Chapter 22: 3 Act Play

[This will be the day]

Nolan and Conner charged at each other without exchanging any more words. It seemed to all those watching on TV that the pair had disappeared for a moment before they reappeared in front of each other with their fists clashing.

A loud booming sound was heard when the fists struck each other but Conner was the obvious loser. Not only was his arm now injured but he had also been pushed back hundreds of meters while Nolan gave chase.

'I figured that would be the case. Which is why I have been killing myself in preparation for this'

Nolan had just reached Conner's flying body and was about to launch another attack when he was forced to take a step back a shadow grazed past his face. Without even realizing it, Nolan's chin had a small cut on it. Conner looked at his father upside down as he frowned before pressing his charge.

There is only Conner could truly do in preparation. He could only reach a certain level of strength by the time of the fight due to the limits of his body, he could only push his red aura so much, he could increase his armor by a limited amount. So what else was there?

Technique.

Since he could not beat Nolan with his fists, Conner decided to use his legs. They already were able to carry twice as much force as a punch so using them to overcome the gap in strength was his best option. But in order to use his body properly, that took days of non-stop practice making sure he knew his exact limits.

Nolan and Conner continued the battle once more. Nolan attacked with his fists while Conner used his arms as distractions or chances to grapple Nolan in order to get a better chance to land a blow with his legs without being caught.

Mark watched the pair battle from the side with a look of fear in his eyes. Both his father and brother were battling at such a high, intense level that he knew if he was to replace either one of them, he would swiftly lose. But most of all, he saw that the pair were aiming to kill the other.

But the most chilling thing was their attitude. There was no fear, anger, or sadness on their faces. They looked indifferent. As if killing a close relative was just something they did every Tuesday.

[I may fall]

As much as Conner wanted to say he was matching his father blow for blow, that would have been a lie. He had already been pushed back miles and was nearing Chicago as their battle raged on.

He tried to stick as close as possible in order to limit his father's freedom of movement but that also crippled what type of attacks he could launch himself. This had a clear outcome on the battle.

While Conner had several broken bones all over his body, Nolan only had one or two cracked/broken ribs and a bloody nose. The disparity in injuries was obvious to both.

Conner was about to launch another kick when he realized he had fallen into a trap.

'Shit. That was a fein...'

Conner could not stop what happened next. The same thing that happened to Mark happened to him as well. He was brought into Chicago as Nolan used him as his personal weapon and punching bag to destroy dozens of buildings as well as end thousands of lives.

Conner tried to start fighting back once again but with all of his momentum lost, it was nearly impossible. Nolan then began his trip around the world with Conner. He brought him to the ocean, Berlin, Italy, The Great Wall, Tokyo Tower. In each location that he brought Conner, death and destruction would soon follow. Thousands of deaths turned into tens of thousands.

The rampage ended on a Colorado mountaintop. Nolan pressed Conner's body into the ground. His intestines were leaking out of his gut, one of his eyes was still attached to the cord but out of the socket, most of his ribs broken, and one of his legs was also broken. Conner's state was truly terrible.

"Had enough? I know you're stubborn so I decided to help you see just what you're fighting against!"

"I'll stop you," Conner coughed out with a mouthful of blood

"I'm ready when you are," Nolan said before punching Conner deeper into the ground

Unwilling to just take the hit, Conner also delivered a strong kick to the side of Nolan's face. Although it caused a serious injury and some blood to be lost, Nolan ignored the blow as he looked down at his son.

"Fine! You want to die for this planet? Go ahead! I have Mark! I can always have another kid!" Nolan said as he wrapped his arms around Conner's neck and began to choke him. This would be a long and torturous process as Viltrumites could go without oxygen for up to an hour. Nolan was just torturing his son at that point.

Conner kept his hands on the ground as he allowed his father to choke him. He kneed Nolan whenever he could but did not try to truly dislodge him. He only had one chance.

"Why did you make me do this? You're fighting so you can watch everyone around you die! Think, Conner! You'll outlast every fragile, insignificant being on this planet. You'll live to see this world crumble to dust and blow away! Everyone and everything you know will be gone!"

Conner bid his time. After a minute of charging, it was ready. Both of Conner's hands shot up to grab Nolan's face. At first, he was going to ignore it but he then felt the burn on his skin. Then it got deeper. Then the flames covered his entire face.

[I Burn]

Knowing he was in a dangerous position, Nolan decided to snap Conner's neck at that moment. But for some reason when he tried, he felt some force resisting it.

Conner had shifted into his Vibranium suit and was using the small amount of force he could generate to stop his father's hands once. But if he tried a second time, it would have been over for Conner.

Conner would not give him the second chance. The heat of the flames increased rapidly as an inferno consumed Nolan's head. Nolan rapidly began losing strength as he choked Conner before there was no longer any strength in his hands. Before long, the only thing holding up Nolan's body was Conner.

When Conner extinguished the flames, he saw what remained of Nolan's head: nothing. Not even a skull had remained as Conner rushed his flames to their strongest levels.

As he looked up, Conner saw his Sword Of Damocles in the sky above him looking as if it was chipping apart. He had pushed his flames beyond what should have been his limit which caused the damage to his sword. The lack of intestines in his body and various injuries also played a part.

But since the sword was not descending to the ground, it meant that Conner's life was safe. That was the most important part.

Conner was just about to call Scotty when Mark had arrived, covered in blood. This caused Conner to frown. Mark wasn't a part of the battle. He shouldn't have had any blood on him.

"This is all your fault, Conner! You killed Eve! You killed Dad! You even framed Dad when you murdered the Guardians!"

Conner's frown got even deeper. Then, something clicked in his mind. Something he had never even considered because he thought he was in the original universe.

'There were 19 of them. 19 evil versions of Mark that decided to decimate a world for a chance to expand their empire or just wantonly kill. Although he didn't look like any of them, that didn't mean he couldn't fall like them.'

Conner looked at his brother in pity. There were only two options when it came to an evil Mark. Kill them or be killed. Because if they were allowed to live, they would have the power to rule over the Viltrumite Empire within 500 years.

Conner got up from the ground with great difficulty. He had to hold all the good parts of him that were falling out with one hand while he flew in order to keep off of his bad leg.

"Don't make me do this, Mark."

"I need to stop you. There is no jail to hold you. There is only one way I can stop you. I need to do the same thing you did to Eve and the Guardians," Mark continued his rant

"Mark. What happened to Eve?"

Conner finally noticed what he was saying. Eve should have been fine. She wasn't anywhere close to the fight. There wasn't any major battle that day. Was Eve fine? What about Caitlin?

"You know what happened! You tried to turn her against me! You killed her!"

Conner looked shocked. And then angry. He could tell what happened. Eve was his best friend. Mark had Anakin'd her and was blaming him. Deciding not to waste any more time, Conner flew toward Mark before shoving his hand through his chest before pulling it back out with Mark's heart in his hands.

"I wasn't expecting to perform patricide and fratricide today."

Conner dropped the heart on the ground before ripping off Mark's head.

Seeing the two bodies near him, Conner unleashed his flames once more and began to burn the bodies of his father and brother. The blood turned into bone, the bone turned into ash, before the ash turned into nothing.

'At least no one can take advantage of you in the afterlife. This is the only mercy I can give you.'

"Scotty. It looked like it is going to rain."

[I'm not seeing any clouds in the sky.]

"No. It's raining," Conner said as two raindrops went down his cheeks

Conner flew back towards Chicago. Even though he was injured, Conner still had to see with his own eyes. Even high in the sky, Conner could see the dead body of Eve on the ground.

Cecil's people were already there and taking her away. Seeing that nothing else could be done here and that Eve was already dead, Conner flew back to HOMRA. He needed to heal. Mentally, emotionally, and physically.