The Duality of Man

•••

I had never been so excited to go to school. Not even on field days way back when. This was a whole new ballpark, and I was up to bat.

I woke up at 6am and got ready in an outfit I would've never had the energy to pull off any other day. I was really trying not to be weird about it, but it had been ages since I'd felt that little excitement in my stomach and I wanted to ride the wave in its entirely.

It had been a week or two since I'd felt any excitement like this at all.

I felt silly getting all ready like this, but Mark had piqued my interest for more than just his relation to Omni-Man. I mean, this was the dude William had been trying to get me to meet. In a way, even though I knew he existed, it was the interaction with him that finally pushed him into my perception. If I was ever going to find an excuse to wear an outfit nicer than pajamas, this was it.

On any normal day, I would've spent lunch off campus (at Guardian HQ), or sitting with Eve and her friends, but today I was 'too sore' (half truth) to go and 'missed William' (truth, but deflecting the real truth). Instead, I arrived with William, setting myself and my lunch tray into the spot beside him.

"I can't believe after ages of trying to convince you to sit with me at lunch, today's the day," William remarked, his voice ringing above the bustle of lunchtime. "Who would've thought? On a Tuesday?"

"As opposed to a Thursday?" I asked, popping a particularly soggy pancake into my mouth. Today's school lunch featured breakfast for lunch, and was surely the meal of champions.

"You know what I mean! No festivity. No charm," William exclaimed. "You're lucky there's a seat open here, or you'd have to fight for it. Most desirable table in the caf."

"I'm acknowledging my privilege of sitting with you," I remarked, a hand on my heart. "I feel like a celebrity."

"You should!" William said. "Have you ever actually met Mark before? I think you'd like him."

I paused. "Not personally. I'm sure I will though."

"I'm surprised you two have managed to avoid each other this long. I mean, many comic book geeks do you think there are at this school? And friends with the same dude?"

"Probably a lot, considering we live in superhero central," I quipped, leaning onto my elbow. I would know.

"Alright, but considering we've been friends for so long you'd think I would've forced you guys to hang out," William countered. His face suddenly lit up, and I readied myself for the speech of the century. "Maybe if you weren't so busy all the time-"

"Hey William. Hey... is this (Y/N)?"

Saved by the bell. Mark sat down with a smile, his eyes darting suspiciously towards me. His voice seemed sweeter somehow, like honey. His eyes shined brighter.

I refused to be down bad for some guy I just met - not even as myself, mind you. But it was getting really difficult, especially knowing all the little things I'd heard of him through William.

Another win for the versions of people I create in my mind!

It wasn't that I'd never been interested in meeting Mark before yesterday - he'd always had a little bit of intrigue surrounding him simply because of his relation to William and every story he'd shared. I just never had the chance to do it.

We'd never had any classes together, and it somehow always happened that duty called any time William tried to set something up between the three of us. He was constantly in my peripheral vision, but with so much happening so often, I never took the time to look.

He probably thought I really didn't want to meet him.

Reaching out was never a strong suit of mine either, especially if I couldn't find myself a valid reason, so that had been out of the question. Then again, I hadn't realized 'he's cute, if you're into nerds' and 'he's into comic books and superheroes. you guys would get along' really meant 'you'd probably go wild if you saw him.'

Whatever. Oh well. Its not like I have a crush on him. I'm probably just sad.

"Yeah, that's me. I've heard loads about you," I commented, flashing a killer smile. I was glad to be looking my Sunday's best right about now.

Mark looked slightly taken aback, but bashfully remarked, "You, too. William's a good talker."

I couldn't help but wonder what atrocities William could've shared about me. Best case scenario would be none.

"On the note of me talking," William interjected, immediately leaning over the table conspiratorially, "I saw a certain someone walking out of the school with Eve Wilkins."

"William, I already said we're just friends," Mark exclaimed. He threw his hands up into the air with a sigh.

Woah. Plot twist.

"You're going to jinx any chance you have of dating Eve if you keep talking like that," William chided, excitement flashing across his face. William had always been one to encourage romance. This was clearly no different.

"A day ago, you said I had no chance!" Mark exclaimed, his eyes darting towards me, and then glancing over my shoulder. Eve sat behind us, I knew, and it was no surprise he'd be looking at her. "Besides, she already has a boyfriend."

"So? You can be more awesome than him and take his place," William explained, his pointer finger in the air for emphasis. "That's how dating works."

"I don't know if that's exactly true, but I could put in a good word for you if you'd like," I contributed with a half hearted smile, pretending like I didn't know good and well she was practically in love with Rex-Splode. I ignored the irrational bubbles of discomfort forming in my chest.

Being a good friend came first. Before any secondary agenda, especially if that agenda was some random guy. To Eve and to Mark.

"Thanks for the offer, but-" Mark's speech was cut off by William's hype-manning.

"No, don't listen to her. You've got to stop being so intimidated by Eve. Yeah, maybe she's amazing and you're a bit basic, but every good relationship has balance!"

"William!" I exclaimed.

"Thanks for that, William," Mark said, his mind suddenly elsewhere. His eyes darted around the room and his body was suddenly tense. In the span of less than two seconds, his mood had completely changed. "I gotta go."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Mark snatched up his belongings and stood up from the table. His attention moved elsewhere, completely tuned out of the conversation.

"Are you okay?" I called out to him, bristled by the sudden change. No response.

"Go? Go where?" William exclaimed, Mark already rushing away. He sighed in exasperation, yelling at air. "You know what, that's fine. It's probably somewhere you'll be alone forever."

"Does he run off like that often?" I mindlessly asked, watching Mark's back grow smaller and smaller across the room. I swirled my fork around in my food, no longer feeling any inclination to eat it.

"Not as much as you do," William bluntly remarked, causing my face to grow hot.

As I floundered for a witty response, or even a reply good enough to defend myself, a gorgeous dark sinned girl slid into the seat across from us. Her eyes darted between us, before finally settling on William as her target. William eyed her curiously, taking a loud sip from a school issued juice box.

Maybe this really was the hotspot.

"Is Mark dating Eve Wilkins?" the girl asked. She brushed a hair out of her face, leaned half way over the table in curiosity.

When I say pretty, I mean this girl was really pretty. Gorgeous black hair, mysterious eyes, and an outfit to match. Mark somehow managed to have every pretty girl at this school trying to get some.

"I wish!" William huffed. He leaned his head into his hand and once again sighed exasperatedly.

Pretty girl cocked an eyebrow, still waiting on something. William, not a context clue guy, hesitated a moment before jumping into action.

Looked like he was going to get to play matchmaker today.

"I mean, no. Definitely not. She's got a boyfriend. He's super available," William doubled back. He pointed at her with a finger gun, "You want his number? I'll write it down for you."

Her eyes widened with intrigue as William hurried to pull out a pen and a scrap of paper from his backpack. Fortunately, he was a relatively clean guy and had no trouble at all filling out the information in a clean and timely manner.

He slid the piece of paper across the table to her like it was a drug deal, and I watched the whole ordeal with a strange mix of engagement and wonder. She picked up the scrap paper, her eyes scanning the ten numbers written across it as if committing them to memory. This was definitely not the way I thought lunch was going to go.

"Good luck!" I commented, "He'd be silly not to pick up."

"You know, I hope so," the girl responded with a nod. "Thank you."

It occurred to me with a start I was a little late to the party. I'd had every opportunity to make friendship, and I picked the worst possible time ever. There were two very pretty girls who happened to be (potentially?) interested in Mark. Not that I was also interested in Mark, but he was interesting and-

And I had still only ever had a conversation with him as Affinity.

Guess I'll get in line.

I got another alert of danger during my next class. With as much dignity as I could muster, I confidently explained to the school I had a severe case of the runs and if I couldn't leave class right now there was going to be a shit storm.

Literally.

Okay, maybe it was more like I said I felt sick and wanted to go home. The poop thing was an exaggeration. I just wanted to make the shit storm joke.

I ran to my janky car, which seemed to get more and more beat up after every altercation, and drove into town 15 over speed. Cars and people rushed past me in the opposite direction as fast as the traffic would allow them to go, letting me know I was heading in the right direction. I seriously needed to invest in some of Cecil's government prototypes.

Upon arriving at the scene, I was glad to see Teen Team was hard at work saving the day. Teen Team, and the blue guy from last time. Looks like they've found their newest member.

Really, it looked like they had it handled. Or, handled enough. Maybe the world still had hope for it after all.

"Ugh, these guys again?" I groaned, punching at the nearest alien with impressive force. Looks like I still had some of Omni-Man's fight left in me. The guy went down hard, completely out cold. "Back for round two?"

So this must be how it feels to be the greatest hero on Earth.

"That's what I said!" Rex exclaimed, throwing coins at the army like frisbees. Immediately after, he shrieked as an alien soldier shot at his feet.

"It appears the Flaxons are very resilient," Robot added in between Robot shouting calculations and projections left and right. Rockets flared out of his back, making him look like the worlds most expensive firecracker.

Meanwhile, Dupli-Kate was taking on hordes of soldiers at once, split in four or five multiples of herself at once. Eve was sending out waves of projectiles, ushering any unfortunate individuals to relative safety.

As for the new guy? He came back with a vengeance. In the span of a day, he had learned incredible aerial aerobics, and was knocking out enemies like he was born for it.

I noticed, though, as well all fought with all our might, they still kept streaming out of that portal. And none of them seemed to be maxing out of old age, either. They weren't so much as weakening.

"Why aren't they dying?" Rex exclaimed, taking the words right out of my mouth. On my right, he was in a losing battle being greatly outnumbered. Somehow, the Flaxons had managed to devise a way to deflect his power against him, and things didn't seem to be going very well.

I wanted with every inch of my body to help, but I was having a rough time of my own. Currently being swarmed, I used everything I had in me to fight my way through the army, taking a couple too many hits. Just like fighting the kraken though, every time you killed one, two more showed up and I was running out of juice. Even my own injuries weren't able to keep up with the strength I needed to get through, and I was getting blasted left and right. I was going to be a black and blue masterpiece tomorrow.

The Flaxons must have been turning the tide in their favor because nobody else seemed to be fairing too great either. Dupli-Kate was being shot down faster than she could duplicate, and Robot was on the ground, short circuited. Not even Eve was in play, currently blinded by a strange piece of foreign metal gripping tightly to her face.

It was insane, the difference numbers made. All of us were so powerful, but once you got overrun by enemies, it was nearly impossible to get out again and save your teammates. Even a team as strong as ourselves, some of the greatest and most courageous heroes in the world, couldn't defeat a thousand soldiers by ourselves. Nobody could defeat a thousand soldiers. I wouldn't expect us to either, but it was our only choice.

"You guys okay over there?" I yelled after taking a hard blast directly to the back of my head, stumbling.

"Doing just," the third duplicate of Dupli-Kate shouted before being shot straight through the chest, exploding into a mess of blood.

"Fine," the fifth one finished, sending a roundhouse kick to someone's head.

"Speak for yourself!" Rex yelled, unfruitiously emptying his entire arsenal of pyro. Half of his assault came shooting back at him. "It's like I'm fighting myself!"

One of his projectiles was ricocheted back at him, exploding over the top of his head. He swiped at it in the air, narrowly dodging it.

"Hey! Watch it!"

All alien hands were on deck to take down the new guy, who was focused with all his being on deflecting the energy rays. His face was scrunched up in concentration, using his forearms to block the blunt of the shots.

"Xopa moy," their apparent leader commanded, riling up the group. He wore a red cape and had a long jagged scar running down his face. Of all people, he looked the most enthused to be here.

I didn't know what that meant, but I did know it wasn't good.

With inhuman precision, the Flaxon forces gathered together around huge blasters. I didn't recognize seeing them at our last fight, meaning I had no clue what they might do. My only hope was that it would be less than critical.

A loud hum revved through the air. All at once, the blasters shot a thick black sludge at our blue hero. Thick and sticky, he was blasted roughly against the side of a beaten down warcraft.

He groaned, fighting against whatever cement mix they'd thrown at him. I could see the struggle — I had to imagine if it was strong enough to hold him down, it was strong enough to incapacitate any of us.

They wouldn't need it. If you looked around, we were in shambles anyway.

The head honcho strolled up to the new guy, towering over him with a smirk. I didn't like that look, not one bit.

I shouted, an almost inhuman noise, as I pulled strength from every inch of my body into fighting, hoping only to have a free hand or two to avert whatever was about to go down .

"Eve! No!" the new guy yelled, and it was then I realized the metal piece previously gripping Eve's head was suffocating her, tightly covering her mouth and nose. Shit. Fuck. Shucks.

Something about this display seemed to entertain the Flaxon leader more than anything else, and he took his time walking over to Eve. He made sure the new guy was holding onto his every move as he grabbed her by the back of her head and aimed his blaster directly to his head.

"Aw hell nah," I complained, delivering a sharp punch to the neck of an alien. Fear filled my body, and I could feel it starting to power me up ion by ion.

Suddenly, a voice boomed over the rest of us. "I said no," the new guy shouted, his voice seeming to reverberate throughout the street.

In a burst of power, he ripped through his restraint like it was never there. The entire thing, sludge and all, blasted out in a shockwave of energy. I watched with wide eyes as the wave knocked any Flaxons in the surrounding area off their feet, including the majority of my assailants. Even the Flaxons seemed to be enticed, their eyes never leaving the scene.

"Brax moy!" the Flaxon leader yelled, which I roughly translated into 'holy fuck'.

He took flight, flying straight at the leader, and sent him flying with a sharp elbow to the chest. Wasting not even a second, the new guy ripped off the Flaxon leader's chest plate and began to throw punches left and right. It was some sort of spectacle.

"Invincible!" Robot called. The word processed in my mind, rolling over and around the gears that were churning.

Invincible. Our mystery hero's name was Invincible.

"Eve!" Invincible cried, rushing over to release her from her predicament.

As I knocked through the last of my swarm, Eve sat up and took a deep gasping breath. She laid a hand on her chest, eyes wide.

"Are you okay?" I called, running over the instant I was free. The rest of the group seemed to have the same idea, swarming protectively around her. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Two. You're making a peace sign," Eve reported. I nodded affirmatively. I was making a peace sign.

"You guys," Robot contributed, still short circuited on the ground, "The wrist bands protect them from the time stream. Destroy their wristbands!"

"What?" Invincible exclaimed. The crowd of Flaxons seemed to be coming to. "All of them?"

They were on us in a flash, but we were faster. Having a target to aim for definitely helped, meaning nobody had to focus on any one Flaxon for longer than immediately necessary.

Robot was the real MVP of today, sending the final wave at just the right frequency to intercept the the wristbands of every Flaxon in the area, and probably a couple nearby Bluetooth devices. Not to mention every dog in the city. The minute their wristbands were out of commission, the army went running.

"Lati moy!" Their leader screamed as he entered the portal. I wasn't so sure about that one, but it didn't seem very nice.

"Right back atcha buddy!" Rex exclaimed with a taunt. He put his hand on his hip, haughty.

"Way to go psycho there, Invincible. I take back everything I said. And I said a lot!"

"I don't know what happened. I got mad, I guess?" Invincible explained, almost bashful.

"Don't get me wrong, that was amazing," Rex continued, his voice raising in volume the more he spoke. "But also the scariest thing I've ever seen. Don't go around pointing that thing at me."

"Don't listen to him," Eve said, shooting Rex a dirty look. She rested a supportive hand on Invincible's shoulder. "You did great."

"That's what I'm saying!" Rex exclaimed crossly. He threw his hands into the air in exasperation.

Taking the break in conversation, I sidled over next to Infinity, tapping his shoulder. He turned to face me, and it was almost a surprise how much stronger he looked up close.

"I don't think we've properly met yet. I'm Affinity."

"I definitely know. You're... kinda my favorite Guardian," he commented, scratching his neck. I fought against a bashful blush, against my better devices. Selfishly, the compliment was enough to make me nervous. "I'm Invincible."

"Gosh, I can tell," I said, accompanied by a smile and a 'whew'. "The name's super fitting. Welcome to the scene."

"Don't pretend like you didn't see me in the ditch yesterday," Invincible remarked. Actually, after today, I kind of forgot.

"We've all got learning curves. Maybe yours was a tad bit... sharper than others," I suggested, a chuckle bubbling off my lips. Invincible was moving a little closer to a learning cliff.

"Sharper is an understatement," He said with a sigh. His face flashed bright as he added, "But you're right, I am pretty sharp."

I held my hands up in mock surrender, the smile spreading instinctively across my face.

"Okay, okay, didn't realize I was talking to such a cool guy," I remarked, doubling down. "You looked incredible today, trust me. Imagine how you'll be by your fifth fight."

"I've been fist fighting already, I'd say I'm pretty good at it," Invincible said with a shrug.

I laughed. "Fifth fight. You know damn well what I said."

Invincible inhaled, getting ready for the comeback of the century, when Rex exploded into speech.

"Guys. Can you please stop flirting and help me crack my back? I need a massage pronto."

"Why don't you-" I began, about to tell Rex to crack his own back. Serve of the century.

Invincible's phone suddenly began to ring, playing a silly stock ringtone. "I gotta go," he announced hurriedly.

"Everything okay?" I worried.

"I'll be fine," Invincible called behind himself, already halfway into flight. "See you around."

Not a second later he'd shot off into the sky. I watched, hypnotized, as he flew away.

"Oh okay. Leave us to clean up the mess, asshole!" Rex yelled, throwing up his middle fingers. In my peripheral, Eve sighed.

"We weren't flirting," I stated after a moment, doubling back on Rex's previous statement.

I couldn't tell you why I felt it necessary to state, but it absolutely was. Maybe I couldn't explain it, but if I didn't dispute it, there could be truth made of it.

"Whatever you say, lover girl," Rex said with a shrug. "There were some serious pheromones going on there."

"What would you know about pheromones?" Eve asked with a scoff.

"Enough to tell that they were there!"

Alright, I'll bite. As far as flirting goes, it would've been cool if we were.