371 INVINCIBLE ASCENDANT CONCLUSION

Invincible flew the spaceship to the right coordinates and landed where Cecil had chosen for the Praying Mantis colony to be constructed. There were also a bunch of heroes and construction people there, including Atlas and Atom Eve, and they had already made a smaller version of the temple-like structure and placed it over the entrance to the abandoned mine.

Needless to say, the bugs were ecstatic to already have the basic layout done already and they could easily move in and make their own living areas and underground structures. The city back on Thraxia was built for visitors and the temple-like structure had been retrofitted for Nolan and his wife to live in and raise their son.

The officials there explained about how the mine had to be abandoned because it was too dangerous for humans to live and breathe down there, which the bug-people were ecstatic about as well. They didn't have to worry about any of them coming into their home and bothering them.

Of course, they allowed the humans to scan their things, like the computers, tools, and materials they had brought along, then they and the gathered heroes moved everything through the temple-like structure and down into the mine. The bugs immediately started to reinforce the tunnels and dug out places for themselves and their future families.

The bug-people's older science team members were delighted when they were asked to collaborate with the government scientists and that anything they found in the mine was co-owned by the government and the profits would be split evenly when the minerals were sold. That solved the bug-people's immediate problem of not having any local currency and the newly appointed queen signed the official immigrant colony papers with Cecil.

When all of that was out of the way, Invincible managed to get Cecil alone and brought him onto the spaceship to show off the latest government asset in the form of a weak baby Viltrumite and bug hybrid. It was quickly explained what Nolan's plan had been and how Invincible had handled the situation.

That was why Atlas had said Sinclair would be busy, because Invincible had brought back Nolan's body for him to experiment on and possibly make it into an Elite ReAnimen, if it was possible. Cecil was shocked for the second time in as many weeks, because he wasn't used to having a completely cooperative superhero under his employ that actually agreed with his policy of doing everything they could to keep the people of Earth safe.

He handed the dark purple baby over to Cecil and said he would grow fast, because the bug DNA was dominant at the moment and also told him about the things he had stored to help take care of the child. Cecil was actually touched to be given such a great opportunity to raise his own Viltrumite agent however he wanted, the responsibility easily fitting into his strict mindset perfectly.

They brought the baby back to the Global Defense Agency and set him up with around the clock monitoring and the items, food, and milk formula was handed over without fuss to be examined, tested, and experimented with. They might need more of it later, especially if there was a huge population boon within the next few months at the new colony.

After that, Invincible reported in officially and wrote out his report, including the encounter with the Viltrumite enforcers and what they talked about. Cecil actually praised him for talking it out instead of trying to use his fists to handle it, which is what Nolan would have done if he had been alive. He praised Invincible for that as well, especially for the efficient takedown and being decisive about it.

When Invincible informed him it was actually Debbie that told him to not let his father talk or somehow convince Mark to do what he wanted, Cecil genuinely laughed. He even did a slow clap and promised to visit Debbie later to thank her for giving Invincible such great advice that actually worked.

*

Debbie couldn't stop the squeal of delight from escaping when her son finally returned home. It had been the first time Mark had been away from home for longer than a few days and it had been a very long two weeks for her, even with Atlas regularly visiting her. She had worried like all mothers did when their child was out of their sight and she hugged Mark a bit too tightly as she peppered his face with welcome home kisses.

Mark had accepted them with a laugh and let her do what she wanted. He had felt the same way and was glad that he hadn't had to stay there for any length of time, since it really had been very far away. He was sure he could find his way back eventually, even if he didn't have a ship; but, he didn't want to test that out. He was home now and he didn't want to leave like that again, not for any reason.

He was soon settled down on the couch as his mom interrogated him about everything and he cuddled with her as he told her everything, leaving nothing out, like how he berated the man for his mistakes and Debbie gave him a few tender cheek kisses for it. When Mark revealed that her husband had married one of the Praying Mantis people and had a bastard child with her, Debbie was justifiably angry.

She ranted for quite some time about how it was something he would do, because he was avoiding his responsibilities to her and to his real family, by replacing them with cheap fakes. Mark agreed and had told the bug queen that, then she handed the baby over to him anyway, even knowing it was an abomination and shouldn't exist.

It took Debbie a few minutes to defend the baby and say it wasn't his fault. He wasn't given a choice to be born and all the blame was on Nolan's now deceased shoulders. Mark agreed as well and told her that he had already handed responsibility for both the bug colony and the purple baby to Cecil and he already had everything set up to take care of both.

It was a huge relief that neither Mark nor Debbie had to assume responsibility for Nolan's mistake, even if Mark did have to conform to the Viltrumite Empire's orders. But, since they had 50 years to make the basic plan Mark suggested work, there was no rush to get it done immediately. They had time to do it right and they would succeed where Omni-man failed.

Mark and Debbie split up after that, both to shower and get cleaned up, then went to their rooms and climbed into bed. It had been a long day for the both of them, for different reasons, and they needed to get a good night's sleep, because they hadn't really had one since Mark had left on that mission.

They both felt great about how everything turned out, too. Mark had kept his word to his mom and dealt with Nolan and the looming threat of the Viltrumites. Debbie felt that her trust in Mark's abilities had been well placed and she loved him all the more for succeeding. She couldn't wait to see Atlas and tell him the good news. Her husband was actually dead and not just dead on paper!

*

Atom Eve sat inside her treehouse and couldn't believe how much her life had changed over the last few days. Not the material things, since those were easily created and changed. No, it was her emotions and her attitude. She had struggled for the longest time with confidence in herself, thanks to her foster father's attitude, and it took meeting six of her dimensional counterparts to realize how much better her life had been when compared to theirs.

They had all suffered in similar and different circumstances, each of them getting worse as they grew older, then they had their version of Mark turn on them to save them from themselves and to stop them. They resisted his domination of the planet and he made them pay for it, which gave her a new appreciation for how acceptable her Mark was.

Her Mark? Atom Eve asked herself. Why did I think of him like that?

Her eyes went to Atlas as he joked with Eve and pointed out the different sights they could see from their high perch on the balcony, then his hand lightly rubbed her red fuzzy hair. She leaned into his hand for only a moment and then she was on him and kissing him with love and tenderness. It was almost a complete antithesis to her personality as a gruff and rough woman that easily handled herself in a fight.

But, that was also her appeal. She gained your attention as soon as you saw her, because of how she held herself and how she dressed for combat. The thing was, she had depths within her that only Atlas was brave enough to plunge into and he helped her more than anyone else could. Atom Eve blushed as she remembered seeing him physically plunge into her counterpart and it had turned her on a lot, to her embarrassment.

The other Eves had also joined in after a short while and each of them took turns and enjoyed themselves with both Eve and Atlas. It had been a little mortifying at first, then she saw how they respected each other, their personal boundaries, and it was only Eve that received the most physical affection from all of them as well as from Atlas.

Atom Eve couldn't resist at that point, jealous that she wasn't being made love to like that as well, and she had joined them in the orgy-sized bed at the warehouse. No one objected at the time, not even the most socially awkward one named SP-One.

She hadn't left the program as a child, like she and the others had, and grew up much more restricted and controlled than the rest of them. She was the crown jewel of success for the government program, after all. They didn't want to let her go and enticed her to stay, rather than forcing her. It did not work out well and she still lost her siblings, only to Invincible's intervention and not from her own misguided ideals.

Atom Eve pushed her thoughts aside and looked over at the kitchen to see SP-One look embarrassed as Angel showed her how to make her own cookies the long way. She could have made them instantly by using her powers, they all could; but, for some reason, they always tasted better when you had to work for it and cooked them for yourself.

Her eyes went back over to Atlas and he had Eve cuddled up on his lap as he kept stroking her hair. His ideas for self-sustaining water systems and filters, for a shower, toilet, and a sink, had made her treehouse so much better.

She didn't have to use her powers to do certain things anymore and could have guests over without having to worry when they asked to use the bathroom. She was usually embarrassed to remind them it was a treehouse and not a real house; except, now it was just like a real house, thanks to Atlas and the other Eves. It had electricity, appliances, and everything else a real house had.

Atom Eve walked over to the living room area and sat on the couch with Sam. They exchanged knowing smiles and they both watched Atlas give Eve ouch therapy and Angel cooking. The last Eve was asleep in a hammock hanging over the balcony, because she had wanted to try sleeping in one and fell unconscious almost immediately when she did.

It was a nice relaxing afternoon and Atom Eve silently thanked whomever was listening for delivering Atlas and the rest of the Eves into her life right when she needed them.

*

Monster Woman wasn't sure what to think with two other women on the team. It had been just her and Dupli-Kate and the rest were men for as long as they'd been on he Guardians of the Globe's team. Throwbolt and Knockout had costumes that fit heir powers, giving the team a ranged option and another heavy hitter.

The men joining were odd choices in her opinion. Shapesmith was a shapeshifting man, no real special powers or abilities besides that. Tech Jacket had his special high-tech armor, which was similar to Robot, actually. The last one was Minotaur and he was a quiet one that was a mix of powers and armor.

All in all, their team had expanded by a lot and now had enough members to split up and deal with several threats at the same time. Those were Cecil's words and Immortal agreed with them. He had drawn up a new training schedule to help integrate the new members into the fighting styles of the current members and worked on their coordination.

A team functioned only as well as their weakest member, according to the boss, and Monster Girl's attention went right to Shapesmith. He was a weakling and was only just getting used to his recently gained powers, so if anyone was going to drag their performance down, it was going to be him.

An alarm went off and everyone scrambled to the main gathering area, the large hangar, and Cecil's face popped up on the giant screen there.

“We've got another giant moron claiming to be all powerful and he's calling you guys out to prove himself.” Cecil told them.

“What's this one called?” Immortal asked.

“So we can put it on his tombstone.” Monster Girl said and slapped a fist into her palm.

The others on the team chuckled as they remembered what happened to the last idiot to call them out.

“It doesn't matter what his name is.” Cecil responded and they chuckled some more. “There'll be no Atlas this time and no other independent heroes will show up. It's all on you.” He told them. “Call it a test if you will.”

“We will pass this test.” Immortal said and his eyes went to Dupli-Kate. “You can depend on us.”

All three Kates blushed slightly and nodded as one, getting the implication right away. He would be there for her when she needed him.

“That's good, because your luck's going strong today.” Cecil said. “The guys in the lab finally finished your new transport, thanks to designs Atlas gave them for the hover technology and the extra generators Invincible brought back from his last mission.”

The roof access to the hangar opened and they all turned away from the screen to look up at the ceiling as a quite large and fancy hoverjet lowered down to land in the middle of the hangar without trouble.

“It's automated?” Robot asked.

“Only for certain operations. There's a lot of computing power in the thing, just not enough for a full AI, or so the tech guys tell me.” Cecil answered. “It still needs a pilot for normal operations, so feel free to take control of it yourself.”

Monster Woman chuckled and clapped Robot's shoulder before he could accept the offer. “Don't try to take it apart mid-flight. You can poke and prod at it after the mission.”

“I wasn't going to...” Robot tried to deny.

Rex-Splode barked a laugh. “Ha! You're as terrible of a liar as I am! Ha hahaha!”

Several others laughed as well and they all went over to the boarding ramp. A few of them whistled at the interior being much nicer than a normal plane's insides.

“Good luck and have fun.” Cecil said and ended the call.

Rex did take the pilot's seat and Tech Jacket sat in the co-pilot's seat as the rest of the team strapped in to the many available seats. The two pilots nodded to each other and quickly familiarized themselves with the controls and the capabilities of the hoverjet for several minutes, then they exchanged nods again and assumed control of the aircraft.

The hoverjet lifted off and Rex flew the transport out through the roof access and to the desert outside of Las Vegas. Apparently, the idiot was going to gamble the ransom he was demanding from the government for not harming the Guardians of the Globe.

“Open the ramp.” Immortal ordered. “The flyers and heavy hitters are going in first.”

“Yes!” Monster Woman and Knockout shouted, gave each other a surprised look, then they high-fived each other and fist bumped.

“Try to leave some for the rest of us.” Tech Jacket joked as he hit the ramp release.

“You better hurry.” Bulletproof said and ran down the ramp with Immortal and they leaped out together and dropped down to smash their fists into the head of the giant man and knocked him down.

Knockout and Monster Woman were next and dropped onto his chest and the sounds of cracking rips echoed in the desert. Black Sampson dropped down and hit the big man's belly and made him throw up, just barely missing Bulletproof. Minotaur landed head first and his horns stuck into the giant man's abs, causing a huge amount of damage, both internally and externally.

Immortal and Bulletproof used their feet and kicked either side of the giant man's head and knocked him out. By the time the hoverjet landed and the rest of the Guardians came out, their target was no longer moving and had been dealt with.

Immortal gave Dupli-Kate a firm nod and crossed his arms as he propped his foot on the giant man's broken nose. He looked regal and Kate couldn't help but admire him when he looked like that.