Chapter 56: Actions øf a Renegade IV

Mark sadly winced upon seeing them. None of them was recognisable, transformed into corrupted beasts that hung from the ceiling. Their oil-like skin was coated in Invincible blood, trickling from claws and teeth. He stood, frozen and limp, pondering his actions. Can he pacify them? Were they aggressive? Are they beasts, or is his family still in there? Could he... bring them back?

'What have they done to you?' He thought and grimaced.

He shook his head; his thoughts were perturbed and dark, his expression imitating them. The six creatures stared back at him with only the slightest glimmer or spark of an inquisitive and intelligent mind. With no true semblance of sentience in respect to their previous selves, he reluctantly decided to try to fix them. His powers were a mystery, cloaked in shadow. He was uncertain how his attempt would pan out; the minute variation in how he approached the deer to the spider had drastic differences. But he had nothing to lose, so why not give it an attempt; to fix what has been done to them, revived... but not as humans.

Keeping his movements limited, a ball of pure obsidian replaced his red irises. The world - reality - warped, the souls being the only muddy light in the great darkness. As he stared at them, he grimly noted they were changed, their essence alike, to what he did with the soldiers. On a positive note, Mark recorded, was that his ubiquitous relationship with the Element was now almost certain. However, it brought an interesting conundrum. Could he remove what he had not put in?

"It'll work." He whispered, "For them... I must try. No matter the consequences."

Unsure of which to choose, no notion of which creature was which person, he glanced towards the biggest, a vibe of danger radiating from it.

"Mark." HAP interrupted, "Why... are they not caged?"

He paused, registering what she said as his mind was rattled. He questioned himself. Why were they not caged?

"I am... actually, I had no idea." Mark quietly uttered, "They seem... unantagonistic, though."

"Mark... they are covered in blood and guts." HAP replied, incredulous.

He ignored her, continuing with his plan as the Void's essence moved towards the four-metre figure. His control was poor, his experience low, but he tugged at the soul. Again and again, he tried pulling the black from the deformed soul, holding the physique of the beast, yet, nothing happened. It swirled and twisted, his input having some effect, but more-so bringing discomfort and pain to the creature.

"Watch out!" HAP screamed.

BANG!

"Ugh!"

The room shook from a deep and monstrous blow, the shockwave bursting the metal from the walls and forming sharp and jagged spikes. Concrete and dust flooded the hallway as Mark ripped through multiple separators and crashed three rooms away. He grunted, pulling himself from the dented steel structure as sound caught up to him in a deafening bang!

Rapidly blinking in shock as shrapnel was fired in every direction, he stumbled to his feet, thoughts whizzing through his mind as his eyes remained unfocused. He leaned over, his abs starting to redden as he grit his black-stained teeth. His vision returned to the six; everyone dropped from the ceiling and crouched at the other side, prowling like predators on all fours, stalking him.

"Are you ok, Mark?" HAP urgently inquired.

He grunted, "That... really fucking hurt."

Mark lightly stretched, flecks of crimson flying off his body, the punch intensifying the eternally painful chest injury. The punch hurt far more than any Invincible could do, with only the Eneph Bullet able to compare. They started to slowly advance, Mark's brow furrowed as he spoke to the AI.

"HAP." Mark panicked, "Any ideas? I... I don't want to fight them."

"You need to let go of your attachments, Mark. They are not who they once were. If they can cause that level of damage... they, will kill you."

"But... I think I can change them. I... I just need more time!"

"Mark!" HAP fumed, "Let go of the past! Your family are gone. You tried, and you failed. They cannot be contained anywhere but there."

"HAP?" He whispered, "I can bring them back. I know I can. I only need to try."

The AI gave up, Mark stepping toward the creatures with an almost manic expression. He tried to change their being again, but the same thing happened.

'Fucking work! Fuc-'

His vision returned, unable to block or brace against the fist that smashed into his nose, sending him somersaulting through the wall. Mark's nose throbbed, blood steadily flowing as he spat some from the mouth. His senses knocked into him; his perception sped up, yet, the creatures were marginally slower than normal.

The smallest came first, Mark bracing his forearms to block the strike, counting on his invulnerability. Contrary to his confidence, his skin failed. The claws ripped through the skin with slight resistance, sharp knives through leather.

Blood poured as he grimaced, the pain shooting up his limb as he uncertainly grabbed his assailant's arms. He frowned; he hesitated. And in that poor decision-making, another of the six sliced open a side of his cheek, barely missing his eye.

He flung himself backwards, the smallest dragged with him as he screamed. Mark grit his teeth and snarled, crushing the creature's arms with ungodly pressure. Spotting the rest converging, hoping to flood him, he shot through the roof like a bullet through glass as the room crumbled inwards. He bulldozed through dirt and mud and appeared below the tempest as a bolt struck the jaw-snapping creature.

The sparks flung off them, the monster howling. Mark grunted again, a significant weight pulling him down as the creatures leapt from the ground. One came, then another and then another, crawling over one another, their knives ripping his thighs and calves to shreds. A fountain of blood sprayed over them; their attacks were utterly relentless.

"Fuck! Off!" He screamed.

He booted one in the face; its jaw snapped off one side and pushed back to the ground with a loud bang! The other jumped onto him, the biggest unknown and the other struggled back to its feet. Mark's flight turned erratic; in every direction he travelled, he could not get them off, their hands resisting the red laser and lightning. He tried the blue beam, but his concentration kept slipping before he plummeted to the ground.

All five of them hit the earth with tremendous power, a crater tens of metres long appearing. Wet sand, mud, and rock whistled into the rain, the storm rumbling with more intensity. Thrown in every direction, Mark struggled to one knee, his vision dizzy as the agony erupted ten-fold. His spinal ridges emerged to the outside world, muscles exposed to the elements as his torture increased exponentially. Mark glanced towards his chest, littered with deep, ribboned cuts as white could be seen beneath the torn muscle. He whimpered and spat out more blood.

Yet, he had no time to rest. Without pity or remorse, the group charged towards him at full pelt, the ground cracking beneath their limbs as their speed pierced the air with a screech. The black-white lightning struck them, the smallest, the only one to struggle. He huffed, forming fists and stood, having no choice but to fight back. His eyes blazed with hatred and fury, the President and America on his mind as he engaged.

"Don't forget the big one, Mark!" HAP added, which Mark acknowledged.

One on the right was closest, similar in size to four of the pack. He sprinted towards it as the air made way, faster than even they could react, smashing his fist on top of its head. An almighty boom blasted rain and mud everywhere, the figure's skull colliding with the ground in a harsh, deep thud.

The creature momentarily out of it; Mark grabbed it by the scuff of its neck before launching it faster than sound towards the closest charging bull. They collided with a bony rattle, both knocked backwards and disorientated.

Head snapping towards the other three, the smallest leaping a metre above him, he flew up at great speed and thumped the jaw with an uppercut. It was rocked upwards in a spraying waterfall of blood, the bottom of its chin crushed inwards from the sheer impact.

Preparing to engage the last two, he was hit from the side, the sudden strike shocking him as he smashed through the ruins of a building. He came skidding out the other side, groaning. Blood poured from his mouth in a flowing tide, feeling his ribs and wincing as he felt it sticking outside his body. However, it wasn't over for him; the biggest pounced on top of him and its fist forced his head back into the ground.

Mark's vision blurred, a headache throbbing inside his skull as he turned confused for a moment. The rest dog-piled him, pushing him further into the dirt as they scratched and clawed at his back; the skin ripped to shreds as more of his spine became visible. He screamed and flailed in pain, unable to drag himself upwards through flight or physicality as they pounded and pounded, clawed and clawed. They... were going to kill him.

He needed to take action; it was too early for him to die; too much left to do, too much he wanted to do. But the task was impossibly daunting. With every attempt to fly, the biggest held him down in a vice and bit into his backbone, barely unable to break the bone. The rest pushed him further into the floor, combining with the pack leader, chomping and slicing everything they could.

"HAP!" He cried, unable to make sense of her reply.

He screamed and called out for the AI, to anyone for help. But nothing came; no one came. Alone in his final throes. The irony was not lost on him, dying to those he came to save, but something niggled at him. A calling from deep within, a purely human instinct, and all it said was: Survive.

Mark desperately wanted to survive, to get out; otherwise, he would die here, no different to those he killed, a statistic on paper. Yet, he could not leave, his futile efforts turning to sobs, no tears falling as his predicament worsened. The agony was indescribable, the cold embrace of Grim slowly creeping into his mind and body, a chill he could actually feel.

He knew he could die, the chances extraordinarily high when he assaulted the base. But, as the reality slowly dawned on him, he found it strenuous to accept. Who could? Few men wish to die; fewer still do it themselves. His instincts cried to him; he wanted to live! No matter how much he respected, no matter how much he loved, no matter how much he hated doing it to those he loved. He had to get out. He had to survive. He had to.

His eyelids blew open, cold and determined. He tried to push upwards with all his might, unable to get up. Yet, he did not give up. He needed a way, any way. Mentally picking or shoving them didn't work; unable to lift them. Anger and frustration built on each other, over and over. He hated it. He despised it. He was not prepared to die here; he would not!

The earth rumbled, gravity starting to lose hold as fragments of glass and metal floated upwards from the airfield. They hovered in the air, a drum in the deep booming as the earth ruptured all-around. Gritting his teeth, he felt it deep inside, a power that had always been there, the first he had ever used. Black-white sparks shot across his body; bolts of lightning from the skin formed all over him. They zipped around, painfully zapping the beasts and eliciting a howl. Their brightness intensified and rippled over his figure, the sound of extreme electricity buzzing throughout the air, getting louder and louder.

The energy-come-lightning formed a sphere, the creatures retreating as it built and built. They could feel it; something was coming. They tried assaulting it; their claws and fingers turned to atoms as Mark floated limply above the ground. Red smoke drifted from his blank irises, the figure emanating death to the six.

Clenching his hand, he punched the air, a wave of pressure bulldozing and carrying a creature tens of metres. It struggled to its feet as the rest hastened their efforts to break the sphere, the biggest grabbing a chunk of dirt and throwing it. The boulder struck, turning into ash instantly. A sound like cracking ice on a lake resounded throughout space and time, a harmony defying all convention. The world rumbled like two galaxies colliding, the sphere contracting, humming with power.

Mark curled over, a growing outward force building in his chest, lightning arbitrarily bombarding from the sky, cracking and sizzling everything they could find. The universe squealed as space tore; huge ruptures opened as the sphere contracted one last time. Then, it expanded.

Crippling pain crept across his body, his head the only part spared, the Void punishing him for his arrogance. Reality and the Void intersected, flashing between each as his vision struggled to differentiate real and fiction. Subconsciously letting out a roar, it forced its way from him; the bright and beaming bolts intensified as the world turned bright, the sun shining from around him. The ground beneath him was erased, a rippling tide of destruction, oblivion incarnate, flooding the land and removing everything it touched. It swept faster than light, every being on the planet feeling a deep horror as it erupted; everything over in less than a nanosecond.

Everything disappeared, deafening silence greeting Mark. Even the storm was gone. He dropped to the ground, the pain a constant irritation as the torn flesh was covered by inexplicable darkness. It was as black as the Void, blocking his broken body from the outside as it flowed like a flickering flame from him endlessly. His clothes were rags, a tattered pair of shorts all that remained of his trousers.

His eyes flittered around the open plain, searching for his family and being unable. They were gone, erased to dust like everything else. He sank to the floor, their bodies deleted, and stared aimlessly towards the sky. A lone man in a chaotic wasteland, space cracks forming and closing randomly, gravity disappeared in some sections as earth gradually floated into the sky and bobbed. The wind was sharp and harsh, cutting mud like paper as it whistled throughout the waste.

Yet, Mark took no notice. He could not find them. The attempt, a waste of time, his injuries for nothing, his actions for nothing. Bright lights shone in the night sky, radiating splendour as small shafts of light sprinkled the land. He held his hair in his hands, wet with grime and blood, the four scratches on his face throbbing with fervour. But all he could think about was that he failed. He couldn't save them. The same way they were taken from him, they were killed again. This time, permanently.

HAP reconnected; the link was severed at some point. She said nothing, merely watching through his eyes at an area undefined by the laws of physics. She saw him sob, pausing as she was about to speak, hesitating.

"It is... ok. It is ok, Mark." She eased, "You... did what you had to."

"I- I... I know. I know." He stuttered, "But... it wasn't supposed to end this way. I tried. I really did."

He relaxed for a moment, body sagging as it lay down. I tried, he repeated to himself, again and again. But it always brought the same question: What if I had done something differently?

He frowned, confused and then shot up, a faint feeling emerging from above. It was fast, too fast. He sat there bewildered, his expression belying his thoughts. Then his eyes widened, a faint glimmer in the sky.

"Fuck!" Mark screamed.

Activating his flight, he travelled as far as he could, the shard falling incredibly fast, even in his quickest perception. The wind cried as it broke the air, a visible wave trailing in a V shape. Barely out of the way, the shard a mere ten or so centimetres in front of him, it hit.

He was flung hundreds of metres, spinning through the air as he lost control. Shards of Element shrapnel blitzed past him, narrowly missing taking his life. He gaped as he dug into the earth, tonnes of the material ripped up from the shockwave and tossed in every direction; the wasteland turning toxic.

'This is... fuck, what is this?'

"The DFA, Mark." HAP spoke with concern, "Don't stand still! They... they almost got you."

With a scowl on his face, he clenched his hands. The right cracked, and the Void-like left was silent. Yet, he didn't notice. The area settled down, his feet digging into the dirt. He stared into the sky, trying to spot something, but space was beyond his reach.

"HAP. Where's this fucking DFA?" He spat, enraged.

"In the... one of the satellites." She hastily responded, "Are you sure you can survive in space?"

"Why not? I am different to the rest; I can do things they cannot. Space should be fine. And once I'm done... the President is next."

The AI gave up, uncertain whether Mark had learned anything from today. Yet she obliged, pathing his way to the satellite and ending the threat once and for all. He was young, she thought, but he can still be moulded. He was still... perfect.

He took off, bursting into the sky at speed, leaving the space-torn and warped landscape; filled with fragments of Element as he searched for the DFA. His family was gone, and he could not even grieve; the Americans were always on the prowl. But now it was his turn. He would finish this fight.