The lights in the cell were dim. The cold stone walls seemed to close in even more with the night. Mark lay on his back on the metal bed. The chains had been removed, but the weight in his body remained. He stared at the ceiling—cracks, rust stains, the silence of passing years.
The same image still lingered in his mind.
Maddie's face.
Her closed eyes.
Motionless.
He folded his hands over his chest. His breathing was slow, but uneven.
And then—
The screen appeared again.
A translucent blue light.
Silent, yet overwhelming.
[RARE MISSION]
Mission: Destroy the prison using purple power
Reward: Infinity – Full body coverage
Mark did not look away from the screen.
"Destroy…"
The word echoed in his mind.
To erase.
To wipe away.
To draw a line with no return.
He turned his head to the side, feeling the cold of the wall against his cheek.
"If I do this…" he thought,
"there's no going back."
Two voices rose within him.
One whispered:
Stop. You've already lost enough. More destruction won't save you.
The other was quieter, but heavier:
If you stop, everyone will stop you. If you remain weak, you will lose again.
Mark closed his eyes.
The courtroom resurfaced in his thoughts.
The shouting crowd.
"Monster."
"Killer."
The hero's name never even spoken.
"The real criminal is already dead…" he thought.
"Yet I'm the one paying the price."
He clenched his teeth.
"This world," he whispered,
"crushes the powerless. Clears those with licenses. Calls the silent ones heroes."
A weight formed in his chest. It wasn't rage. It was deeper. Colder.
"If I'm going to change this system," he thought,
"I have to speak its language first."
He opened his eyes. Looked at the screen.
"I'm not accepting this mission because I want to destroy," he told himself.
"I'm accepting it because… I won't let anyone destroy me anymore."
He felt the presence of the purple power.
Calm, waiting—aligned with blue and red.
"Control must be mine," he thought.
"Not chaos… will."
A moment of silence passed. Only his breathing filled the cell.
Then Mark raised his hand toward the air.
Toward the screen.
His decision was clear.
"I accept…" he said in a low voice,
"the mission."
The screen trembled slightly.
The light faded.
The cell was silent once more.
But Mark was no longer the same.
This wasn't an explosion.
This was a choice.
And for the first time, Mark had truly chosen his own path.