended his hand towards me.

"Mark Grayson," He replied, shaking Art's hand.

"Come in, let's see if I have any suits already made that catch your eye," Art further opened the door and stepped aside, letting us come in.

We followed him towards a basement, where dozens of costumes could be seen hanging.

"Well-" Art made a motion with his arms displaying his collection of suits, "See any that you like?"

Mark, carefully studied the costumes, seeing some similar to his dad, with a cape and what-not. But he really didn't want to be identical to his father, so no capes for him. Not to mention the colors really didn't resonate with him, orange wasn't really his thing.

Mark shook his head as an answer, "Not really," he replied, unconvinced in wearing any of these costumes.

Art just showed a patient smile, "Do you have a name?"

Mark was a little confused for a brief moment, before he understood the question.

"Not yet."

Art nodded his head in deep thought, "Hm, come back here when you have one, I'll make something you'll truly like then."

Mark nodded, he hadn't really talked much during this visit, his thoughts more focused on what kind of suit he would like. His dad and Art proceeded to talk a bit more before they all said their goodbyes and left Art's place.

"Well Mark, that's all for today, don't come back home too late." His father said as they were flying. "On second thought-" his father made a thinking face, "Don't come later than midnight."

"Okay..." Mark replied, confused at how his father changed his mind very fast.

With a nod, his father separated from him, heading towards what Mark thought was their home.

Meanwhile, he continued to fly over the cities, before coming to a stop on a mountain. Checking the time on his phone, it was already past three. Knowing school should be over by now, he texted Eve to meet up with him.

He waited for fifteen minutes, before he saw Eve's figure approaching him.

"Mark!" Eve yelled as she ran at him.

"Hey Eve-" He was cut off as she came very close to him, her hands holding his face.

"What happened to you?!" She exclaimed as she searched inside her purse. She pulled out alcohol wipes and a band-aid. "Ow-" Mark instinctively replied as he felt the wipe pass over a cut near his brow. She cleaned the wound for a few second before putting a band-aid over it.

Mark finally realized that last night, he was beaten by his dad. Mark passed his tongue over his teeth, when he realized that the teeth he lost yesterday, had grown back.

"I don't have any ice with me, but there should be some at my home." Mark showed a confused expression, Eve just shook her head. "Come with me," she grabbed his hand, "You can explain then."

Mark could only nod as Eve, with her hand still on his, guided him to her home. Eve's home wasn't any different from other houses. He was confused as Eve made them enter through her window. She made him sit on her bed, "Wait here," she said, before exiting her room.

She came back a minute later, with a bag of ice in hand. She handed it to him, while saying to put it in his left eye. He complied and they sat in silence. Until Eve made a motion for him to begin speaking.

"I was training yesterday," he started, but couldn't explain more as she interrupted him. "I saw you get punched by an armored hand yesterday, you didn't have a scratch. What exactly caused those injuries?"

He stayed silent for a minute as he contemplated how to explain his situation.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I mean we only did meet yesterday," she explained nervously, before she calmed down and gave a sigh, "I'm just worried."

He smiled at her, "I appreciate your concern, I was just trying to think how to explain it."

"We might have only met yesterday, but I consider you a good friend already," His words further calmed her down.

"My dad is Omni-Man," he outright said it, not willing to dance around the topic. He saw her eyes widen at that. "He was training me last night, we were just sparring," he explained, not mentioning that it wasn't really a spar, it was more like a one-sided beat down.

She didn't appear worried anymore. "Still, he really did a work with you, that's a nasty black eye."

"It doesn't hurt anymore," he told her, then continued saying, "I've been thinking, how about we go patrolling the city today?"

"Dressed like that?" She teased him, by pointing at his shorts and sweatshirt.

He shrugged, "If we cover our faces, we'll be fine."

Eve made a thoughtful face, "I might have just the thing," she stood and went to her wardrobe, rummaging through it.

"Aha!" She exclaimed as she pulled out, a blue and pink cloth. "We can use this," She handed him the blue cloth, while she searched for something else in her desk. She grabbed scissors and proceeded to make to holes in the pink cloth.

"How does it look?" She asked wearing the cloth on her head, which covered her upper face, while leaving two holes for her eyes.

His eyebrows raised in surprise, "Not bad," he said honestly. Eve smiled as she helped make the holes on his mask.

"It's four right now," Eve said looking at her clock, "and I haven't eaten yet, so let's do that first."

He nodded, seeing no problem with that. "I haven't as well," he realized.

"What do you want to eat?" She asked, searching for places in her phone. "I can eat anything," he replied proudly.

"Is that so?" She asked amusedly, "Then I know just the place," she stated.

"Lead the way," Mark answered, while he put his mask inside his pocket, she copied him, and they both left the house.

They entered a fast-food restaurant called China Express or something similar.

"Smells good," He noted.

"Doesn't it?" She asked happily, "I love this place," she told him.

There was a small line, not as big as the line at the Boba place, something he was thankful for as he was really hungry. Eve explained to him the different options of food there were, and he selected the ones that seemed the most appealing.

They paid for their food and found a table nearby to eat in.

"We are going to need actual costumes at some point," Eve commented in a semi-low tone in between bites.

Her comment made him smirk, "Way ahead of you partner, I know just the guy."

She raised her eyebrows in curiosity, "You trust him to keep your identity a secret?"

Mark nodded after a second of hesitation, not having considered that. "Yes, my father introduced him to me, his own costume was made by that guy."

She accepted his reasoning, "We should go there soon then," she said.

"Yes, but before that, he told me to find my costume name." She nodded as she immediately caught at what he was referring to, not that it was hard.

"Okay, we should brainstorm names later today." He nodded in acceptance.

"Oh-!" She exclaimed as she realized something, "how much does it cost?" She didn't think she had enough money for a costume tailored by the one who made Omni-Man's.

Mark appeared thoughtful at that; he realized the man was likely only giving him a free costume due to his dad.

"I'll just ask him for a favor," he replied reassuringly.

"No, I couldn't possi-" She started replying in denial, before he cut her off.

"Eve," He started, "It's alright, that's what friends do. If you can't accept that, then consider it me repaying you for taking care of my wounds today."

"I only helped you a little," she tried to reason with him.

However, "I'm not budging on this Eve, just accept it." He spoke firmly.

She looked at him for a few seconds, before she sighed.

"You're so stubborn," she said, while giving him an appreciative smile.

"You like me like that," he told her teasingly. Her cheeks turned rosy as she replied with a serious tone, "I do."

It was a miracle he had already swallowed his food else he would have choked at her words.

Now it was her turn to tease him at his silence, "Cat caught your tongue?"

His own cheeks flushed in embarrassment, "Let's just eat!" He replied flustered.

He tried to ignore her chuckles as he kept eating, refusing to make eye contact for a few minutes. Inside of him, his heart was beating loudly. And unknowingly a seed was planted in his heart at that moment that would, if treated right and taken well care of, flourish beautifully in the future.

They finished their food and left the establishment soon after that.