We wanted Nolan off planet
so we could investigate him for the murders
without arousing his suspicion.
What does sending Mark away get us?
A chance to see what this kid can do.
More importantly,
if his heart's in the right place.
Who the hell are you?
Where are you going?
You know, it's desert-y.
You don't know where you're going.
Go, go, go, go, go!
Please don't lose interest in me while I'm gone.
Hey, Cecil. You missed a spot?
Left that one there as a reminder,
and when you prove yourselves
worthy of the heroes who came before you,
it will get cleaned off.
You murdered seven people.
Wife already suspects.
Dominari...
You didn't listen to me
when I told you to drop the goddamn case.
Nothing to worry about.
Everything's fine.
Huh?
Kill him!
My turn.
Get out of here! Get out of here! Come on!
Ooh.
Tell Mr. Liu,
next time I find him on our turf,
I won't be so gentle.
That message was for you.
Don't be stupid, kid.
I'm cutting you a break...
Go.
Oh, shit...
This time, I'm ready!
I surrender...
Yo, roll that back.
I surrender...
Oh, this new guy's dope.
Hey.
Yes, I'm 20 minutes late,
but there's no way you're gonna be mad at me.
And how do you figure that?
Because I brought you Japanese cheesecake.
You went all the way across town
to get cheesecake...
Yup.
to make up for being late,
because you went across town to get cheesecake?
Is that crazy?
Yeah, it kind of is.
I mean, I could take it back,
but that'll probably just make me even more late...
Hey!
What'd we ever do to you?
Kevin, shut up.
Leave it alone.
There's a place on Third and Parkland.
They'll put you up for a few weeks.
You're welcome!
Just trying to keep the city safe.
Behind you!
What? Oh, crap.
Hi.
Don't be scared. I got this,
but, uh, I guess, get your stuff?
Sorry about your apartment.
45 minutes late!
It won't happen again, Mr. Sayer.
But it has, Grayson.
You've been late 12 times in the past three months.
I'm sorry,
but I'm docking your shifts.
You know what?
Don't bother.
I quit.
What!
Mr. Sayer? There's a rat in the mayonnaise again.
Do I look like I care, Sam?
Grayson?
I'll have the cash tomorrow, I swear!
Tell your boss I need more time!
There isn't any more time, Gary.
Take it all.
Take everything I got.
Oof!
Two days.
After that, you're painting sidewalk.
Oh, God!
The Gravity Bomb, where is it?
I'll never tell!
Now what?
Mark, you have to scare him.
Make him think you'll actually drop him.
I can hear you!
I don't know, that seems mean.
All right here, I'll show you.
- Whoa! - There, see?
Now he'll tell me everything.
Okay, but you're gonna catch him, right?
Yeah.
In a second.
Crap.
Uh, Principal Winslow.
Uh... hi.
Mr. Grayson.
If you're planning to attend college,
we need to have a conversation
about your recent...
attendance issues.
Uh, what if I'm not planning to attend college?
Freeze!
Your lives worth minimum wage?
Or do you wanna fire your guns in the air,
say you tried your best,
and we all walk away happy,
and alive?
"Hey, can't make it tonight.
Just got hit by something."
"You're standing me up?
You tread on dangerous ground, my friend."
"It'll be worth the wait
to see me on my best behavior."
"Do not miss dinner
with my mom on Thursday
if you value everything you hold dear, Mark Grayson."
"Not for the end of the world."
Seriously?
Not even scratched?
Not bad for a guy
with gravel for fingers.
Oh... yeah. Oh, yeah.
Yeah, that's... that's nice.
That works nicely.
That's the last of it.
Paid in full. I'm done.
Mm... nah.
Nah?
See, Titan,
your problem is you're too useful.
You get shit done.
You take bullets like a champ,
and don't even whine about it,
unlike someone else in the room.
It was one fucking time.
- I said... - Shut the hell up!
Yeah, yeah, sometimes, you let people live
when they need to die,
but, man, you make an impact.
If you didn't just finish paying off your debt,
we'd be talking bonus time.
I don't need your money anymore.
Sure, you do.
Come on, like you're gonna go clean?
Work the fry-station at Burger-Mart?
That ship has sailed, amigo.
This is your life now.
This is what you do.
No, it's not.
You're a walking pile of rocks.
You break heads.
That's it.
That's all.
Own it already.
See, I know you're gonna keep working for me.
The question is,
how painful do you want it to be?
What are you doing?
You think you can just punch your way out of this?
I know where your family lives,
and that means you work for me
until I say you're fucking done!
Yeah, see?
See!
Impressive shit like that
is exactly why
I'm never letting you go!
Plus, now you gotta pay for the desk, too.
This was imported Italian maple.
Now just throw it back into space.
How does it feel to save the world?
Or at least the country?
By the way, that was a small one.
That was a small one?
Yeah, you should've seen the asteroid
I diverted a few years ago.
The size of Texas.
Aw, crap.
I gotta run, Dad.
Hey, whatever that is,
your training is more important.
Big picture, right?
I know, but it's Amber.
Mark, we talked about this.
Dad...
This one time, okay?
Yes!
I know I'm a little late...
I brought dessert.
Ugh.
Okay, that's fair.
You were right.
Your mom's a great cook.
You should've told her that yourself.
During dinner.
Two hours ago.
I tried to text you...
Am I important to you, Mark?
Uh... yeah.
Of course.
Well, it really doesn't feel like it.
Half the time we make plans,
you're late,
or you cancel,
or you just don't show,
and your excuses suck.
Hold on...
But then you pick up the sushi I like,
or you leave a note in my locker,
or you surprise me after class,
and you're not a bad kisser,
but that doesn't make it okay if you keep doing it,
and tonight was just definitely not okay.
This was three months.
This was meeting my mom.
It's just...
I have these family responsibilities.
I help my dad with work.
It's hard making it all fit.
Sure. That's fine.
Then make that choice,
but then this?
I'm not doing this anymore.
I've been down this road before,
and once was enough.
Hold on...
Why?
Because...
I'm, uh...
You're what?
I'm...
I'm gonna do better.
I promise.
Prove it.
Hey, Dad.
Mark,
I'm watching the Elephant rob a store downtown.
He'd be perfect practice for you.
I'm not really in the mood...
Mark...
Okay. I'm coming.
That's my boy.
Did somebody ask for butterscotch ripple?
Daddy!
Mommy, he got my text!
Good.
Means we still have service.
We're not out, are we?
Nessa, it's not that simple.
Don't.
Get the fuck out of here!
Get your stupid...
I wanna sit with you.
Wait, baby. Let me help.
Daddy look, a superhero!
Is he a good guy?
That's what people say.
Are you a good guy?
I...
What's his name?
Him?
He calls himself...
Brr...
Seven dead.
One alive.
Your husband.
Hey, Debbie...
Jesus!
What was the name of that place in Bordeaux?
The one with the chocolate pastry thingies?
Uh, the...
Éclair d'André?
That's it!
Thanks, sweetie.
Hey, I need my costume back.
I don't care how torn up it is.
It's classified,
and I want it back.
Go get it.
Now.
I don't need to tell you when I break up with someone.
The only, and I mean only reason
I agreed to you being a superhero
was because Rex was there to take care of you.
I can take care of myself.
Your father only means
that we liked Rex very much,
and we felt good that he was keeping you safe.
But now that you're not even part of a team...
Rex cheated on me!
Teen Team broke up.
They're both over. It happens.
- Forgive him. - What?
All guys make mistakes!
Don't be a...
You're an 18-year-old girl.
You can't do this hero bullshit on your own.
You shouldn't be doing it at all.
One, I can do anything I want on my own.
Literally!
I can rearrange atoms on a molecular level
like it's easy,
and two, I'm not even sure
I want to do this anymore!
Good!
It's about time.
That includes this stupid family!
Samantha!
Don't you leave that door there!
Whoo-hoo!
Huh?
You missed a few letters.
Paint costs money and you got a long-ass name.
Oh, you're that guy I stopped from robbing a bank
a few months ago.
My name's Titan.
Oh... you're...
you're out for revenge.
Fine, let's do this.
I didn't call you here to fight.
Because I'd win?
You got lucky.
Sure, I did.
I called you here because I need your help.
Why would I help you?
You're a criminal.
You don't even know what that word means.
Uh, pretty sure I do.
No, you don't.
I'm not a criminal,
I just owed one money,
and now I can't get out.
So?
So aren't you a hero?
Helping people
and taking down bad guys?
Yeah...
So help me take down my boss.
They don't get any worse than him.
Who's your boss?
Machine Head.
That's not a real name.
Huh.
Of course, you haven't heard of him.
You're a rich kid from the suburbs.
What? No, I'm...
You don't know!
Come on, man.
Machine Head runs this city.
If it's illegal and it makes money,
it's his,
and when people need to die to keep it that way,
he's got muscle like me to take care of it.
Yeah, I'm more like a big picture superhero.
Saving the planet, stuff like that.
Why don't you give, uh, Fight Force a call?
Sure, man, just fly away.
Forget about everyone else down here.
Let me show you
what you don't see from up there.
What, like, right now?
You got somewhere to be?
This is some bullshit.
It's not a party for me either, man.
Machine Head owns the trash company,
uses it to ferry drugs to stash houses
all over the city.
Machine Head owns this whole block.
He pays off inspectors so he doesn't have to fix shit,
then burns them for insurance money.
If anyone's inside at the time,
too bad.
Which one's Machine Head?
Kidding. I'm kidding.
Isotope, let's go.
What the hell was that?
His pet.
You help me take down Machine Head,
you help real people with real lives.
Think about that
next time you're fighting some stupid elephant-man
or whatever.
Why did you borrow money from Machine Head anyway?
It wasn't for me.
Daddy!
I know I can take Machine Head.
He's just a criminal with a... special head,
but he does have this right-hand man...
uh, Iso...
Isotope or something, I don't know...
who can teleport him away if I'm not careful.
Mom, can you pass the potatoes, please?
Mom?
Sorry.
I dunno.
Do you think I should help this Titan guy out?
You'd be making a huge mistake.
What? Why?
Because he's using you.
I'm not an idiot, Dad.
I know when someone's lying.
Titan never wanted to be a criminal in the first place.
He has a family.
I think his daughter's sick.
Even if that was true,
you're a Viltrumite, okay?
You fought off an alien invasion,
saved the country from an asteroid.
This is beneath you.
Mom?
I know that sometimes
people aren't who they appear to be.
Exactly.
Listen to your mother.
You help this guy,
you're gonna learn a very painful lesson.
But I also know
that helping someone is never beneath you.
I'm gonna sleep on this.
Fine.
Whoo! Fuck, yeah!
That's the last time
the Lizard League turns people into snakes in my town!
You better believe it, baby.
Who wants a beer?
There are no alcoholic beverages
in Guardian Headquarters.
There "were" no alcoholic beverages
in Guardian Headquarters.
First thing I fixed in this dump.
Had to throw out whatever scanner
or computer was in that spot, though.
Oh, no!
I hope that wasn't your girlfriend, Robot!
Up top.
I'm 25.
Nothing like an ice-cold brew
after you've crawled through someone's inner ear...
Dude! What the hell?
Two dozen civilians
are in the hospital right now
because we fought like six individual assholes
instead of a team.
Pull up the fight.
You see this, Rex?
This right here?
I know what a bus looks like.
This is where you messed up,
you and Monster Girl.
Both so caught up in your own little prize fights
that you let this entire bus of civilians crash.
It had kids on it, man.
What were we supposed to do?
You pop the tires on the bus,
blow that concrete to gravel to slow it down,
so Monster Girl can stop it and save lives!
That is what you were supposed to do!
Dupli-Kate,
next time we're in this situation,
I want you to think about containment.
If you had cloned the perimeter around King Lizard here,
you could've held him back
while Shrinking Rae took care of his snake gun,
or whatever the hell he called it.
"Snake-erator."
He called it his snake-erator.
No!
Forget this.
We did our best, and we won.
So whatever.
You don't even have powers, old man.
Say that one more time, son.
Why?
Forget your hearing aid, Grandpa?
Okay, okay.
Stop.
He's not wrong, Rex.
Fuck this!
Good debrief, everyone.
As usual, I'll be the only person
who actually sacrificed something,
since I'm now a week younger
than I was yesterday.
Can you believe these punks?
Some of them.
Why would you tell Mark
that saving lives is beneath him?
Other people save lives.
Mark saves millions.
He needs to think big, and you're not helping.
I'm not helping?
You don't understand the choices we have to make.
You're not a superhero.
When you first came here,
you didn't know anything,
about humans,
or our society,
or what was important to us.
And?
I taught you all that.
I showed you how to be a hero, here,
and, suddenly, you think I can't do that for Mark?
That's not what I meant.
I just...
I think Mark is putting his trust
in someone he shouldn't,
instead of listening to me...
to us,
even when we disagree.
He's only been a hero for a few months.
He thinks he knows everything.
I just don't want him
to make a choice he'll regret.
Neither do I.
This is all going so quickly.
I didn't think it'd be this difficult.
Well, that sucked.
This superhero thing is destroying my GPA.
Like you'll ever need to find Mongolia on a map.
I know, right?
No, you do need to know that.
I'm not kidding,
it's really important
that you can find places from the air.
Oh, yeah. Right.
You okay, Eve?
You look... down.
You ever read about those kids
who get kicked out of the house at 16,
and wish it was you?
Uh... no.
Not really.
Do you want to talk about it?
Yes. No. I don't know.
I-I just don't know what I'm doing anymore.
Mark!
Hey, you.
Slow down, tiger,
you're still on my shit list.
You're coming tonight, right?
Hey, Eve.
Of course, I'm coming.
Do not stand me up on this, okay?
It won't only be me counting on you this time.
Mark volunteered to help me
at the Beckwell Community Center downtown.
We do dinners twice a week for anyone who's hungry.
I'm impressed.
Do not be.
He owes me.
Beckwell's like my second home.
I used to hang there after school
till my mom was done working.
Changed my life.
It's on Third Street, right?
Low brick building?
Yeah. 7:00 p.m.
Oh, man, gotta run.
I told my mom I'd help with an open house.
I'll see you there.
Bye, Eve!
You wanna come tonight?
We could use the help.
Mm. I wish I could, but...
Too busy saving the world?
Hmm.
Not anymore, actually.
No excuse then.
You and Mark are pretty close.
Has he been acting weird lately?
What do you mean?
He's late,
all the time,
or doesn't show, and then lies about why.
At least I think he's lying.
I don't know if I can deal with it much longer.
Guys are dicks...
but Mark's one of the good ones.
Yeah, his time management is awful,
but he's super into you.
You're all he talks about.
Really? Hmm.
Well, thanks for that.
See you tonight?
Yeah.
The only place
we're guaranteed to find Machine Head
is 60 stories up.
The room is lined with windows,
but they're bomb-proofed with something.
There's a whole team of ex-military assholes
patrolling the place,
packing the latest shit, too.
Which is why you need me, hmm?
I'm tough,
but I'm not stupid.
Can't the teleporter guy
just pull Machine Head out
once we get close?
I took care of Isotope.
How?
He's got a girl he sees a couple of times a week.
I paid her extra
to keep him there all evening.
What?
Oh... okay.
So we break into the penthouse
and grab Machine Head.
Then what?
Don't you got friends
who can keep a guy like him off the street?
I could take him
to the Global Defense Agency.
See?
Doin' good already, hero.
That was your daughter,
back at Beckwell Community Center, right?
What's her name?
Fiona.
You guys go there often?
It's her second home.
Okay, I'm in,
but we have to make it quick.
I've got plans later tonight.
Huh?
I almost forgot how good I look.
Welcome to the world of the living, clone.
Don't start.
I'm the original.
So the process was a success.
I'll never understand why you do that.
Stop, please. I'm not here to fight.
Not the replication chamber, idiot!
As I was trying to say,
I need your expertise in tissue growth
and DNA replication.
I'll make it worth your while.
Hi, honey.
If you have a sec,
could you pick up a few things for dinner?
Well, I was thinking some tagliatelle
from that restaurant in Rome,
and maybe that wine from Provence,
the rosé.
Yeah.
Thanks, sweetie. Love you.
What am I doing?
What the...?
Machine Head!
Get up.
We're taking you in.
Hey!
It's over.
You're way out of your league.
Carry the two...
Oh, hello, Invincible.
Titan.
Boss.
You're right.
You're so strong, and tough,
and you...
you, you fly all over the goddamn place.
It's amazing.
Uh... thanks?
You know a lot about me.
I also knew exactly when
you and this giant pile of shit
would walk in here and ruin my doors.
Also, Italian maple, by the way!
No way you saw this coming...
Aw, is that what you think?
See, this is what happens when your head's a fuckin' rock.
You said you took care of him.
I know what I said.
This little upgrade
shows me all kinds of possibilities,
which is how I know
it's not worth explaining to you two morons
what quantum probabilities are,
but it doesn't matter,
because, like I said, Invincible's right,
I'm out of my league.
Except...
I've got money!
Oh, shit.
You have no idea, kid.
Amber?
Hey! Eve!
You made it.
Come on, I'll show you around.
Chicken.
Mashed potatoes.
Salad.
Minestrone on the stove,
but we'll need another pot soon.
It's nothing fancy, but it's healthy.
Hey, my parents cook
exclusively with a microwave.
This looks like a dream.
Mark here yet?
That boy's got about 15 minutes
until his ass is on the curb,
permanently.
You look like you're good at chopping things.
How'd you know?
Ah!
Oof!
I'm gonna grind you up
and use you to pave my driveway.
No!
You guys are fucking dead!
Who's next?
Hello, boy.
Wow!
Ten out of ten!
You guys, you guys are worth every cent...
Wait.
Wait, I'm getting something here.
What?
Cecil got an anonymous call.
We'll take it from here.
Murder!
These!
Assholes!
Dupli-Kate,
Monster Girl is in trouble.
Huh?
I was promised
this world offered worthy opponents!
But, oh, how you disappoint.
Killing you is an act of mercy.
Hey, asshole!
Invincible!
Black Samson, retreat!
Pathetic child.
No!
You guys just messed up.
Indeed.
Big time.
Pathetic.
This battle is beneath me.
There is no honor in killing insects.
No...
No, no, no.
This was an unexpected possibility.
Isotope, let's go.
Isotope!
Sorry, kid.
Didn't mean for it to end this way,
but I gotta take care of mine.
I hope you make it.
The veggies are nice and soft tonight, Rose.
I made sure of it.
Aw, thanks, Amber.
Kurt, you want to find me in the kitchen later?
I've got that book we were talking about.
That be great, thanks.
What?
I can barely remember my English class,
and you know everyone here by name.
Make the world you wanna live in, right?
Right.
I thought Mark would be here tonight.
I really did.
He's losing too much blood.
Get pressure on that wound.
Quick! Check his pupils.
She's fibrillating. Step back.
Jesus fucking Christ.
Are we gonna lose him?
It's a possibility, sir.
No. We need him.
Do whatever it takes.
Get a sample to the lab,
just in case.
Huh?
He's losing way too much blood.
Dad?
We're losing him!
I gotta take this.
Amber, I'm sorry.
I... I have to go.
What's wrong?
Was that Mark?
It's okay, I'm here.
I'll fix you.
I know it's hard to love someone
when they don't seem to love you back,
but Mark loves you.
He'd be here if he could.
Wow...
I gotta hand it to you, boss.
Whatever you told that kid to get him on your side,
it fuckin'...
I told him the truth.
I'm gonna make this city better for a lot of people...
but some people come first.
Daddy!
Mm...
Is this our new house?
Any progress?
Jesus, that bad?
We've tried everything.
Drugs, viruses,
bacteria, prions,
even nanobots and radioactives.
Viltrumite cells don't give a damn.
They just won't die.
Well, keep trying.
I got a feeling blood's still the answer.