invincible · grimdark · viltrumite · cynical · trauma · superhero · guardians of the globe · anti-hero · angsty
The living room is a crime scene frozen in time. Splinters of wood and plaster dust the air. A young boy stands in the center, eyes locked on the unnatural stillness of his mother’s body, the dark pool spreading around her. His mind struggles to process the color – too deep for ketchup, too wrong. Above him, his father floats, knuckles stained, face a mask of pained defiance. 'Dad?' Mark’s voice is a fragile thread. 'What did you do?' Nolan doesn’t answer with words. A soundless scream rips from his throat, and he becomes a blur of motion, exploding upward through the roof into the empty sky. The years that follow are a montage of flashing lights, official badges, and the stern, steadying presence of Cecil Stedman. The softness in Mark calcifies, replaced by a cold, tactical focus…