The Unkillable: Death Sworn [INVINCIBLEXREADER]

Chapter 3

Nolan landed on the grass around the crater, setting you down. "Okay. I guess that still counts as landing. Get up." Mark groaned in response to his fathers words, getting up and climbing out of the crater. You laughed softly, not able to hide the concern that lace your tone. "You good?" He smiled slightly, giving you a thumbs up as he rubbed his back. You crouched down, grabbing his hand and helped pull him out from the crater. "Come on, we're gonna try something else." Nolan walked away from the crater, gesturing for the two of you to follow. Mark, wiping the dirt from his shoulders, spoke with uneasy confidence. "I'm actually getting used to this a little." Nolan, without missing a beat, replied, "That's not good.

"Try to hit me." Nolan said, giving Mark a small poke to the chest. Mark was obviously surprised by the statement. "Really?" He asked, making sure his father meant what he had said. You were a little bit surprised too, but didn't say anything. "Yeah." His father replied, tone unchanged. Mark then got into a video-game esk fighting stance, and tried to punch his father. Omni-Man dodged with ease, hovering again as Mark tried to throw another jab. Again, Nolan dodged. "Use your whole body." Mark tried twice more, only for his father to move out of the way and fly around to his back. "You can punch with your arm, but if you punch with your shoulder, your hips, and your legs as well, it'll be much more powerful." You perked up, since you were knowledgeable in the expertise of throwing punches. Finally, something I can help with. "Yeah, Mark-" He turned towards you as you approached him, Nolan watching you with slight irritation- irritation that you ignored. "When you punch, you have to put your whole body into it. Also, your stance is horrible." He stood, coming out of his pathetic fighting stance. "How would you do it then?" You smiled. "I'm glad you asked." You got into your own fighting stance, one that still felt natural to you, even with how long it had been since you had fought. "Copy me." Mark tried to copy you, so you walked over to him, helping in correcting his form. "Your stance is too wide. And your thumbs need to be on the outside of your fists, not the inside or the top- I feel like that should be common knowledge.

"You're not guarding yourself that well either, your arms need to be out but also down, but not too far out." After shifting his feet and angling his arms, you nodded. "See, that's better." You went to stand in front of him, holding out your hands to catch his punches. "Now, try to use your entire body to throw a punch." He seemed nervous to do so, swallowing a ball of saliva that had been stuck in his throat, but did end up punching. "That's good, but you need to use the turning force of your hips, and push off your legs too." He did what you said, and this time his punch actually hurt. You hissed, although smiling, shaking out your hand. "Much better. But obviously apply a lot more force when you're in a real fight." Mark nodded, smiling somewhat, but still held worry in his eyes. "Yeah, thanks- but is your hand okay? I didn't mean to-" You shook your head, waving your hands out in front of you. "No- no! Dude, it's fine. You did good! And my hand is completely fine, see?" You held up your hand for him to see, the palm a little red. "Just a little sore- it'll be fine in a few minutes."

"How did you know that?" You looked up to see it was Nolan who had asked you that, and now his expression was full of pleasant curiosity, rather than irritation or annoyance. "Oh, well I was in kick-boxing for a while, and I've taken a few self defense courses over the years." Mark tilted his head towards his dad. "Yeah, they used to talk about kick-boxing all the time, dad. Don't you remember?" Nolan stared for a moment before shaking his head. "Must have forgotten." You waved your hand. "That's fine- it has been a couple of years." He hummed in response, seeming to think about something before then immediately moving to change the topic back to him training Mark.

"Now, with us, we can freely move ourselves through physical space. That's how we fly. So we don't have to pivot on our feet and push off the ground. We can literally push off anything. We can create our own leverage." Your eyes narrowed as you frowned. How is that possible? 'Cause that doesn't sound like a biology thing, that sounds like bending the laws of physics or something. As much as you wanted to ask your questions, you decided against it, not wanting to interrupt their training anymore.

Mark pushed off from the ground, pivoting and using his body's leverage and momentum to help him try and take a few jabs at his father. Nolan, of course, was still dodging with ease. "Good... but try it a little more like this." Mark quirked a brow, smiling somewhat. "Like what?" Without warning, Omni-Man's expression hardened as he reeled back, and hit Mark square in the chest with a blow that would break all of your ribs if launched at you. All of the air was knocked from his lungs as you jumped, shouting for him as shock coursed through your veins. "MARK!" You ran towards him as he fell, laying on his side and clutching his stomach. "Dad... You... hurt me." He rasped out, still gasping for breath. "Deep breaths, man." You whispered to him, squeezing his shoulder as you turned towards Nolan. "What the hell?! Are you fucking kidding me- why would you do that!?" You yelled at the man, watching as his expression softened. "I know." He flew down, standing before the two of you with an apologetic expression. "Son, I didn't... I didn't mean to hit you so hard. I'm sorry." You could tell that the apology wouldn't make up for the amount of hurt Mark had been caused- physical or emotional. "Why did you do that?" He cried, voice still broken and rasped. "Mark... if you really wanna do what I do, you have to be prepared for anything. 

"No one's gonna pull their punches."

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You followed Mark through the door, stopping when he beelined up the stairs. Debbie, upon seeing her son's upset and conflicted expression, she was concerned- although it didn't show much in her expression. "So... how badly did that go?" Your eyes flickered between Nolan, Mark, and Debbie. In the end, you mouthed, 'I'll talk to you later' and then rushed upstairs after your friend. Nolan watched you for a moment as you left, before turning back to Debbie. "I pushed him pretty far. It's what he needs." Their voices faded as you entered Mark's room, the boy sitting at the edge of his bed with clasped hands and furrowed brows. "You good, man?" He sighed, remaining silent as you leaned against the doorway, the two of you still able to hear the faint voices of his parents.

"Did you maybe push too far?" Debbie asked.

"Are you questioning me?" Nolan's tone put fear in you.

"What the hell has gotten into you?" Thank goodness Debbie knew how to deal with her husband.

"I don't know. I... I'm sorry. Mark got his powers so late, I wasn't prepared for this. It changes things. 

"I can't help but think, maybe our lives would be better if he hadn't gotten them at all."

You winced, frowning as you shut the door behind you. "That's enough eavesdropping, don't you think?" Mark's face only expressed more anger, but you could tell he was hurt, and more than likely a little scared. And you were too. "Hey..." You sat next to him, not able to find the words to comfort him. So instead you wrapped an arm around him, enveloping him in a gentle side-hug. Mark leaned into you, pain becoming more apparent as he hung his head. You took a deep breath. "I have no idea what you're going through, or what any of this is like in general- but I'll do my absolute best to try and understand. And if you need help, or to even simply talk about any of this stuff, I would be happy to listen." A moment of silence. "So, basically the same policy we've always had when weird shit happens." Mark said, bringing you to let out an airy laugh. "Yeah...

"But I mean it, seriously. I owe you after you've dealt with all of those years of me venting to you about my parents."

"Thanks, y/n."

You smiled. "Anytime, man.

"Anytime."