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The sun rose on the third day since the Global Defense Agency wiped most of Europe off the map. At least, Mark thought that was three days ago. Keeping track through all twenty-four time zones wasn’t exactly his top priority at the moment. He was too busy looking over his shoulder for the next enemy the GDA threw at him.
Every time he defeated one of the GDA’s pets or squads, another would just pick up where they left off. If this were a comic book, Mark would have been eating up all the action, but getting kicked around the world had a way of taking the enthusiasm out of a guy. The sleep deprivation didn’t help.
Speaking of which, here came the latest attempt to thwart humanity’s savior.
He turned around just in time to be sent spinning through the air by a powerful blow. Whoever, or whatever, this was was going to put up a real fight. Mark wasn’t sure if he had enough left in the tank for it, but he had no choice. Like everything these past few days, it was do or die.
Mark righted himself and raised his fists. A trickle of blood made its way down his temple. He let it drip, all his focus put towards sizing up his attacker and deciding the best way to strike it.
The thing was twice his size. Had twice the number of limbs, too. No discernable face. It looked like someone had ripped apart a bunch of action figures and shaken them up in a box of chewed gum. How it managed to sense its surroundings was beyond him.
“What the hell are you?!” He asked, not really expecting an answer. And he didn’t get one. At least some things still made sense amidst the insanity his life had become.
Mark wound up and delivered a punch to a fleshy-looking bit between two of the creature’s arms, hoping it was as tender as it seemed. The blow rippled through the creature like jello. Before he could get a second one in, the creature rotated its limbs around and grabbed Mark by the ankle. He only managed a surprised shout as it yanked him face-first into one of its kicking legs.
The pain exploded between his eyes, whiting out his vision for a moment. He felt air cut past his face and his stomach lurch, then another kick, this time to his back. That would definitely be leaving a nasty bruise.
He reached down — up? — and punched the arm, which responded by throwing him into the nearby clouds. Mark tumbled a few dozen feet before pulling to a halt and assuming a ready stance, heart pounding adrenaline. All around him, white. He spun in a circle, unsure where the creature would appear from.
Not for the first time, Mark imagined how easily Dad would have handled this. He probably could have taken the creature out in a few hits, if his first one didn’t deck it outright. Mark wished he were here, but not just for the fighting.
He wanted to believe Dad’s death was a lie.
When he and Dad had given Earth the ultimatum, Mark had been so sure everything would work out for them. All of them; Mom, Dad, himself, William, the whole world. Everyone was going to be better off under Viltrumite rule.
Then the GDA showed their true colors. First they split the two’s attention, forcing them into fights on opposite sides of the world. Once they had Dad where they wanted him, they caught him in an ambush. Experimental quantum bombs or something. Mark had to hear about it from a television playing in the background of the shopping center he was fighting in: the GDA sacrificed Europe to destroy the man who was trying to save them.
The pressure above Mark shifted, cuing him in with just enough time to block a vicious axe kick. The force scattered the clouds immediately around them and gave back some visibility. He pushed the creature off, then delivered an uppercut to a section of non-limb flesh, followed by a right hook.
Caitlyn just didn’t get how bad off Earth was. It was the only reason Mark could think of for the GDA’s defiance. Not that it mattered. It didn’t change what she had done, and it definitely didn’t change Mark’s plan to get even.
The creature drew back and shook itself as though clearing its non-existent head. Mark pressed his advantage, swinging forward with a roar.
This was a mistake.
He once again found his leg in a steely grip, this time by all four hands. The creature whipped him around like a rag doll, completely disorienting him. Then a great big maw opened up before him, splitting the creature’s body in half, and the arms began pulling him towards the rows of serrated teeth revealed within.
Yeah, that was going to hurt. It also wasn’t the kind of injury he could afford to take right now. Anything he couldn’t rely on his natural healing to fix in a few hours would leave him weakened against his next opponent, whatever it was that the GDA pulled out of its vaults. And that was assuming he even survived getting chewed up by this thing. If not… well, he would find out in about two seconds if he didn’t do something about it.
He grabbed his leg just below the knee and tugged with all his strength. The resistance was high with only slight shifts, until suddenly pop! His leg was free. One of the creature’s arms had actually ripped off the main body — very disturbing — and was still squeezing his ankle like it wanted to strangle it.
Panicked shaking didn’t dislodge it, but a quick bone-snapping thwack did the trick. The dismembered arm fell down through the air, disappearing below the clouds. Man, he hated that. Well at least he knew how to deal with this thing now; he could feel himself burning the last of his energy so he needed to wrap up pronto. Besides, if he couldn’t take down one creature, how was he ever going to get revenge for his dad or finish their work or keep his mom safe? This was for himself, this was for his family.
The creature wasn’t capable of making sound, but its movements became agitated at the loss of an arm. It charged Mark, limbs flailing, and though he blocked most of its hits it managed to land a glancing blow on his shoulder as he rotated out of the way. It wasn’t as hard as the previous hits. Definitely not as bad as the kick to the face. He could do this.
As it overshot his position, Mark grabbed one of its legs and swung the creature around. He hurled it sideways, then flew after it as fast as he could go. His two-fisted hit punched through its flesh and separated a limb from the body. He used the opening to grab onto the creature and begin tearing at its connective tissue with his bare hands. It yielded to his clawing fingers, veins breaking open and chunks of meat spinning away into the cloud cover. He vaguely felt blows to his back, arms, head… but they were insignificant taps against the fury of his own attack.
When the frenzy was over, Mark floated in place, breathing heavily, hands dripping red. He had done it. Survived another encounter. Lived to carry on Dad’s important mission.
And yet, the victory didn’t really register. All he felt was exhaustion, a weariness that went deeper than any cut or bruise. He needed to make sure Mom was still safe. At the very least, he needed a break from all the fighting. He needed sleep. And that meant finding somewhere safe to land.
~~~
An abandoned warehouse wasn’t the worst option. There wasn’t anything to eat, and sure, the water that came out of the faucet looked suspicious, but it provided privacy and shelter. Most importantly, the GDA didn’t know he was here.
He did a quick sweep of the building before finding a corner to settle down in. It was about what one would expect from concrete, comfort-wise, but at this point any horizontal surface not covered in bees would do. Sleep came immediately, wrapping him in sweet oblivion.
When he woke up, throat sore and head foggy, naked to his boxers, and arms and legs secured in metal restraints, it became clear that the GDA had, in fact, known where he was after all.