"You can thank me later when you call me and tell me exactly how it all went."
"Fuck, no."
"Hi, Mrs. Grayson. I'm Amber." he hears the voices downstairs.
"That was you, wasn't it?" Mark says, but William has already left.
"I'm glad you came, Amber. Mark's in his room. Why don't you go right up?"
"Sure."
Amber walks up the stairs and sees Mark standing there, seemingly in pain.
"Hi."
Mark sees his mother looking at him sternly and sighs. He takes all his willpower not to knock his head on the staircase and pass out.
"Hi."
Amber walks into Mark's room and looks around. She sees the many trophies he has there, all for won martial arts tournaments and some pictures of him and his family. She passes over the dumbbells and arrives at the desk where William placed the books, she enjoys. She picks one up and looks at Mark with a questioning look.
"William brought those over. Said I should read them to make it seem like I'm interested. But the rest you see here is what I truly am."
"An honest man. I like that."
"Wait. I don't think you understand. I won't read those books. Ever. I'll say that I'd rather DIE than read them. I flipped open that Naomi Klein one, and I swear I got hit with more corporate trauma than a Starbucks barista during the holiday season. Margaret Atwood? Brought me to tears and not in the way you would when the national anthem is sung. I don't need a dystopia; I've been to the Department of Motor Vehicles. And Ta-Nehisi Coates? I read three pages, and suddenly, I'm in the mood for leg day."
"...So you're into body building? I never did any of that either and probably won't do it ever as well. That doesn't mean I talk bad about it."
"So we can agree that we have nothing in common and put this one off as a failed experiment?"
"What-"
*RING RING*
Mark's phone starts to ring. He sees that it's an unknown caller, so he doesn't answer.
"You were saying?"
"I-"
*RING RING*
The same unknown number calls, so Mark puts it away again.
"Go on."
"As I was say-"
*RING RING*
"I'm gonna run and use your bathroom while you deal with that."
Mark answers the phone.
"Who this?"
[Mark Grayson, I'm-]
"Wrong number. Don't ever call again."
*Beep*
...
*Zzzzz*
Suddenly, Cecil Stedman appears in front of Mark.
"Christ almighty. I didn't think she'd ever leave or you'd answer."
"Ugh, this day is cursed or something. Are you spying on us?"
"You wanna be a superhero, right? Fame, glory, get the pretty gal?"
"Are you feeling alright? Too long in the sun? You know you have to watch out as a balding man. The fuck do you want?"
"As a hero, the whole concept of personal privacy or me time, pfft, that's out the window. When the world needs you, you answer your goddamn phone!"
"I don't work for you, peach cheek. The narcissism to appear here and give me a lecture."
"Peach cheek, eh? You never will work for me unless you show a little respect and decide if you want to be a superhero or not."
"No."
"...No?"
"No."
"You don't want to be a hero? Like your father?"
"Why the fuck would I want to be a Hero? What am I, 8?"
"Why not?"
"I'll try to explain this to you so you can understand. I like heroes, truly, but I don't want to be one. Do you know what being a hero truly means?"
"..." Cecil looks at Mark with narrowed eyes. The air has changed suddenly. He feels as if the next part will be important.
"Say you have some meat, and now you attend a banquet where meat is served. A hero... is the kind of guy who gives out the meat to everyone else. But I... I want to eat the damn meat!"
"..."
"..."
*Sigh*
"To think that you will procreate one day..."
"Nice talk, now if you would piss off, I'll be thankful for that."
"You kiss your mother with that mouth? So you won't help and would rather get back to spending time with someone you didn't even invite?"
"That's a disgusting invasion of privacy. At least don't watch me as I masturbate."
"You don't do that."
"Son of a bitch!"
"So what do you say?"
...
"Hmm, despite what happened, you made a good argument. Very well, what's the problem?"
"Rogue supervillain. Public in danger. Eve's already on her way. Here, so we can talk on the go." Cecil says, and throws him an earpiece, disappearing right after.
Amber enters the room right then.
"Who were you talking to?"
"An old man with a receding hairline and an ugly personality. Just teleported in and out of my room."
"Mm-hmm."
"So... I'll be going then."
"Now?"
"Yes."
"How's it going in here? I brought snacks." Debbie arrives and looks at the two people.
"What's going on?"
"Cecil was just here. Said he needed help with something."
"W-what?! He was... here?"
[Don't tell them that. And you might want to get going.]
"Yeah, they're spying on the house. Know everything that happens inside here."
[What are you doing, Mark? That was uncalled for.]
"You will stay here. Amber, honey, I'm afraid this has been a terrible time for you, and I want to apologise for that. But this concerns the family."
"This was terrible. Why was I even called here?"
"I understand. I'm truly sorry."
[Mount Rushmore, South Dakota. Eve's going to be on her own there if you don't get going.]
"Eve's a strong woman. She can handle that."
[You disappoint me, Mark. I thought you wanted to help people.]
"Yeah? Well, get used to it. And don't try to manipulate me, Mr. Spy Director. I'll go when I want."
"...Lucky for you, I want to."
.
"We know where Mount Rushmore is, Cecil." Eve says as they are flying through the air.
"I wouldn't be asking for your help, but Omni-Man is dealing with a Kaiju, 10 time-zones away and the new Guardians are a shit show, so here we are. The target is Doc Seismic. He has a Ph.D in seismology, so the Doc thing, that's legit. The problem is, he made himself a pair of earthquake gloves. Our working theory is brain damage from a side effect of those gloves. He basically gets a concussion every time he uses them."
"So basic mad scientist deal."
"Have fun, kids, and try to remember, that's a national treasure down there."
Invincible and Eve fly through the air and already hear the rumbling and eruptions from afar.
"Hahahahaha... You've come to pray at this obscene monument? They were oppressors, racists, and slave owners. Bow before Doc Seismic!"
*ding*
He sends out a seismic wave and causes one of the four faces to shake and slowly fall down. Doc Seismic laughs crazily.
"The great emancipator? He'll emancipate you... from your lives!"
Before the face can fall on the people below, Invincible appears and catches it. Without a problem, he places the face back where it came from and then looks down at Doc Seismic, who has an angry expression on his face.
"So, Dr. Drakken called; he wants his laugh back."
"Pathetic goon. Die!"
*ding*
The shockwave hits Invincible, and he is pushed back slightly. He sees another opportunity here, an opportunity to train his flight skills. But before he can do that, Eve arrives next to him.
"We need to figure out a way to take out those gloves."
"True, true, but those are bracelets and not gloves. And it's a terrible colour scheme."
Eve drops down and flies forward, attacking Doc Seismic with pink projectiles. But the good doctor is innovative. He clinks his gloves against each other again and propels himself through the air, flying away as Eve tries to catch him.
"You should be on my side. We could tear down the old power structure and build a new order! I mean, look at the costume they've got you in. Talk about pandering to gender roles."
"I designed my own costume, and I thought your doctorate was in seismology?"
"Undergraduate in sociology and women's studies, I had a minor in African Dance, but enough politics!"
*ding*
He clinks his bracelets and sends out a shockwave, destroying the approaching boulder which Invincible threw at him. He goes on and swings his bracelets around, causing the entire area to flatten and crumble, opening up a large canyon down to magma levels. A small family of three get trapped in the process and is about to fall, when Eve manages to protect them just in time. Sadly, another crack opens up beneath her and she loses control.
"Mark!"
Mark is already on his way. He shoots through the air before the pink construct dissolves and catches the three.
"Hold on," he says and flies them to safety while Eve engages Doc Seismic again. After he is finished, Mark flies back. He sees Eve engage the old man.
"Eve, may I?"
"What do you mean?"
"I would like to try something."
"Uh, sure."
"Ah, youthful arrogance. How predictable."
"Show me what you got, brain damage."
*ding*
Doc Seismic uses his bracelets and fires a shockwave at Invincible. Instead of dodging, though, he takes the attack.
*BOOOM*
He focuses on not moving back too far and stabilises his position in the air. He moves forward again slowly, forcing the Doc to attack again.
*ding*
*BOOOM*
Another shockwave hits him and pushes him back. He stops himself from moving back and moves forward. He doesn't speed up or anything and just takes his time. Seeing Invincible approach, Doc Seismic fires again. He tries it again and again, but no matter what, Invincible doesn't stop. The more it happens, the further he manages to approach, and the better he becomes at pushing himself to not move backward by the shockwaves. But finally, just as Invincible is about to touch the man, Doc Seismic has had enough and uses all his strength to bang his bracelets against each other.
"AAHHH!"
*DING*
The ground opens up beneath Seismic, and he falls down. Seeing him fall down, Invincible shoots after him, trying to catch him before he falls into the lava.
"I knew I should have worked on that jet pack."
But the good doctor doesn't care about his imminent death and clanks his bracelets one final time.
*ding*
The shockwave hits the lava and causes it to shoot upwards, towards Invincible. Seeing him lost, Invincible stops and turns around, flying out of the crack and into the air.
"Heh, that guy's toast," Eve said as they looked at the result.
"You need to work on that. Terrible delivery."
"Oh? And you can do it better?"
"Naturally. I have a talent for insulting others. One might call it my maxed-out skill."
"Is that so. Haha."
[Well done, you two. That is all for now. You're not to blame for his death, so don't beat yourself up over it.]
"We won't, Cecil. Thanks," Eve says and then looks at Mark. "So, any plans for now?"
"Nah, what about you? You look like shit."
"Oh, really? Wow, thank you. That's something every girl likes to hear." Eve says and looks away.
Mark doesn't say anything and just takes out the earpiece Cecil gave him and drops it into the lava. Seeing him do that, Eve looks at him questioningly. He motions for her to do the same, and she relents.
"So, what was that about?"
"Less people listening in. Beer?"
"Huh?"
"What? As I said, you look like shit. Want to talk about it? A beer might loosen up your tongue and make you a bit more relaxed."
"..."
Eve looks at Invincible, surprised. She remembers what happened and is surprised that Invincible recognised that immediately. She nods her head but doesn't answer.
"Let's go. Just a warning. Whatever I buy, I drink."
"How ungentlemanly of you, Mark Grayson."
"We're not in a relationship, and I never try to impress anyone. I take care of what's mine, though. Enough of this, let's go."
_________________________
I think it is clear that Amber will NOT be in a relationship with Mark any time soon.