To Be Invincible (Invincible x DC Crossover)

Chapter 9: Six Months Later

(Disclaimer: I own nothing from Image or DC Comics, nor do I own any of the artwork I have posted or will post.)

It had been about six months since Mark had left Gotham. Six months since his powers had revealed themselves. Six months since he'd learned a lot about his new abilities.

Six months since he'd been home to see his mother.

The thought depressed him, but it also further annoyed him. He thought a lot about what happened the night he left, and what he might have been able to do differently. While he admitted he may have overreacted, and he hoped he hadn't caused Nightwing too much harm, he was still beyond pissed that everyone had kept his powers and the truth hidden from him.

He also had not gotten over Tim and Barbara's betrayal. Mark was not one to let go of a grudge, and it would be a while before he'd be able to talk to them like the old days. If it ever got back to those days, at any rate.

Speaking of his new abilities, Mark had used his more remote location to his advantage. At first, he'd been supremely nervous about showing off any of his new powers in fear of being detected. However, after not a single run in with a hero or villain for the first three weeks of being in Kansas City, he'd decided to begin to experiment. And what he found had absolutely amazed him.

He had super strength, speed, flight, was invulnerable to a lot of stuff, and had a notable healing factor. He'd also managed to figure out that his fight or flight responses as a part human had been amped up to a thousand, as had his other senses. He'd flown out to the Grand Canyon and the desert area to the west and tested this on some boulders and metal in a junkyard. He blasted all of it to little pieces, and he had yet to find anything that could successfully pierce his skin unless he himself was wielding it. This had caused him to up his martial arts training to try and incorporate his new abilities, and he was pleased by the fact that it was a successful transition.

Well, the flying still freaked him out sometimes, but he got used to it for the most part.

Unfortunately, the upgrade in his senses also led to his discovery that his hearing was wildly sensitive. He could hear things from incredible distances, and he was pretty sure it was connected to his ability to fly, but he just wasn't sure how. Mark had to be careful if he knew something could upset his inner ear, or else he'd be in excruciating pain and essentially unable to fly or fight.

That hadn't been a really big issue just yet, but Mark was willing to bet that his good luck wouldn't last. Just because the last few months had been a success in terms of hiding, did not mean he hadn't seen anything. He'd heard on the news about various battles around the globe between different Leaguers and their usual rogues galleries, and there had been various sightings in major cities near to him. He'd even sighted a red blur while flying back from one of his 'training missions' in the desert that he figured out after the fact must've been the Flash. Other than that, he kinda figured today would be another one of those boring days.

Oh boy, how wrong he was.

A while back, Mark had gotten curious about the files he'd read in Penguin's office. So, he'd gone to the local library earlier today to do some digging. He was looking for any information on the Chicago incident that both Batman and his mother had referenced, as well as any information on any kind of known alien or metahuman that might tell him how he had these powers. Clearly, books weren't of much help, and the little he could pull from the Internet from the library computers didn't explain very much.

As far as the public knew, the JLA had responded to a threat in Chicago. Apparently, two Leaguers were duking it out with... something big, and dangerous. Something bad enough that they trashed the city, part of the surrounding nature, and managed to unfortunately wind up with a few dead Leaguers and several civilian casualties before the threat was stopped by the majority of the heavy hitters in the League. From what he read on a League fan site (he snorted at that, what a laugh), the deceased Leaguers had been confirmed slightly after the event as Steel, Vixen, Elongated Man, Guy Gardener, Hawkman, Huntress, and the duo Hawk and Dove. All had been killed, along with numerous military, police, and civilians. It was... pretty eye-opening stuff to say the least.