7 Chapter 7

[MC POV]

° Grayson Residence.

° Evening.

Just one last flip and...it's done.

Dinner is served. 4-course meal for a family of 4, just now need to prepare some rice. Easy enough.

I placed the pan near the sink and started measuring some cups of rice for all of us.

One of the things I love about this new life is how I get to learn how to cook and put it into practice. I never got to in my past, so doing it now and practicing it as part of the family's daily routine is becoming something of a dear hobby to me.

Plus I get to know what my family eats and understand how they want things.

Also, it just so happens that Viltrumites, even half ones, have quite the appetite and flavor palate.

After washing the rice a few times I placed it on the rice cooker, it was then that I saw Mark float down from the second floor then seemed to be heading towards the backyard.

"Hey. Mom said no flying in the house" I reminded him.

He sighed, put his feet on the ground, and walked towards the backyard door.

"Going for another patrol in the city?" I finished the preparations and set the cooker to cook.

"No. I'm just gonna practice my landings outside, so don't bother following me again" he said.

"I followed you because I was worried, Mark"

"Yeah... Well, you don't have to. I can take care of myself" he said.

I floated towards him and grabbed his arm as he opened the door.

"I get that. But we're brothers, Mark. Twins too. I look out for you, you look out for me. We got each other's backs, right?"

"Alright! I got it, Matt Now can you let go of my arm? It's starting to hurt and I wanna practice before curfew" he said.

I let go of his hand.

A bit concerned about the red palm print I left on his hand. I just held him, maybe a bit tightly because of the emotion, but wow. That's...unexpected.

Makes me think I'm stronger than Mark to some degree.

....

The dishes were done, and everyone except Mom has already eaten now, so I decided to chill in the living room and watch some TV while waiting for her.

It was getting a bit late, but I'm sure she'll be fine. She normally does this on her busy days.

But it seems I couldn't quite get away from worrying just yet.

On the TV were me, Mark, and Dad. All in one photo with the headline 'Rise of New Heroes under Omniman's Tutelage?'.

The title was fucking stupid, but strangely quite on point. For the most part.

The report was short and just explained what happened leading to the moment in the picture.

It seemed that Mark had unsuccessfully thwarted some kind of shootout from 2 different groups of personnel, and the recovered shell casings traced them to a prolific crime boss known as Machine Head.

As for the black guy who was superhuman, he was nowhere in sight after we left the scene. He might've escaped moments after we did.

Which doesn't complement the GDA's response time in this scenario.

I shifted the channel after that report.

*door creaking*

I look to see that it was Mom, looking exhausted.

"Hey, Mom" kissed her on the cheek.

She smiled and accepted the affections without a problem, "You know, I thought you kids would outgrow this kind of affectionate behavior years ago" she said.

"It's not weird, is it?

"Not at all, my sweet boy" she held my cheek fondly.

I smiled, "Food is kinda cold now, but if you want me to heat it up for you--".

"No need, honey. It's fine, I can take care of it myself. But thank you" she said.

I nodded.

"Now go wash up and go to bed, you have school tomorrow," she said.

*thud*

The living room shook as that sound suddenly rang from the backyard.

I should've warned the idiot not to practice in the backyard. Mom's newly planted seedlings were there, and it would cost quite a bit to restore.

"What was that?" Mom looked at the backdoor.

"Nothing!" I blocked her line of sight.

She looked at me and frowned.

"Matthew, what's going on?" she asked.

*thud*

_Dude, Mark! Not a good time!_

"Matthew!?" Mom raised her voice.

"It's nothing, mom. Maybe it is just...a fat bird crash landing in the backyard?" I fumbled.

*sigh* "Okay, let me through--" she stepped through me, leaving me no choice.

"Okay!" I said, "It's Mark, Mom. He's...practicing"

She sighed once more and grabbed my shoulders, "Well, he better not destroy those lovely lavenders I planted or we will have words. You included, young man" she said angrily.

_Dammit. So much for covering him._

"Come along" she motioned.

I followed her as she walked out and towards the backyard.

"Mark?" she called out.

The backyard was empty right now and her flower pots were mostly undamaged by whatever Mark was doing, but when I turned my head to the right corner of the yard...well things weren't looking good.

Half a dozen 3 feet deep craters littered the ground, not to mention the large masses of soil seemingly displaced around it.

'Practice Landings' outside my ass. More like practice falling.

Mom saw it too and gave me a stern look.

*THUD*

Mark soon came falling from the sky and making another small hole, the real culprit of all this mess.

He came out of that hole *panting*, looking all dirty and tired.

"What the hell was that?" Mom asked him angrily.

"Uhm...practicing my landings?" Mark replied, walking towards us.

"Yeah, I see that NOW" Mom stated.

"Yeah, uh...sorry about the yard" Mark said to her.

He glanced at me and gave me an angry look, I returned by motioning to Mom and raised my hands helplessly. His reply of drawing a line under his neck and the cold look was more than unnecessary.

"Why are you doing this?" Mom asked.

"I need practice, Mom. I can't land that well, I can't fly all that fast. I need to be better" he replied, then glanced at me again for only a moment.

I understood what he meant. All too well, unfortunately.

"Mark, you need to sleep" Mom insisted gently.

"I need to practice," Mark said again.

"Honey, it's the middle of the night! I have work tomorrow, and you have school. Both of you. So get inside right now!" Mom raised her voice.

Mark stared at her and said "Make me", taunting her without a single shift in his expression.

I floated beside Mom and looked Mark straight in the eye, "What did you just say?".

Mark stared back, and both hands suddenly balled into fists.

"Try saying that to me, Mark, and see what happens next," I said, urged really.

"Yeah? What are you gonna do?" Mark asked me to my face.

"Oh boy. The landings must've spilled your head, knocking out whatever brain cells are left. Why don't I give you-"

"ENOUGH!" Mom shouted.

I flinched and floated down.

"What is the matter with you two!?" she asked.

Mark stayed quiet, looking straight at her.

"Especially you, Mark! Did that make you feel strong? To know that I can't physically make you do something? Is that what you need?" she asked.

Mark looked away and sighed.

"And you! I told you this long ago, this is not how to handle problems, Matthew" Mom berated me.

I looked away, feeling embarrassed at myself for the loss of control.

My temper was/had never been good, in this life and the last one. If anything it's a bit worse in this one, and given how I can do more damage if I wanted then my temper flare-ups will be catastrophic.

A thought I had to keep in mind from now on.

"This is important, Mom. It's important to me" Mark said after a while.

Mom looked at me as if looking for my answer.

"I didn't like what he was saying or how he was saying it to you"

She threw her hands up in exasperation, "I swear, you boys were a lot easier to handle without superpowers and puberty getting in the way".

'I didn't even do anything yet' I wanted to argue, but knew better about it. It was my fault for being aggressive and letting my temper get the best of me.

"Sorry, Mom," I said.

She turned, her back towards us as she took a deep breath. Soothing her frustration, no doubt, she took a long pause. The silence only served to worsen my embarrassment for my outburst.

"Remember when you were little-" she suddenly said, her head slightly turned to glance at us, "-and we'd talk and eat nachos almost every night before we went to bed?"

I turned to Mark, not sure if she was talking to him or me. Though I did remember her telling me how to make them that one time years ago and we are it together, even when it was a failed and bitter-tasting attempt.

"You'd tell me about whatever jerk made fun of your hair, and I'd tell you about, what I lived through so you'd feel better?" she continued.

Since I don't remember us talking about it, I assumed she was talking to Mark on that one. She walked forward and sat on the outdoor steps. Then motioned for Mark and me to sit beside her.

"But I have to put the food on--"

"Dinner can wait, honey. Just sit down" she said, her voice stern but not angry.

I obliged, sitting to her left while Mark sat to her right. She gave us both a searching look as she continued

"I can't talk to either of you while we soar through the clouds, but... but I'm still here," she said, "It used to be the three of us, and this crazy world-saving, super-powered father of yours. Now...it's you two and him, and your boring, old, normal mom".

Oh... Wow. I didn't expect or even consider that she was feeling left out in all this. Shit.

"Mom... " Mark said, pausing as he seemed to not find the right words to say.

"That's... We weren't trying to--" I tried to say.

"It's okay, boys. I get it" she said, "You have to move away from normal life with me, and get used to being... something more, like your dad"

I couldn't find the right words now. She was right, in some way. These powers were... something else, and only Dad can properly have us train them in full with his experience of it.

_But that didn't mean that she was useless, far from it_

I've seen how things like these go or should go, the awakening of powers changes a lot of things in a superhero's life. But the one important thing about them was to keep oneself grounded.

And she was that for all of us. The anchor that kept the only 3 viltrumites, as far as I know, on the ground.

"Not moving away anytime soon, Mom" I tried to assure her. Her wistful smile in reply was heartbreaking to see.

"Yeah, but see, that's what I'm worried about. I'm nothing like Dad. I'm more like you. I'm nothing special" Mark said absently.

If I was sitting beside him, I would've elbowed the hell out of him right about now.

"Oh...Like a knife to the heart with this one" Mom teased.

"Not cool man," I said, glaring.

"Ah... crap," he said, embarrassed as she met her eyes before eyeing me," But you know what I mean"

"Kindly elaborate," I said.

He sighed and shook his head, "After everything he's done, how could we possibly live up to all that?"

"I... Well, when you put it that way, then I guess I can understand" I said.

Hiding the fact that I know it all too well, the feeling of living under someone else's shadow. God knows how many times I went through that in the past.

"Who says you have to?" Mom said, looking at both of us, "You don't have to be the greatest Omni-Man ever. You just have to be the greatest you"

"And what if the greatest me isn't enough?" Mark asked, the self-doubt clear in his voice. His words brought up old memories of the many insecurities I used to have.

"Mark, you stupid boy," Mom said, smiling, "How could the greatest you not be enough?"

Mark smiled, "Thank you, mom".

"Don't worry, Mom. Besides" I interrupted, "I'm here, and way better than him at this. I'll pick up the pace if he screws up".

Mark immediately gave me the finger. I only held back a smile as Mom gave him an icy glare.

"You boys, really" she sighed but the smile on her face remained.

"I love my boring, powerless, everyday, run-of-the-mill Mom," Mark said, getting the subject back on track.

I scooted myself closer.

"I love my strict, loving, hardworking, old mom," I said, trying to pitch lighten the mood a bit.

She sighed even deeper but her smile grew.

"And I love my asshole sons," she said, pulling us both into a big hug.

We sat there for a good moment, enjoying the rare sight of the clear night sky before my stomach made a noise and urged us all into dinner. Finally.