Educating Todd

"What are you two whispering about!?"

Deborah walked over carrying two plates of Chiaotzu, asking the father-and-son pair who had been speaking in hushed tones.

"We were just saying..."

"Little secrets between men."

Nolan winked at Jupiter, then turned his head and spoke softly to Deborah.

"Just eat your meal!"

Deborah planted her hands on her hips, signaling for the father and son to hurry up and eat.

"Alright, alright!"

Nolan and Jupiter both nodded lightly, then dug in with gusto.

The next day...

Jupiter listened to the alarm clock and slowly opened his eyes. As soon as he opened the window, he saw Nolan in the yard, straddling his foolish younger brother Mark's body.

"What's going on!?"

Jupiter raised an eyebrow—did things have to start off this intense!?

"Mom!? What happened?"

Jupiter went downstairs, asking Deborah, who was making breakfast.

"Your dad is teaching your brother the proper way to fly..."

Deborah replied to Jupiter upon hearing him.

"Alright!"

Jupiter said no more; he had a rough idea of what was happening.

"I really am no match for Jupiter..."

Before Jupiter could go find Mark and Nolan, Mark stormed through the door, head down, and silently climbed the stairs.

"Dad, what's wrong with Mark?"

Jupiter watched the dejected Mark and asked Nolan, who walked in from behind.

"I..."

"Did come down a bit hard, and said some things that hurt his feelings."

"But Jupiter, you know, if Mark wants to become someone like us, he has to endure this..."

Nolan looked a little downcast, troubled by his unaccomplished son. It was clear not everyone could be a genius like Jupiter.

"Dad, about my foolish..."

"I mean, my best little brother—maybe you should try a gentler approach!"

After hearing Nolan's words, Jupiter offered his suggestion regarding Mark.

"Gentler!?"

Nolan's eyes widened at that.

"Yeah. We've got plenty of time, no rush..."

"Take it slow with him. As for anything else that needs doing, leave it to me."

Jupiter gave a slight smile, indicating he would handle the Viltrumite tasks.

"Jupiter, thank goodness I have you. Later, when you're done with school, I'll take you somewhere great..."

Nolan patted Jupiter on the shoulder upon hearing this. Having a son he could count on was almost too good to be true.

"Alright! Time to eat!"

"Jupiter, you still have school later!"

Deborah walked over with the food. She trusted Nolan to handle his relationship with Mark on his own.

"Okay~"

Jupiter quickly finished his bread, then went upstairs and knocked on Mark's door.

"Hurry up and get to class!"

Jupiter said softly to Mark.

"You go ahead! I'll be right there!"

Mark still held great respect for Jupiter, the older brother who had beaten him up since childhood. Hearing it was his brother Jupiter at the door, he replied softly, though a bit reluctantly.

"Alright, I'm off..."

Jupiter shook his head helplessly. This was his little brother, after all, and their mom had his back. If anyone else were acting out like this, he'd have slapped them already—Ancestor Person never put up with that kind of nonsense.

At school...

Mark trudged along, head hanging low, with a blond lackey at his side.

"Hey! Mark Grayson!"

"What are you going to do now that Amber's not around?"

Just as Mark was feeling dejected, a tall man with slicked-back hair, wearing a baseball jacket—the picture of a school bully—walked up to him.

"Todd!"

Mark looked at the approaching figure, somewhat listless.

"I don't want to mess with you!"

Mark shook his head. If this had been right after he'd gotten his powers, he'd have been happy to teach this muscle-bound jerk a lesson. But after being schooled by Jupiter and Nolan, learning that there's always a sky above the sky and people beyond people, he really had no interest in fighting a normal guy like Todd—it didn't stir anything in him at all.

"Hahaha!"

"Don't!? You mean don't beat you up?"

Todd shoved Mark hard against the metal lockers where students stored their clothes and gear.

"Listen, Todd! You'd better stop right now!"

Mark really didn't want to waste words on Todd. He looked at him helplessly.

"Stop!?"

"Hahaha..."

Todd seemed to find something hilarious.

"I'm going to beat you right here today! Let's see who can stop me!?"

With that, Todd threw a punch straight at Mark's cheek.

"Thud!"

With a soft sound, Todd's wrist was easily caught.

"Todd, looks like you didn't take what I said seriously."

Jupiter stared at Todd coldly, his eyes filled with frost.

"Jupiter..."

Todd's heart skipped a beat at the sight of Jupiter. As the star player of the school's football team, Jupiter wasn't just treated like a celebrity on campus—he also had a body of pure, explosive muscle. Standing at six-foot-three with a boxer's perfect physique, Jupiter was unmatched in the entire school!

"I told you, and you didn't listen. That means you're not giving me face."

Jupiter squeezed slightly.

"Ah!"

Todd's face turned ashen. Beads of sweat dripped down his cheeks one by one. His whole body trembled as he heard a creaking sound from his wrist—the sound of bones about to snap.

"Jupiter, please stop!"

Mark saw Jupiter about to crush Todd's entire hand and hurried over to intervene.

"You should be calling me 'big brother'!"

Jupiter turned to face Mark, his expression stern.

"Uh..."

Mark had never seen Jupiter so cold. He panicked for a moment.

"Ah!!"

But Todd's screams brought Mark back to reality.

"Big brother, stop! His wrist is about to break!"

Mark could only steel himself, feeling deeply embarrassed as he called Jupiter 'big brother.'

"Fine~"

"For Mark's sake, I'll let you off this once. Next time, you know what'll happen."

"Now, get lost!"

Jupiter released Todd's wrist and spoke coldly.

"..."

Todd clutched his wrist, not daring to make a sound, and ran off without looking back.

"Mark, you need to learn to be tougher!"

"When you run into trash like that, just deal with it directly."

Jupiter watched Todd's retreating figure with undisguised contempt. A Viltrumite with superpowers letting a mere mortal push him around—how embarrassing was that? He'd be too ashamed to call this his brother. If Jupiter was heading toward becoming an Ancestor Person, Mark was more like a Grandson Person—anyone could push him around. It really wasn't working.

"I need..."

"To calm down!"

Mark shook his head. He needed to compose himself. Head down, he walked off alone into the distance.

"..."

Jupiter watched Mark fly away, his brow furrowing slightly. After all, this was a brother he had lived with for seventeen years—seventeen years of life that had forged familial bonds between them. If possible, he still wished the best for him.

Though he didn't expect Mark to understand his grand ideals, at least he shouldn't become a grandson person that anyone could bully. That would be a disgrace to the face of this Ancestor Person, who was his elder brother.

"Huff..."

After Mark left Jupiter, he went to the restroom and splashed his face with ice-cold water. Then he covered his face with a cloth and flew out through the school restroom window. Soaring through the air, Mark wanted to smash something to vent the fury burning inside him at this moment.

He could barely hold back the destructive urge raging in his heart!

"Foolish little brother..."

However, what Mark failed to notice was that in the sky above, a figure silently watched his every move.

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