15: Hidden Potential
The tension was palpable in the air. Eve couldn't help but swallow nervously, feeling a drop of sweat trickle down her face. She had been a hero for years, facing threat after threat all the time. Her life had been at risk more times than she could count.
Yet, it was clear to her that this time was different. There was a kind of danger that made her body slightly numb. Still, she didn't falter. Instead, she stood firm by Mark's side. She was Atom Eve. She wouldn't back down no matter what, especially now that Mark had placed his trust in her. She couldn't disappoint him like that.
Pitt shifted his shoulders, the white shirt Timmy had brought tearing apart completely, leaving only the red jacket barely fitting his enormous frame. The giant, standing over three meters tall, seemed to be getting used to his body again, as if he had been asleep for too long.
"The sky..." his hoarse voice reverberated through the area as his red eyes gazed at the blue sky. His fists opened and closed, then he smiled slightly, his huge pointed teeth showing.
He looked at Mark with interest.
"I can see it, the blood covering your body. You're a warrior."
Mark blinked, but didn't dismiss his words. He didn't know what kind of abilities Pitt had, so he couldn't say if he was just talking or if he could really see the number of lives Mark had taken.
Pitt then turned his gaze to Eve.
"You have the spirit, but you still lack the strength. Don't interfere in this because I won't hold back just because you're a girl."
Eve frowned, clearly offended.
"I don't need you to treat me like a damsel. I can take care of myself."
Pitt smiled even more at seeing how she didn't back down even a bit, even when facing him.
"I've heard the news. you want me to fight by your side but... are you worthy of it?" Pitt had finished his fight long ago. He had defeated the Creed Empire and destroyed their homeworld, killed his father, and disposed of any threat his existence could bring to Earth.
He had no reason to fight anymore; it wasn't his duty... but looking Mark in the eyes he couldn't avoid that those battle cravings, which had been inside him since the first moment he gained consciousness, were ignited again, his heart starting to beat strongly.
Pitt was a warrior; he was born to bring death and destruction to all enemies of the Creed. He had rebelled due to his human consciousness, but even if he had done so, it didn't change who he was at his core. Even if he had decided to remain silent all this time, war still ran through his veins.
Mark looked at Pitt and spoke plainly.
"You know the strength of Omni-Man, you know what he's capable of, and now, many others like him have Earth in their sights. I've heard about what you did in the past, how you stopped the Creed invasion, how you betrayed your people... this isn't different. Omniman has decided to go against them for the earth but he can't defeat them all on his own, that's why I'm putting together a team, one that can fight for the earth no matter what the cost."
Until now, Mark had followed Cecil's plan not because he didn't have his own plans, but because he wanted to give Earth a chance. He didn't know the original fate of this universe without his interference, so he couldn't be sure if they really stood a chance. Still, letting them try never hurt.
Until now, Cecil hadn't been an obstacle, so Mark didn't see the need to become enemies with him. At the same time, he needed certain resources to carry out his own preparations. This team, the original idea might be Cecil's, but Mark would ensure he was the person they followed in the end.
Ultimately, everything aligned with his first and most important goal: survival. Anything else was just secondary. Once the Viltrumite Empire was defeated, he could relax and think about the distant future. But until then, he had to play his cards right.
"To fight for Earth... I can do that. But can you?"
At his question, Mark frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"If Earth is attacked, I will fight. But if you want me to join your 'team,' then you must prove yourselves worthy. Only the strong can fight by my side; otherwise, you'll just be a hindrance."
"A demonstration? Is that what you want? Or do you just want to fight?"
Pitt smiled.
"Both."
It had been a while since he fought against something, and he was beginning to miss it.
"Wait a second, we don't have to—" Eve was cut off by Mark, who raised his hand and shook his head without looking at her.
"If he wants this, then I have no choice but to give it to him." Both, half-human half-alien, looked at each other, tension rising.
Eve watched them from the side and sighed, putting her palm on her face. Why did men love to beat each other up? While she contemplated this fact, she didn't notice a tacit understanding pass through the gaze of both; there was no need for more words.
She wanted to say something more, but before she could open her mouth, she felt the wind violently hitting the surroundings. Almost automatically, her hand glowed pink, and a wall of energy unfolded in front of her, preventing her body from being thrown uncontrollably.
When her eyes focused, she saw how the ground had collapsed instantly.
In the midst of it, Mark and Pitt were both clashing their arms together, causing the earth to tremble and collapse.
The air exploded as shockwaves began to reverberate through it, shaking the surroundings.
"Rrrrrarggg!!" Pitt roared, his hand lunging forward with surprising force and speed. Mark saw the attack coming, slightly widening his eyes at the speed at which the gray giant moved.
He dodged to the side, letting the clawed hand brush past his face. Suddenly, four thin lines of blood appeared on his cheek.
He watched the drops of blood fly away surprised that the mere brush of Pitt's attack had hurt him, but he didn't remain idle.
His own fist launched forward unimpeded. Pitt saw the attack coming but didn't try to dodge it; instead, he smiled wider, letting the blow hit his face.
The air exploded as flesh met flesh, Pitt's head sharply turning to the side, purple blood spraying from his mouth.
Feeling the familiar taste of his own life fluid and the stabbing pain on the side of his face, Pitt couldn't help but get even more excited, his claws starting to increase in size.
"That's it! Hahaha!"
Mark couldn't help but smile too; he hadn't held back with that blow. It seemed like this guy would really indeed be useful in the battles to come.
In a blink, high-speed movements began to take place. They exchanged hundreds of blows in moments. Not far from them, Eve had to strain just to follow the residual images of both.
She bit her lip, she knew mark was strong, but now he seemed much stronger than before., and his opponent didn't fall behind at all.
Eve flew over the center of the fight, her hands glowing as she prevented the air cyclones beginning to form from dragging debris beyond the area. In fact, she was modifying the terrain to prevent both from completely destroying the place.
Mark felt Pitt's elbow burying itself in his stomach, nearly knocking the wind out of him. He couldn't help but grunt, but he didn't stop. His hand stretched out and grabbed Pitt by the neck, then quickly he leaned in and smashed his head against Pitt's, making the giant grunt.
If Pitt had a nose, this blow would have broken it, but because he didn't have it the half-alien monster quickly recovered. His fist struck Mark in the face, causing him to recoil dozens of meters, crashing into dozens of trees.
Mark spat blood from his mouth and waited until Pitt came close enough to lunge forward and punch him directly in the chin, making his teeth clash together with a resounding sound echoing through the area.
But Pitt didn't stop; in fact, with each wound he received, he seemed much fiercer and more willing to fight.
He struck towards Mark with both hands, causing him to cross his arms over his head to block the blow. The ground sank, and in a second, a crater hundreds of meters wide formed as the earth was forced to compress by the sheer force.
The shockwave caused an earthquake that began to shake the nearby mountains.
Mark felt the strain; his legs bent slightly upon impact, and his eyes couldn't help but meet his opponent's.
Without either being able to stop it, they both grinned widely.
From the skies, Eve frowned as she saw the forest beginning to be destroyed.
Even if she could fix it with her powers, it wouldn't bring back the lives of all the animals that hadn't been able to flee in time. This had to end.
"Enough!" she shouted and tried to raise a barrier between them, but the pink energy projection lasted only half a second before it was shattered into thousands of fragments like a breaking crystal the next moment.
Eve grimaced at the backlash; she couldn't stop them, not if she kept using the same tactics as always.
She looked thoughtfully at the terrain before raising her hand and focusing. This time, she had to go a little further.
Mark was about to strike Pitt once more when suddenly he felt the air around him vibrating, as if his body was being crushed from all directions by a crushing pressure.
"What is this?" It was difficult to move; it reminded him of some of the fragments of other dimensions in Flaxan where gravity had increased hundreds of times.
This was something similar but different; it wasn't gravity that was preventing him from moving, it was the density of the air. No, not just the air, he could feel moisture, water particles? There was something more, but he couldn't pinpoint it exactly.
"Interesting..." Pitt slowly and with effort turned his head to see Eve in the sky, who had one eye narrowed and sweat dripping down her forehead.
Normally, to create her shields, she rearranged the air particles and increased their density to make them "almost" indestructible. A simple shield wouldn't suffice this time, so she decided to use not only the air particles but all the particles present in the atmosphere.
She was increasing the atmospheric pressure in a concentrated area by manipulating not only the molecules but also the atoms present, compressing and increasing their mass by force. Under normal circumstances, she would never have done this because everything in that area would die, but with Mark and Pitt as the targets, she didn't worry about holding back. Still, she had to be careful because she didn't want to accidentally trigger a nuclear fusion process.
If there were a way to measure the atmospheric pressure both were feeling, it could only be compared to being submerged deep in a giant gas giant like Jupiter.
With millions of times the sea-level pressure on Earth now hitting them from all directions, not only they but everything within a hundred meters around them began to collapse. Matter compressed upon itself to the point where it began to melt, the temperature rising every moment, and gravity even starting to be affected, causing the pressure to increase even more.
Mark felt his lungs slowly squeezing within him. It was uncomfortable, and breathing was like trying to inhale solid concrete through his nose. He looked at Eve in the sky, surprised by such a move; he hadn't expected her to have something like this up her sleeve.
It seemed like once again, he had underestimated her.
"I-Is it enough?" Eve spoke with some effort. Using her powers to such an extent didn't come without a cost. Normally, she never went to such extremes, so she wasn't accustomed to such pressure; she was already cursing inwardly as she felt her stomach starting to growl.
Pitt smiled, feeling his muscles beginning to tighten, even his bones felt somewhat rigid as he moved.
"I was wrong; clearly, you have more strength than I thought." He felt his claws grow, but he forced himself to keep his urge to fight down; this wasn't a fight to the death, there was no need to go wild even though he wanted to.
He looked at them both before smiling and nodding to Eve.
"I've seen all I needed to. I'll join you."
Upon hearing her words, Eve let out a sigh and she returned everything to normal. Mark felt his body returning to its usual lightness and managed to avoid falling to the ground by using his flying ability, as the ground beneath his feet had sunk dozens of meters and turned into molten earth.
Pitt couldn't fly, so he simply let himself drop to the ground with a grimace.
Both had been suspended in the air due to the pressure exerted on their bodies from all directions.
Mark looked towards Eve, who seemed unsteady, and quickly flew towards her, holding her and preventing her from falling.
"Are you okay?" he asked with concern upon seeing her uncomfortable expression.
"I think I need to go to the bathroom," she blinked and then looked at him, her face gaining a deep red tone, which combined with the pale tone from before made her look even sicker.
"What's wrong?" Mark asked, but Eve averted her gaze and, with some effort, used her powers once again on him, making him notice that his suit had turned to ashes due to Eve's earlier trick.
He hadn't realized until now that he had been naked.
He saw the pink light covering his body and how a replacement for his suit was being constructed over him the next second. Eve's powers were truly useful. Although now she seemed about to vomit.
He quickly lowered her to the ground, letting her catch her breath.
"Um, can I order some pants too?" the voice of Timmy came toward them and Mark turned only to see him covering his crotch with his hands and an embarrassed smile on his face as he walked toward them from the crater.
He was going to tell him he should find some clothes, but when he turned to look, he saw that the picturesque cabin from before was now nothing but crushed debris... it seemed that he and Pitt had destroyed his house, leaving him homeless...
Eve didn't turn to look at him, still busy holding her stomach, and with some effort, she stretched out her hand in his general direction, and a pink light traveled towards Timmy, turning into a pair of generic pants lying on the ground.
"Thanks!" Timmy didn't hesitate to take them and start putting them on; having his ass in the air was not comfortable at all.
Mark sighed, patting Eve's back as he looked around... it seemed they had gotten a bit carried away, but oh well, in the end, things had turned out as he wanted, and he had even been able to witness more about Eve than he imagined. Suddenly, he realized that she was more important than he had expected. Looking at her from the side, he couldn't help but think about what he should do to keep her by his side.
He had a feeling he was going to need her more than he initially thought.
.
.
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Note:
sorry for taking so long to bring this chapter, I had to rewrite it several times until I was convinced.
Eve is a character with a lot of hidden potential and I don't know if I can take full advantage of it but I hope I can at least explore some of it, Mark now realizes that he had been underestimating her more than he thought, she is important guy so you should keep her by your side no matter the method ;) if you know what I mean.
I hope to bring more of her and other "invincible" girls soon.
Normally this is where I would say that the next chapter can be seen in advance on Patreon, but it's not out yet hahaha, even so if you want to watch it when it's ready (which I hope will be soon) don't hesitate to subscribe :D patreon.com/EmmaCruzader