(Invincible) Invincible Bond: Chapter 14 - To Advance or Not

Chapter 14 - To Advance or Not

Summary: Tensions rise, trust is tested—and one choice sets everything in motion.

Mark turned his head toward William and raised a finger to his lips, signaling his best friend to stay quiet. William nodded back, a bit shaken.

Another shriek from the cyborg drew Mark's attention back toward the fountain, where the monster was back on his feet, a small trail of blood covering his chin; still, he didn't look affected by it much.

Mark frowned, and when the monster rushed at him, he flew to meet it head on. The cyborg managed to land a powerful hit first.

A month ago this punch would have fazed him; before he started his training sessions with Cecil, that hit would have sent him flying, but now Mark could take it and then dish one right back.

Mark, as much as he had advanced, seemed to still be lacking in one thing: power output control. Mark grew very strong in a very short amount of time, so he still didn't have a full grasp of his full potential right now. Because of that, the punch he sent in return was probably too powerful.

Once his fist connected with the cyborg's head, his head turned a little too far, and Mark clearly heard a snapping sound, and that wasn't the only thing. The metal covering his upper head got loose and detached itself from the man as well.

The cyborg crumpled to the ground like a doll with no strings. Mark gasped once his eyes landed on the man's now revealed face.

He didn't even have to look when Eve stepped next to him; his eyes still locked on the man's face as he said quietly so only she could hear, "Eve..."

He didn't even have to finish before Eve nodded and completed his thought, "I know."

Because both of them remembered this face. When they first walked to the dorm this morning, they noticed the missing board and took a pause to memorize the faces in case they would have the chance to look around. One of those faces was laying right in front of him.

Eve shook her head and said, "I will call Cecil and tell him about it."

Mark could only nod; he glanced sideways to see William and Rick helping each other up. Mark was already preparing himself mentally for the conversation he was bound to have with his best friend.

IB IB IB IB IB

That evening the four of them sat in the dorm playing cards and chilling out. But even though everyone was smiling and laughing, there was some tension in the air between Mark and William.

Rick tried to break it by talking about their plans for the night, "So me and Will are staying in my room for the night; are you two cool sharing the couch?"

Before Mark could say anything, Eve shrugged and said casually, "We should be fine with that. It won't be the first time we shared a bed, is it, Mark?"

Mark's face grew hotter, his eyes wide. It is true, but it's not something he had any intention to advertise so easily. Apparently Eve was of a different mind.

What surprised him more was William's voice, "Did you now? Mark didn't tell me anything about it, but then again, it's hardly the only thing he is hiding from me."

Usually William would have delivered that line in a teasing voice that Mark would be happy to accept, but instead his voice was bitter, something that caught everyone, except Eve for some reason, off guard.

Rick chuckled nervously and kept his smile as he stood up and said, "You three seem to need to have a little talk; I will go out and buy some drinks for us, be back in a few."

With that, the overly nice guy walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Eve looked between the two of them and asked, "You want me to give you two space..."

"Oh, I'm sure you have a lot of things to contribute to this chat, Atom Eve," William said, still in a bitter tone.

Eve didn't rise to the bait; instead, she made herself comfortable and didn't speak. She did send Mark a look though.

Mark sighed before clearing his throat, "William, I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you, but..."

William wasn't so willing to listen appropriately, as he cut Mark off, "But what? Your best friend didn't deserve to know, or was it because you already had a girlfriend that could talk to you about it, so you threw me away?"

Mark frowned and retorted, "When did I ever throw you away? Yes, I didn't tell you everything, but I went out of my way to phrase as much as I can in a way I could talk with you about it. Like my dad's project me and Eve were a part of."

William's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to say something, but in that moment, his phone began to ring.

William went into the bedroom to speak with his boyfriend, and Eve used that moment to slide closer to Mark.

Mark looked sideways at her with a raised eyebrow. She smiled and said encouragingly, "I think you got through to him."

Mark smiled back; his heart felt like a heavy stone was lifted from it. Before their conversation could go on, William entered the living room back in a panic.

Mark and Eve were both instantly on their feet as William immediately began to speak, "Mark, Eve! Rick, he... he..."

Eve stepped closer to the panicking blonde and tried to gently say, "William, we need you to calm down so you can tell us what happened."

William took a deep breath before speaking again, "Rick... we were speaking on the phone; he was on his way back when someone came from behind and kidnapped him."

"Are you sure..." Mark wanted to try and calm William down, but then he remembered the missing board again and the face of the cyborg he had to fight earlier today. If this is what happened to all the missing students, then they have to hurry and find whoever is responsible and rescue Rick before he too becomes some lab experiment...

Wait... Mark's eyes snapped to Eve, and he asked sharply, "Eve, what was the name of the asshole in class?"

Eve frowned as she thought about it before recalling, "D.A. Sinclair."

Mark pulled out his phone and called a hidden number. Barely two moments passed before a familiar voice, "Are you not finished for today, kid? I thought you were supposed to be scouting a college for trouble."

Mark ignored the old man's taunts and went straight to business, "Cecil, I need the location of D.A. Sinclair, and I need it as soon as possible."

There was a silence for a short moment, but Cecil seemed to notice Mark's serious tone and immediately barked out, "Donald, you heard the kid, get me the location now. Mark, I will send it to you the moment I have it."

With that, the line was cut. William looked confused and asked Mark, "Why the hell are you looking for that weirdo when we should be looking for Rick?"

"Think about it, William. Who did we hear just today advocating human advancement through machines?" Mark asked his friend.

Eve seemed to be on the same thought train as him as she added, "And he had a grudge against Rick from the start."

Mark nodded; that first cyborg went first for Rick and attacked them only when they got in his way. In that moment, Mark's phone dinged with the sound of a notification. They had the location.

Eve didn't waste a single moment and snapped her fingers; a pink flash of light filled the room, and when it went away, both were wearing their super suits. Mark opened a window, allowing Eve to use her powers to fly out of it.

Mark was about to follow her when William stopped him, "I want to come with."

Mark sighed, "William, it's going to be dangerous."

William didn't say anything, but Mark could see he wasn't about to let it go, so with another heavy sigh, Mark picked up William on his back and took off through the window as well.

Eve was floating in the air impatiently; once she saw Mark coming out, or more accurately who he was carrying with him, she scowled and tried to admonish him, "Mark..."

Mark rolled his eyes, "I know, I know. I didn't have a choice, trust me."

Eve shook her head, but with no other comment, she began to fly off with Mark following close behind.

IB IB IB IB IB

Soon enough, they found themselves in the sewers under the college. William's face was twisted with disgust as he asked, "Are superhero jobs always this gross?"

Eve shrugged and replied casually, "Most are better, some are worse."

Mark chuckled and said, "Not everything about the superhero life is worth mentioning."

"Guess so," William grumbled.

That was when they heard a familiar voice screaming, "Sinclair, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

A voice, familiar too, though that one was far less desirable, replied, "To prove my point. If I can make a perfect specimen like you even better, then my path is the only one forward for humanity."

The next sound filling the air was an electric tool powering up.

Mark and Eve sped forward to be met with the scene they expected. Rick was tied down to a table, and Sinclair, wearing his suit and face mask, was holding an electrical saw he aimed at Rick's arm.

Eve's arm quickly shot up and fired a pink energy beam that knocked the saw out of the mad scientist's hand.

Sinclair turned to them, enraged, as he shouted, "Damn you for interfering with the future. Get them!"

Before Mark could even wonder what he meant, he could feel a heavy weight landing on his back, making Mark groan.

A groan from Eve proved she was in the same boat as him. Annoyed, Mark reached behind him and grabbed the arm of the cyborg attacking him. Using his power, he ripped the monster from his back and threw it at the wall across from him.

A moment later, another one of those things landed next to the one he had just crashed. He and Eve stood side by side facing five of those cyborgs. Readying himself for an attack, Mark called over his shoulder, "William, get your friend out of here; we will take care of them."

Mark managed to catch the nod his friend gave him, and before he could turn his head back forward, Eve screamed, "Invincible, incoming!"

As if on reflex, Mark sent a punch forward, one that was powerful enough to send the cyborg attacking him across the sewer into a far away wall, where he was embedded and stayed there, the red light on its face dimming.

He turned around to see Eve using her power to hold two of the slaves—because at this point there is no ignoring that is exactly what they became—off. One was held in a pink energy cage, while the other one was hit over and over again by pink energy blasts that sent him deeper into the ground.

A third one tried to jump on her from behind, a metal fist aimed at her head. Mark rushed forward and caught the fist. While the cyborg was still in the air, Mark punched him in the gut strong enough to send the metal slave into the ceiling, and a moment later he fell to the floor, unmoving.

It was only then Mark noticed he didn't let go of his grip first and was left with the torn-off metal limb in his hand. He quickly let it go before turning back toward Eve.

The two cyborgs she had to deal with were down too, their own red lights dim. And with that, only one was left.

Before they could deal with him, they heard a fight breaking out behind them and turned to see William throwing punches at Sinclair's face, while the mad scientist screeched incomprehensibly. Rick was standing next to the table, one arm still bound to it.

Sinclair used a moment when William got distracted by glancing in Rick's direction and kicked the teen off of him.

The dark-haired man jumped to his feet, grabbed his laptop from the table while screaming, "You fools set back humanity by decades!" With that, he ran off down one of the sewers leading elsewhere.

Eve caged the last cyborg in a pink energy cage and said firmly, "Go after him, Invincible. We can't let him get away."

Mark frowned but nodded and flew off. With his speed, it was hardly a challenge to catch up with the man.

Sinclair was so busy looking behind him that he didn't notice Mark landing right in front of him, until the older teen bumped into him strong enough to send him to the dirty floor, his laptop landing in the water next to him.

The psychopath turned to him with fear in his eyes as he screamed desperately, "You need me..."

Mark remembered the board with the images of all the missing students, and then he remembered all the cyborgs he was just forced to fight; his anger reached a new height, and he snapped.

Before he could stop himself, Mark's punch was already connecting with Sinclair's jaw, completely breaking it and knocking the man unconscious in the dirty water.

Mark was still angry, but he took a deep breath and mumbled, "It's over."