ALL NOVEL Chapter 25 Aftermath
The air was heavy with tension as Brandon sat across from the head of the Global Defense Agency, Cecil Stedman. It had been a day since the events of Omni Man's betrayal occurred so the recent events were still pretty fresh. It also didn't help that the two sitting had no trust in one another. Cecil's reason was due to his naturally cautious nature and Brandon's well he just doesn't trust government employees. Especially one that is often compared with Nick Fury and Amanda Waller.
Cecil was the first to break the silence, sighing heavily. "Do you want some coffee?" he asked, gesturing to a pot on the table.
"No, thank you," Brandon replied, keeping his gaze steady. 'Who knows what that coffee might have.'
Cecil poured himself a cup anyway. "I need one right now," he said, taking a long sip before setting the cup down. "Now, I need you to re-explain the course of events that went down in Guardians HQ starting from the beginning."
Brandon nodded understanding that Cecil must be full of questions but that he also needed to be somewhat honest. There were just too many inconsistencies with what had happened for people to not be suspicious of him as well.
Isn't it a bit convenient that he arrived in armor that he's never worn? With a weapon that he has never used and on top of that one capable of cutting into Omni man's skin? Even a regular person would think something's up with this and Cecil is far from regular. 'Perhaps releasing a bit of truth here might do well. If Earth is alerted to the Viltrumite problem earlier then it could potentially give forces like the GDA more prep time and if Batman is anything to go by Preptime is always good.'
Leaning forward Brandon lowered his head down to Cecil's level ready to start from the beginning. "I'm not sure if you remember but there was an attack back in Denver several weeks ago by Alien Slavers."
"Yeah I remember it but what does it have to do with the guardians?"
"I'm getting to that. You see when I attacked their ship I grew sort of interested in their tech and snooped around. It was during that small detour that I learned something interesting about the Viltrumites that Omni man has mentioned in the news on some occasions. They aren't heroes or planet protectors… no they are actually a race of conquerors who travel the galaxy absorbing worlds into their empire. At first, I didn't believe it, Omni Man is the greatest hero Earth has but at the same time I couldn't ignore it so I formed a small contingency."
"That beacon," Cecil said, realizing something.
"You know about it?" Brandon asked, sort of surprised. When he left the guardian's HQ he was sure War Woman would remain unconscious for a good while.
"Yes but not from War Woman, she's still in a coma. When we found her she had it on her and it wasn't hard to figure out that it was sending a signal. Guess we know who it was being sent to now."
"What I don't understand is why you didn't bring this up to proper channels. Had you done so we would've been prepared"
"Maybe or it could've made him wary and ready. Omni man isn't a fool he would have noticed your change. You may be able to fool others but for those with enhanced senses, everything becomes clearer. From micro-expressions, certain scents, pheromones, and lastly the heartbeat. Once he had even an inkling of a feeling I would have lost my advantage which was the element of surprise"
Enhanced senses have been the cause of a majority of his men's deaths. So he couldn't help but begrudgingly agree however this didn't mean he was happy with the outcome. In the end, most of the guardians died and Nolan left. Yeah, he was heavily injured and might not come back for a long time but he still escaped.
Which was worrying in itself. If what he's heard is correct then there might be a whole planet of Nolan's to deal with and he doesn't have a way to deal with it.
Except for maybe that weapon Ultra man used "Alright I think I can figure out the rest from here but what's that weapon you used? Our people don't have anything close to doing what it did to Omni man"
"That's something special… sorry but when it comes to that I can't share"
This didn't exactly make Cecil happy but it did give him a clue. For the past month, he and his men had been trying to figure out ways to handle Ultra man in case he went rogue but had found nothing. All the predictions they made showed he could even survive a nuke so in the end they were left nowhere. Except for now, if he's protective of this weapon then it's highly likely that it is capable of hurting him much like it did Nolan.
Cecil then looked greedily at Ultra man's side where he saw the blade sheath but recognized it was pointless to try. Which is a shame, he would have loved to have his men figure out its composition to replicate it.
Brandon felt the slight glance and furrowed his brow. This is exactly why he didn't like these types. You could literally save the world and they'll still try to find ways to kill you. 'I really gotta get out of here. It's not just him but every scientist in this building. They all keep looking at me like they want to dissect me but first I have some people to check on'
"I want to know how War Woman and Red Rush are doing?"
This question brought Cecil from his thoughts as he lightly shook his head with some genuine emotion for once as he looked sad. "War Woman's Skull was heavily beaten and this isn't including the rest of her body. We already have her wired to all of our best machines but it's going to take her a while to wake up. As for Red Rush we'll his legs are broken which isn't the first time it's happened so he'll most likely be fine. He just needs a month to heal. Which actually leads me to something I wanted to bring up with you."
Lifting his hands Cecil brought them together and leaned onto the table seriously but from what Brandon was feeling he was also uncomfortable. Most like with what he was about to say or ask.
"With the guardians gone and Omni man A-wall earth now has no heavy hitters to handle major threats. I know we're not exactly close and this is our first meeting but I want to know if I, No if we can count on you to handle things."
Brandon didn't bother thinking or worrying as he already had his answer. "Of course, just contact me with the device I gave War Woman and I'll head over as fast as possible"
This seemed to relax Cecil about as his breathing smoothened but it looked like he had one more question. "Now onto Invincible… you made it clear that he was unaware of what had happened and I also cleared this with his mother but I still don't want to take risks. So I'm making one last request, can you watch the kid"
Now this Brandon really didn't want to do. He was many things a son, a Hero, an Alien, but a babysitter? Yeah, he wasn't that.
"Sorry can't do it I have my own stuff to deal with"
Cecil wanted to refute but he didn't really have any power over Brandon. "Sigh alright"
Seeing that the conversation was over Brandon stood up and prepared to leave when he stopped at the door. "By the way the immortal is still alive just piece him back together and he'll be back"
With that Brandon left the shocked Cecil behind who got up and quickly began making calls.
.
.
.
Having left Brandon prepared to leave and started heading toward the exit where encountered some unexpected people. Well, he knew they were there because of his hearing but still, the two were unexpected.
To the left was a beautiful Korean woman who didn't look a day over thirty, having aged with grace. If she was any younger some men might have assumed she was in a K-pop group.
To her right was a young man but his features were harder to distinguish with his swollen face and bandages as he sat timidly in a wheelchair. Seeing the two it wasn't hard for Brandon to recognize who they were. 'Debbie and Mark'
"Excuse me," Debbie said with some tiredness in her voice. She tried to hide it but Brandon's ears could hear the soreness most likely from crying. Finding out your husband killed your friends is a lot to take in and that's without even learning that he basically hid his past from her.
"I just wanted to say thank you for not going too far with Mark and also to apologize"
"You have nothing to apologize for miss, no one saw it coming"
Debbie's expression lightly came down at the last comment. If anyone should have known it should have been her. She was his wife yet to think… but instead of crying again she held it in and rested one arm on Mark. At least her son was safe.
Brandon looked at Debbie and saw that she'd be alright and then turned his attention to Mark, who seemed to be gathering the courage to speak. The young hero's face was a mix of confusion, frustration, and something else.
"Ultra-Man, I want to apologize," Mark began, his voice shaky. "I didn't know everything that happened. I was confused… I still am. I can't believe my dad did something like that."
"Don't worry about it, I know you weren't really aware of what was happening and only reacted to what you could see. Honestly, if I was in your shoes I'd probably do the same" Feeling that this was all the two had to say Brandon proceeded to walk away when he heard Mark roll forward to say something more.
"I-I know I have no right to ask this but I wanted to know if you could train me."
Train him? Yeah, this was a quick no.
"Sorry, but I can't really teach someone else when I'm also a beginner and that's also not considering that we're around the same age" In reality this wasn't completely true. As a Kryptonian created using the perfect warrior genetics Brandon had long become proficient in fighting and could probably teach well but he had no desire for that.
"Ah, I guess you're right… sorry for asking"
Mark looked pretty dejected after this and by the looks of it, Debbie didn't know how to help. As a regular human, she was far from being able to give him what he needed, and with Nolan gone, it seemed like invincibles training would go downhill.
'Sigh we'll beating him up every now and then should be enough training right? If his species really are like Saiyans then I bet he has something stupid like a Zenkai boost'
"Look I can't train you but I can give you some spars every now and then. What you take away from those is entirely up to you."
"Yes, that's all I want!"
"Nm alright just don't expect too many I'm also busy"
To this Mark just nodded while Brandon turned back around and quickly left the building. He thought about staying longer to check on war woman but decided he'd come back another time.
Anyways he had some things to take care of at home. Thinking this he held the knife on his side tightly as he wondered what kind of surprises Viltrumite DNA held.