Debbie was humming happily as she put the food down on the dining table. Then she heard Mark's footsteps coming down the stairs. She turned around to speak with him.
She was stunned into silence as she saw Mark's injured face, though he was acting normal. He walked next to her and said, "What can I help with?"
"Who did this to you?" She began caressing his face with a concerned and worried voice, which caused Mark to twitch slightly.
Mark held her hand and put it down. "I'm fine. I asked Father not to hold back."
"What?" Debbie was too shocked to hear that information.
"It's fine," Mark tried to calm her down.
"It's not fine. Why are you trying to get hurt?" Debbie wondered why Mark was doing something so stupid and why Nolan went along with Mark's request.
"Because I'm trying to get stronger," Mark answered her question with a smile.
"That's no way to get stronger," Debbie pointed out, as this didn't make sense to her based on her knowledge.
"Yes, this is a way to get stronger. Mom, remember I'm part alien," Mark reminded her what he was, a Viltrumite and human hybrid.
"I don't like it," Debbie protested, expressing what she felt since she had just seen Mark's injured face.
Mark just smiled back at her. With that, he helped her put the food on the table. But by then, Nolan finally arrived back with the groceries that Debbie had asked him to buy.
Nolan put the grocery bags on the dining counter. As he walked to the dining table and sat down, Debbie raised a question with an upset voice.
"Why did you hit our son so hard? He has swelling around his face."
"He asked for it," Nolan answered truthfully.
"Even if he asked for it, you can't just do that to him." Debbie was getting upset. As a parent, you can't just beat the shit out of your child even if your child asks for it.
Nolan moved his hand and placed it on top of Debbie's hand as he looked into her eyes. "Honey, he's trying to become a superhero. If I don't beat him up, someone else will, and we don't even know if that person will let him slide."
Debbie stayed silent for a second before agreeing with Nolan's argument. "Alright, but I'm still mad at you."
"Okay," Nolan smiled, looking at his wife.
Mark, who had seen this, smiled. These two had a very healthy relationship. But in the back of his mind, he worried that he couldn't stop Nolan.
'Stop worrying. I just need to get stronger and faster.'
Unconsciously, he accidentally compressed the spoon. When he noticed it, he acted like nothing had happened. He didn't want to anger his mother, who would likely raise her voice at him for destroying the cutlery.
Right after dinner, Mark headed to his room, locked it, put on a hoodie, and left home through his window, heading back to the same spot underwater. He descended to the same location.
As he started his training, he felt that the area wasn't the same anymore. He didn't feel as cold as it originally was, and the water pressure was bearable compared to the first day he started training.
'This feels too easy. I need to change my location.'
With that, Mark began looking for the Mariana Trench. He started flying, searching for the said location with the little information he had.
'If I remember correctly, it's near the Japan Sea.'
Based on that small hint, he flew upward into the sky, looking for Japan. He followed to the said location, and when he finally found Japan, he took a deep breath again and went deep into the water, beginning his search for the Mariana Trench.
Unbeknownst to him, Nolan was following Mark stealthily, but he was confused about what Mark was doing yet again. So he followed and entered the sea, watching Mark from far away.
'Is he doing a sea tour?' Nolan thought.
But then he saw Mark suddenly stop after flying through the water. Mark was standing near the edge, looking only at the darkness of the trench.
Without any explanation, Mark just jumped down. Nolan got closer, checking what Mark was doing, but then he saw Mark stop descending and start training.
Nolan was surprised. This was the training that Mark was doing all alone. Nolan didn't mind it and decided to leave Mark alone, avoiding being caught observing his son.
Mark, on the other hand, felt the heaviness of his whole body, the water pressure trying to compress him, the coldness. He smiled as the same feeling he had felt before came back.
For the next seven days, this was Mark's routine: training with his father when he could, going to the martial arts center to learn MMA after school if he had school, then after dinner, heading to the Mariana Trench, and going deeper as he felt the same feeling dissipating.
. . . .
Mark was walking alone through the school hallways. He yawned, covering his mouth as tears came out of his eyes. He quickly wiped them off his face and headed straight to his class.
As he entered the classroom, he sat down in his seat. He turned his head to the right and saw a girl sitting next to him. It was a redhead waiting for class to start.
'Huh? Eve, huh? That's track.' Mark chuckled to himself before putting his head on the table to get some sleep.
Next to him, the girl he called Eve, whose full name was Samantha Eve Wilkins, was a superhero in secret and the original Mark's love interest. Eve turned to Mark, who had just chuckled to himself, but when she looked at him, he was already asleep on the table. She just shook her head and minded her own business.
Then the teacher who was supposed to teach the class entered. He was a middle-aged man with a receding hairline and glasses, David Hiles. As soon as he put his stuff on the table, he got furious when he saw Mark sleeping in his class again. He raised his voice.
"Markus Grayson, wake up. It's not nap time."
Mark woke up and looked at him with a sleepy, tired face that didn't really give a damn, but he had to listen since the school would call his mother, which he was trying to avoid.
The lesson with David Hiles started like normal. When it finally ended, Mark quickly packed his bag and got ready to leave.
"Markus Grayson, stay in the class. I want to talk to you."
Mark sighed in annoyance. 'You have got to be kidding me.'