Chapter 48: Sacrifice Part II

Mark heard Eric's voice, his concentration rapidly spiking as time slowed to a crawl. The explosion could be seen, a shockwave inching out of the building's corner and into the air. Everything was lagging, barely able to move from his perspective as his body and perception abruptly increased from his emotional state.

'I'm not losing anyone. Not again. Not anymore.'

Propelling himself forward off the building, Mark shot towards the compound at incredible speed. The upper section of the high-rise behind him crumbled, the roof obliterated by the power. Debris was sent flying in the air, gaining a few centimetres every few seconds from Mark's point of view. He hit the Riad, shattering the floor as chunks of stone, dirt, and concrete fought against gravity, hovering around him. A mini pressure wave erupted from the impact; Mark visibly saw it move across the air at a snail's pace.

(A/N – Riad is a traditional Moroccan garden/courtyard, generally located inside or in the interior of the building. Typically, this was for big houses, palaces or mansions. The more you know.)

He smashed through the building's white mud-brick walls as large sections broke inwards. He spotted two bodies, their guts spilling out of their stomach as he moved forward. The sprint caused the air pressure behind him to forcefully hit the architecture, cracks indenting and spreading across the surface like a spider's web. He saw an armoured hand grasping around the edge of the doorframe, alerting him to the two group leaders' positions.

Appearing before it, he spotted the couple, presumably Victor considering Eric was the one to shout. Entering inside, he spotted him, the fireball from the bomb steadily expanding towards the man's front as he fell backwards, the blast surge moving towards the doorframe. Knowing he was on borrowed time, his mind starting to burn vividly and pushing his brain and body far beyond their current limits, he grabbed Eric. His grip dented the metal, causing him to lower the strength he held him by.

'Shit. I'm going too fast. I'm gonna fucking kill them. Fuck! Now or never.'

Holding the bulky man in a princess carry, he mentally prepared for the incoming wave of agony. Pushing a deep breath out, he forced the essence to shield Eric, enveloping him in a field to save his life from the sudden acceleration. In previous tests, he had only been able to hold roughly four kilograms, so to suddenly attempt upwards of ninety kilos was ludicrous, causing him to aggressively cuss as his pupils dilated.

"Arrrgh! Fuck, fuck, fuck!" He screamed, the pain searing a hole in his head as he exceeded anything he had done before, brutally forcing himself to continue.

The field covered the man. The torture became too much as Mark rushed out into the street, bulldozing through anything in his path. He dropped Eric as far as he could, himself falling to his knees, his mind sizzling as if on fire. Mark's vision blurred as the colour of his eyes changed. From a cold and steady orange to a blazing red, a volcano erupting from within. Wisps of red flowed out of his pupils like smoke, creating an intimidating impression.

Grunting, gritting his teeth from the anger at Secundo's ploy, he pivoted to go and fetch the rest. It hurt; it burned; it pissed him off. One after another, everything they did against the guy turned to shit.

"Come on, Mark! Come on!" He urged himself, cracks in the skin surrounding his eyes appearing, an eerie darkness creeping out, blacker than the starless night.

Crashing his way through the building, he moved beside the leader, Victor. He pumped himself up, his anger fuelling his drive, forcing the Void to answer his call. The essence surrounded the man as Mark's eyes widened, the heat warming the air around him. Noticing it but unable to concentrate, he roughly handled the man, grasping him through his underarms to lessen the mental strain before firing himself backwards like an arrow.

Hitting the building opposite the compound, he dropped Victor as he lay on his back. Everything hurt, from his mind, the invisible muscle controlling his flight, his eyes to his chest. Forcing himself upwards, he could see the explosion now. The shockwave had shattered all the glass and bordered up windows, wood splintering and cracks constantly spreading across the building. The fireball, the central focus of the bomb, could be seen from outside, the contrast from fiery red to the darkness outdoors making the sight strangely beautiful.

"Three more, Mark. Three more." A soft and gentle female voice resounded in his head.

It stunned him for a moment, unsure how someone spoke to him as time slowed to such an extent. Yet, he had no time to delay to listen to hallucinations. The voice was right; only three more. Pounding his chest; to amp himself up, he crashed through the rest of the building until he reached the back, finding the trio mid-jumping down a basement. His vision was blurry, but enough to make them out.

'A basement would survive a bomb. Right? It's got to. Otherwise, they wouldn't be tossing themselves in.'

The burning sensation got increasingly worse as his eyes stung, the heat following him like a wolf chasing its prey, causing him to stumble towards the basement entrance. Ensuring they were all out of the way, he closed the hatch and locked it with the built-in mechanisms. Exhaustion becoming more apparent, mentally and physically, he fell to one knee as time rapidly sped up.

BOOOM!

The explosion washed over him, the shockwave blowing every window inwards for hundreds of metres, and an astronomical bang rippled through the sleeping city. What followed were considerable sections of stone, brick and mortar, dirt and concrete shooting through the sky, and city, as they crashed into buildings, streets and onto cars. Small pieces of debris shot like bullets, hitting anyone unfortunate enough to be in their way, shattering their bones and destroying their internals like a missile.

Grunting, he kneeled like a statue, unmoving and his palm facing outwards towards the explosion as the effects of the bomb bathed over him and endured till it was over. A few seconds later, it had calmed down. Glancing around, there was nothing but destruction. Fires burned across the street, smoke started to billow out, and debris fell from collapsing buildings as the structures laboured to cope with the after-effects.

The surroundings were muted, Mark unable to hear anything as his hand felt around his ears.

"Shit." He voiced to himself. He couldn't feel anything; the device pair allowing him to hear completely disappeared, likely destroyed by the shockwave or explosion. The suit he was wearing was damaged, the Russophene material managing to handle the brunt of the impact, leaving a few tears but no critical damage. Despite this, his chest still hurt. The pain was stubborn and unwilling to leave after he forcefully healed his grievous wound, making him reluctant to do the same with his hearing. If luck was on his side, it should be returning within a week or two.

"Mark!" The same feminine voice spoke into his head, prompting a response from him, despite the nigh-debilitating agony occupying his mind, understanding it wasn't a hallucination.

"Who are you? How can I hear you? What are you?" He couldn't tell who it was, the voice entirely unfamiliar.

"Focus, Mark. Secundo is getting away! The Moroccans have put him on a commercial airline at Menara Airport."

His anger erupted, unwilling to let the fiend go, not after the near-deaths of his friends, "He is not getting away. Come hell or high water, this fucker, will die today."

Mark pushed himself upwards, snarling as his chest pain intensified and his mind burned with a searing fire, using his anger to fuel himself onward. Seizing the basement entrance as his fingers pierced the metal, he ripped it off and flung it into the sky, the object vanishing in mere moments.

The startled trio stared at the newcomer, recognising Mark as they composed themselves, and Sasha spoke, "Mark? Are you ok? What... What's wrong with his face? His eyes?"

Mark shouted at them, unaware of his volume, as they winced, "I'm currently deaf! Eric and Victor are across the street. Get with them and fuck outta here. The Moroccans are helping Secundo; he's getting away. I'm gonna go after them. Ask HAP."

Huffing through his nose, he launched himself into the air, the ground cracking and cratering as a sonic boom erupted, knocking Ed back down the stairs. He hovered in the starless night, dark clouds forming above as thunder clapped, the city screaming at the peculiar events. Mark questioned the voice once he was high enough, hoping she could still hear him.

"Where? Where is he!? I'm going to end this."

There was a short, infuriating pause, Mark's right lip rising before they mentally responded, "Turn behind you. The airport, you can't miss it. The plane has just taken off, but the officials are still around the runway."

"Fucking Moroccans." He spat, speeding off in the direction of the airport and violently hitting the tarmac a few moments later. The impact created a mini-earthquake, the surroundings rumbling and shaking as citizens fell and parts of the buildings fractured.

People screamed and shouted in Arabic at the sound, debris flying in every direction, smashing glass windows and one worker falling as blood sprayed like a faucet from an unlucky hit to the neck. Mark noticed the officials standing outside four jeeps and a military transport truck, all virtually filled with armed soldiers.

"Mark! There are cameras! Leave them!"

Clenching his fists, he ignored her, perhaps not even hearing the voice in his rage, sprinting into one of the jeeps. He slammed into it, the windows shattering and the jeep rolling over as it speedily crashed into the airport forty metres away. All the occupants were dead, the inertia killing them nigh instantly. He turned to his right, soldiers stepping out of the vehicles.

Snorting, Mark's eyes lit up red, a beam cutting through another jeep and all the soldiers outside, their bodies forcibly exploding from the pressure and heat. Dealt with two, he appeared before the other smaller vehicle, a sonic boom erupting as the air pressure from his arrival forcibly knocked them all backwards. Gunfire erupted from the truck soldiers, which Mark ignored as he kicked the jeep towards the transport. Two soldiers unable to dodge were smashed into meat paste and smeared along the tarmac as the jeep slammed into the truck with an almighty bang.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BOOM!

The jeep he lasered exploded behind him as he punched a soldier lying on the floor, blood and gore splattering the tarmac as the man was eviscerated. Instantly appearing before a second, his hands grabbed the head, crushing it like an egg effortlessly, ignoring the blood and brains that dripped from his hands and face. Mark glanced left, his beam shooting out again, the two other jeep soldiers exploding shortly after.

The left-over soldiers started to spread out from the truck. He faced them before clapping his hands at them as hard as he could.

BANG!

The sound blew out their ears, screams of torment piercing the airport's civilian's ears, Mark deaf to it all. Moments later, the ground shattered from the strength of the simple clap; it swallowed the soldiers, grinding them into nothing but blood and bone. Turning around and spotting one of the three officials scurrying into an airport door, presumably following the other two, his eyes turned blue.

The scorching laser blew into the building, the walls crumbling from the kinetic force, stone and metal melting and melding together as Mark's eyes zoomed in, the officials burning into atoms within seconds. Presuming them to be dead, his mind screaming for release as he pushed it, further and further, the pain in his chest getting worse and worse; he spoke to the female, eerily calm and quiet.

"Where's the plane?"

"Almost starting to reach the coastline towards the Atlantic. Mark... it has civilians onboard. If you... initiate a fight... they-"

"I'm not letting him get away! Not this time!" He flew into the clouds, the thunder rumbling like an earthquake as flashes of lighting emerged above, "Michael spoke of my sacrifice. How he has given his. This... is going to be mine."

'A hero cannot save everyone. Some must pass... for the greater good. A monster like Secundo should not be allowed to live.'

"Mark... you created me, gave me life, a soul." A recognizable robotic feminine voice replied before reverting to the soft and gentle voice guiding his actions, "I will always support you. You are like my father. My creator. If this is what you decide, then I will abide by it. I wish us good luck for what is about to come. We'll need it."

His eyes widened from recognition before focussing again having clocked the plane just past the coastline and over the cold, dark blue Atlantic. The aircraft had just gotten above the darkened clouds, the entire layer of the sky covered in them as they expanded endlessly over the horizon.

"Do you know where he is? His seat?" Mark asked, his voice cold, contrasting his blazing eyes, an inferno showing within the red irises.

"No. Likely towards the front with the VIP section. You could go through the back door."

Flying just behind the aircraft, he searched for the door, which was located near the tail of the plane. Finding it, he grabbed the handle before pulling, almost accidentally removing the door from the aircraft. Small items started to scatter around as the airliner shook slightly as a suction force pulled everything from inside. Flying within, he closed the door, the flight returning to tranquillity instants later.

Turning the corner towards the aisle, a stewardess stared at him in horror from the floor, his irises pure red and black cracks appearing around them. In her mind, he looked more like a demon from Hell than the recently famous Mark Evans.

She screamed as the passengers turned to look at him, children starting to wail as some adults put on the fallen oxygen masks. Chaos erupted at the horrifying man who had come aboard. Mark huffed at their reaction before walking up the aisle to the stewardess. She tried to back away as he crouched before her.

"Stop running. I'm here to ask a question. Have you seen a big, stocky 9-foot male on the plane? Nod your head if you did."

With her terror slightly subsiding, she whimpered and then nodded.

"Good. Is he in first class? Nod again, if he is."

With another nod, Mark smiled as he thanked her, guilt rising as he stood up before he took a deep breath to calm himself.

'I have to do it. If I don't, he could kill millions. I have to do this.'

Reassuring himself, he stepped over the woman as he walked down the line, ignoring the passenger's varied reactions. His boots stomped along the carpet as he reached a curtain leading to the business class. Again, he cautiously walked down the middle of the plane. Mark ignored any panicked reactions of passengers due to the recent events that had transpired on the flight.

Reaching another orange and patterned curtain; made of fine material, potentially silk, he carefully moved it aside, relaxing slightly at no sudden movement. Each VIP seat was situated inside a personal cabin, completely sealed beside a sliding door. A few were opened, but most were closed.

Continuing forward, he knew he would have to check each one manually. About to knock on the first left door, he saw activity at the front. Secundo appeared with the Grail Gun in hand, an Eneph bullet fired directly at him.

'Fuck.'

Unable to react to the first bullet, it sliced through the metal bodysuit like a knife through a cake, shards of metal violently moving in every direction. The shock of the hit forced Mark back a few steps as the Element covering, beneath the metal, absorbed the bullet before shattering, leaving him defenceless. Another projectile shot from the gun, Secundo's expression one of surprise and increasing apprehension. Knowing it was coming, Mark forced himself up into the roof as the bullet whizzed below and past him.

BOOM!

The aircraft shook as an explosion blew up the tail of the plane.

'Shit. It explodes on impact. It fucking hit the stewardess.'

The aircraft continued to tremble and rattle, items whipping around as passengers screamed and cried, faint prayers to gods resounding as the plane plummeted. Mark stared at the Invincible with hatred, a snarl on his face as he readied himself to fight.

"How the fuck, are you alive? Tsk, you should've stayed dead." Secundo uttered contemptuously, Mark oblivious to the contents of his mouth movements.

"No guns, Secundo. No weapons. You're in my domain now." Mark watched as the man smiled, wearing no armour or armaments, "You are going to die today."

The man smiled, "You don't deserve your gift. A child given something beyond what he can handle... it matters little. We've already won."

Secundo charged; the carpet ripped up from the speed as Mark collided with him. The force created a shockwave; sections of the plane's interior ripped to pieces as its integrity failed catastrophically. Stronger than his opponent, Mark pushed the giant backwards and into the cabin door, breaking it as it crushed one of the unconscious pilots. On top of Secundo, Mark head-butted him, the man's nose obliterated into fleshy bits as Secundo's eyes flared, returning his own. Mark grunted as blood dripped from his nose.

"You are no god, Mark. You bleed no different to any other."

A metre apart, Secundo threw a fist, Mark catching it and cocking his other hand before brutally beating Secundo's face. A massive indent appeared in the skull, dark purple blood oozing out of wounds where bone pierced the skin. Alongside this, the man's left eye was forced into his socket, the dislocated bone and muscle painfully crushing it, the vital veins and neurons snapping apart.

Dragging him towards him, Mark lifted the Invincible by the hair and into the air before smashing him into the floor. The metal buckled from the sheer force, parts on the outside layer flying away. Unsure of the damage, Mark lifted the man to face him, head-butting him again. Secundo's face erupted into more gore, freakishly large sections of the skull slicing through the skin and making an appearance. The left eye had been completely crushed in the socket, completely unusable.

"Arghhhhh!" Screaming in suffering, Secundo retaliated, striking Mark's chest, forcing him to let go of his grip. A few seconds left of his advantage; Secundo leveraged it with another flying punch into Mark's chest. He had hoped for some weakness after blowing it open last time, considering it an impossibility for Mark to not have any ramifications from the injury.

The second hit surprised Mark as intense pain erupted like the original wound was still there as he flew backwards. He blew through two unfortunate passengers, their bones broken from the collision and covered in their blood; Mark coughed out his own. The black vitality stained the carpet as his eyes moved to look at the charging Invincible. With his hands interlocked, Secundo smashed down onto the back of Mark's head, sending him through the floor and out into the sky, tumbling down to Earth.

Mark hit a small sandstone hill a few seconds later, his mental anguish causing his faculties to fail and his concentration to be lost. Colliding with the earth, he crashed through the rock, sending large portions of it bouncing down the slope alongside himself. Landing painfully on the ground, Mark lay on his front, as his body was racked with pain. His mind burned to the point he could barely think, his vision blurred, his chest tormenting him as he coughed out more blood.

Moaning as he pushed himself upwards, he glanced at his arm in terror. The skin had started to flake, an indescribable darkness drifting out of the cracks between his skin. He didn't know what was happening, but he doubted it to be good. Looking upwards, he watched as the plane crashed into the countryside, kilometres away.

'He's on the ropes. Come on, Mark! Fucking, come on!' He screamed into his mind, trying desperately to ignore his unstable mental state and deteriorating body.

"You're in no condition to chase, Mark. We can track him again; he can't escape without our notice." HAP urged into his mind, panicked as she watched from a nearby camera.

"What? Like we almost lost him this time? Your vision isn't infallible, HAP. It's now or never. Secundo can't get away! Who knows what he's going to do next."

Struggling to stand before falling back onto one knee, he felt blood dripping from his ears before his eyes did too. Added to the constant flow from his nose and mouth, he finally realised the state he was in. He'd pushed too far, and now he'd face the consequences.