Chapter 1: Prologue
Chapter Text
A Second Chance
“Last chance. Give up, join the Viltrum empire.”
“..Fuck you.”
Mark could still feel it.. the foot pressing into his neck as the viltrumite warrior stood above him as if he were nothing more than a pitiful animal.. a creature destined to be put down, too weak to dream of putting up a fight.. The pressure increased as he gave up the struggle.. No. No it can't end like this- His mom, William, Amber- Eve.. Why did that last name feel.. feel so much more important. His life flashed through his eyes. Memories flowing through his head as tears flowed down his face. Then our main character.. died. Invincible wasn't as unkillable as he thought he was.
Mark woke up with a gasp as he floated in the air above his bed.. What happened? He felt.. Felt far weaker than he had before.. Like all that training was suddenly gone. He let his body fall back into his bed. His breathing was heavy and he himself was in a cold sweat. He heard a yell from another room
“Mark! You'll be late for school! Get ready!”
What? School? Why wasn't he in his dorm room? He didn't- Where's Oliver? If he was back home his mother would've been fussing over his baby brother not him. He stood up properly, feet on the floor. He wanted to fly but something in his gut told him not to. He took a deep breath to calm himself.. His muscle mass has practically disappeared. He walked out of his room, having used his powers to get dressed quickly
“Ah- Morning mom!”
“..You got dressed quick. I'll get you breakfast.”
“Breakfast?”
Did that weird guy send him to another universe?
“What cereal do you want.”
Nope he's at home
“Uh I'm good mom.. is the news on?”
“News? I swear you become more like your father everyday.”
Mark.. he hated the fact that his name made him flinch.. the memory of people being splattered on his body popped into his head. A look of fear gracing his face for a moment
“Mark are you alright?”
“..Yeah just- Just y'know..”
”No, no I don't know. What happened sweetie? You can talk to me.”
Omni-Man and the Guardian's of The Globe are facing off against the Mauler Twins at the White House
What? Omni-Man? His father.. His head snapped towards the TV with wide eyes.. He wasn't in another world. He was in the past. The past.. With his powers- Holy shit he could fix everything. He could- He could keep Amber out of danger by never.. Oh this is already eating away at him. He's going to have to avoid his girlf- No, she isn't? Oh he's going to have a headache isn't he? Mark shook his head.
“I uh- Just stressed about school! Big test in History today! Plus I've got to start picking up some extra shifts at Burger Mart!”
He said with a nervous chuckle. Lifting his backpack as he began to move towards the door
“..Okay honey, I'll tell your father you wanted to head out ea-”
“Not too late for breakfast am I?”
Mark knew that he saw his father on that alien planet.. but seeing that costume on him- it brought out so many memories. He grit his teeth as his father spoke
“You alright Mark? You seem like you've seen a ghost!”
As far as he knew.. his father was a ghost in his time.. but he could fix that..
“Hey dad.. Can you-”
“One second Mark, can I take a quick shower before we talk?”
“Its- I'm about to leave dad it's important.”
“I'll be quic-”
His mother cut his dad off
“Nolan.”
“..Fine, go ahead Mark”
“..Can you tell me more about Viltrum? And- And Viltrumites as a whole? Why do they want to.. Help people so much?”
That seemed to catch his father off guard.. it was a little spiteful but he smiled at his dad's surprised expression.
“Uh- Well we have the power to do things others can't.. So it's our responsibility to use those powers, in the right way.”
Mark bit his tongue
”Right.. Can you tell me about Viltrum when I get home? I want- I want to get to know my roots.. Viltrumite customs, beliefs, heroes, everything!”
The look on his dad's face was hard to place, a mixture of pride and.. As if he were trying to figure something out. Mark checked his phone before he left, he had to go to school after all.
Chapter 2: It's About Time ....again
Chapter Text
A Second Chance
It's About Time
..again
“Mauler Twins attack the White House. Nuts, right? I can't believe the Guardians of the Globe let them get that close to killing the President..”
“Being a superhero is hard work!”
“Oh please, like you'd know. You ready for some Class Crash tonight? I'm hoping for a level 43 chest armor!”
Mark sighed, it was all so.. Familiar, boring even.
“Don't say it! Don't bring up that job! Don't be that guy Mark!”
“Actually.. I was planning to quit.”
“Wait really? I thought ‘cOmIc BoOk'S aRe ExPeNsIvE’!”
“First off, I don't sound like that. Secondly I have plans later today!”
“You? Have plans? With who? Amber Bennett?”
Mark knew that he was joking but.. He flinched at hearing her name.. He missed her. He had a feeling he'd continue to miss her.. But Cecile did warn him that dating a civilian wasn't a good idea.. Mark sighed
“Wait.. Do you? You sure as hell seem more confident!”
“What! Dude come on! I'm- Mark Grayson! I'm a geek!”
“Mark, you make act like a nerd, but have you looked in a mirror? You look almost as good as this guy I met an-”
“Dude!”
“What?”
Mark couldn't help but laugh. He really misses those talks with William.. He also missed not being in constant pain, it was a nice change of pace. Mark had to go and start training right after school if he wanted to save guardians.. Unless? He should still have some money saved up- In his original time he was saving his paychecks for more comics over the summer.. Maybe he should pay Art a visit..
“Knock it off Todd!”
He recognized that voice.. Amber?
“Come on... Quit playing games. I know you're crazy about me. Marcy told me!”
“Hey Todd! I think Amber's made it pretty clear about how she feels.”
Why was he stepping up? He had to law low.. Plus the last time this happened..
“Are you serious Grayson?”
“Look, just leave her alone and I won't have to beat you into next week.”
“Hah! Talking big for a little guy!”
Todd said confidently as he made to shove Mark.. But Mark had his powers, even if they weren't as strong. He stood his ground, only stumbling to seem normal
“Y'know what Todd? Take a swing! I'm not even gonna move.”
Mark said with a smirk on his face. He knew he could take it, after all he was..
[TITLE CARD]
Todd punched him and he maintained eye contact, hell he didn't even blink
“You only punched with your arm, you gotta put more effort into this. If you really want to make this bullying thing a career you gotta shape up man!”
“..The fuck?! What are you Grayson?”
“A normal guy, I should be asking what you are! I didn't even feel that punch!”
“I- You- Fuck you!”
Todd ran away confused. Amber however approached him
“Uh- That was weird.. But thank you?”
“Oh it's no problem!”
“So you are..”
“Mark Grayson! Nice to meet you Amber! I really have to go though-”
He was having trouble not talking to her so he'd just have to avoid her! He turned to walk away, waving goodbye
“See you!”
“Uhh- Bye Mark?”
As Mark was walking away he noticed someone very familiar.. Someone with long red hair and emerald eyes so was looking at him. Eve! His other best friend. Well- she didn't quite know him at the moment.. he felt a bit weird about having to do all of this.. Well actually. He walked up to her.
“Hey! Eve right? I have to talk to you after school!”
“Woah there.. You just got punched in the chest and didn't move- Now you want to talk to me?”
“It's about the uh- Day job you have! The one with Rex, Kate, and Rud-”
“Shhh! Okay okay! Mark Grayson right? I'll talk to you later just- shut up about that alright?”
“Deal!”
Mark said with a grin on his face, if he could get the help of the Teen Team against his father he was pretty well off. Especially because he knew how to reach be Guardians. He just had to ask his dad.. Oh that might be harder to do.. Nope he had an idea. But first he had to talk with Eve after school!
“Here, you can have my phone number.”
Mark said as he quickly scribbled it down on a piece of paper before handing it to her.
Chapter 3: Invincible Again
Chapter Text
A Second Chance
Invincible Again
Mark was.. a little nervous, sure he knew Eve, but he realized he probably seemed incredibly creepy. He stepped outside of school and there she was waiting for him
“..So how do you know who I am?”
“Maybe we should talk about this at the Teen Team base? I want to tell you all at the same time-”
“Why should I trust you with the location? No offense but you've been.. really weird.”
“..Fine then just follow me! I know where it is.”
Mark said as he began to walk. Granted he'd be flying in a moment but he couldn't with so many people watching him out of costume.
*
*
*
“How did you know where..”
Eve began to ask him but Robot spoke up
“Eve.. Who is this?”
“I don't know- He just came up to me in school, he knew all of us..”
“This is going to sound a little crazy, but I'm from the future.. And I need your help.”
That's when Rex took it upon himself to jump into the conversation, chuckling as he rolled his eyes
“Yeah right, how do we know that?”
“..Good point- uh alright what's something I know that hasn't happened yet.”
“Well.. You could start with telling us your name, I am Robot, this is-”
“Eve, Rex, and Kate, I know Rudy..”
Rex raised an eyebrow
“Rudy? Who the fuck is Rudy?”
“..Rudy is my real name.”
“..You didn't know that yet? Okay uh- is that proof enough? I'm a half alien Viltrumite named Mark Grayson.. I go by Invincible as my hero name- Or I will go by Invincible when I- God this is confusing”
“Right, as much as I'd like to believe in this time travel bullshit, I don't. What's something important that happens?”
Something important? He could think of 20 things, but what would Rex care about?
“Uh- You all became the Guardians of the Globe- Except Eve who did solo work for a while. Oh! And red got shot in the head by someone in the lizard league!”
“We become Guardians! Fuck yes! Wait I fucking die?!”
“Rex gets shot?”
“No! He- He lives- He actually was still fighting with a bullet in his brain.. It was while we were all fighting off an alien invasion.. The only one to actually die.. was Kate- Where is she actually?”
“Solo mission, but Kate dying is nothing new!”
“..Invincible, you should refrain from telling us anymore information. The more we know the worse it gets, you might end up changing the future.”
“That's the plan! In my timeline the Guardians of the Globe are all killed and my dad.. Get's hospitalized- Can you put my in contact with Cecile?”
“Very well.. if your origin timeline is so horrible I suppose this could be fine, but stressing over future events won't help us-”
“Oh right! There's going to an alien invasion soon! The Flaxans are advanced but they age quickly, they kept coming back until Dad went to their world and destroyed it.”
“Uh- Mark, who's your dad?”
“Omni-Man. Oh shit I gotta go! I need a new costume! See you! Get ready for the Flaxans! Rudy needs to figure out their time stream- whatever- bye!”