1: It's About Time... or not.
1: It's About Time... or not.
The first thing he felt was as if all the air in his lungs was abruptly emptied.
His stomach burned in pain and his body went flying uncontrollably, the ground sank and large amounts of earth were forcefully displaced.
The situation was confusing and chaotic, what the hell was happening?!
That question came to his mind as he caught his breath and his vision stopped spinning. He shook the dirt off his body and looked around in confusion, he was sunk at least 3 meters into what looked like a freshly formed hole, a crater?
He carefully climbed out of the crater, glancing around the surrounding area.
It was a secluded place with green grass and trees in the distance, a forest? in some unknown location.
He didn't know where he was.
More importantly, he didn't know what had hit him, although that changed quickly.
"Mark?"
The voice caught his attention, he looked up and saw J. Jonah Jameson flying down from the sky??!!
Wait, no, he squinted and looked more carefully.
That Austrian mustache.
Those muscles.
That red and white suit with that cape waving in the wind.
Why was Omniman flying towards him?!
More importantly, why did he call him Mark!?
It was only now that he noticed that there was something strange about his body.
He felt different, very different, it wasn't easy to describe but if he had to put it into words then he would say he felt...
Invincible.
Oh, fuck no.
.
.
.
Did I hit him too hard? Nolan looked at his son, who had a lost and confused look.
He attributed it to the strong impact he had just received. At first, he planned to give him a light blow, but as he thought about it, he changed his mind. Mark... was weak, even by Viltrumite standards he would barely qualify in the lowest range.
It was easy to realize this during his attempt to hit him; he was clumsy and lacked the battle instinct that any Viltrumite had.
His son wouldn't survive in the empire if he stayed like this, he had to become stronger. It was a mistake to have ignored his combat ability until he gained his powers.
And if he wanted Mark to become stronger, there was only one way.
"Listen, Mark, if you want to be like me, to do the same as me, you must be stronger, be prepared for anything, understand?"
He might be confused, but he would learn; after all, he was his son.
Mark took a deep breath and looked at him, his eyes had something different, the panic, doubts, and fear that he had seen when hitting him had disappeared.
He swallowed and nodded slowly.
"Yes... I understand, I need to be stronger" There was something strange when he spoke, but Nolan couldn't pay attention as Mark suddenly jumped towards him at great speed.
Of course, for Nolan, such a demonstration of speed was not significant at all.
He casually raised his arm and blocked his son's blow, the air rippled, and a shockwave spread out, sending gusts of wind that shook the surrounding trees.
"Good, you're getting it" Nolan smiled. It seemed like his son was starting to understand.
.
.
.
Hitting the man in front of him felt like hitting an indestructible steel wall; his fist trembled for a second, and that feeling of invincibility that his new body had brought him immediately vanished.
He didn't know how or why, but he was here and now, and the man calling him son was the greatest threat to his life at the moment.
He didn't have much time to process what was happening, but while he was confused, he remembered one clear fact.
He should be dead; he remembered the sensation, as the blood escaped from his body and his life with it.
He had died.
But now he was alive, alive and with a body that made him feel amazing, there were no doubts in his mind, somehow unknown to him, he was alive again and didn't feel like flirting with death again.
Adrenaline began to rush through his veins the moment he realized his situation, he almost cursed aloud several times.
"Distracting yourself will only hurt you!" although he heard the words, he couldn't do anything to dodge the blow that hit his face and sent him flying into the sky.
The taste of blood flooded his mouth; he shook his head forcefully clearing any useless thoughts.
It wasn't time to think.
His body spun in the air out of control, and he had to stop it.
He quickly tried to remember that scene in the program, something about purposefully wetting his pants?
Alright, maybe he should do it his way.
He tried to look for something different, something that would help him stay upright in the air.
It wasn't difficult; it was like having an extra limb that you suddenly start using.
His momentum suddenly stopped, and his body began to float in the air by itself; he would have screamed and laughed in amazement if his "father" wasn't flying towards him with his fist raised.
Now, the reason he had started a fight against the strongest man in the world?
When he realized he had "reborn" to be a "self insert" or any other crappy label given to his situation, he knew he was in trouble.
There was no random omnipotent being with infinite charity giving him gifts, wishes, or any of those things that usually come with the standard package in situations like this.
He was alone.
Alone in a universe he barely understood, damn it, he had only seen the first season of the series and the first 4 episodes of the second season! fuck you Amazon! If he ever had the chance to return to his world, he would have a long talk with the people who decided to release only half a season before pausing it indefinitely.
So he only had a basic knowledge of this universe, his new body, and his memories.
That didn't bring him much comfort; he didn't delude himself into thinking he was a great actor. Mark's memories weren't coming, and if they didn't, then no heart-to-heart talk would prevent Omniman from turning him into pulp.
There was no father-son connection to save his ass.
For a brief second, he considered joining his father, going through all that empire crap and growing a mustache even though he disliked it.
But it only took delving into his deepest memories to discard that idea.
He may have only seen the first and half of the second season, but thanks to stupid TikTok and its unwitting spoilers, he remembered something important.
He didn't remember it exactly, but he knew that at some point in the future, something designed to kill Viltrumites would end most of them.
So yes, choosing the Viltrumite side was obviously the losing option, besides, they were the bad guys, and as has been shown over time, the bad guys always lose.
There were many more factors to consider, but the essence was clear.
So, there was only one option left, one that would allow him to survive and ultimately win.
And the biggest obstacle and threat that would decide whether he could do it or not was right in front of him, about to beat him up.
But that was okay; this was just "training." He only needed to know how big the difference was, how strong he needed to become to kill his "father."
Nolan hit hard and tough, his face received another blow that almost broke his nose.
"Mark" gritted his teeth and returned the blow as best he could, his fist connecting with his father's stomach and doing absolutely nothing; the man didn't even look uncomfortable, he just had that stupid smile on his face.
So, he hit him again.
.
.
.
"How was your day?" The woman's voice caught Mark's attention, and he had to suppress a groan as he turned in her direction.
So, that was his "mother," huh...
It was certainly very different seeing her in reality compared to seeing her on a screen.
"It was productive" Nolan replied to his wife, his good mood evident.
"Yes, it was very enlightening" Mark chimed in, helping with the narrative. He had already wiped the blood off his face, and although he was somewhat sore, most of the bruises had disappeared before they arrived home.
"I'll go to my room; I have to finish my homework" he quickly excused himself, needing time to think.
His parents watched him leave.
"He seems tired," Debbie quickly noticed her son's state and glanced at Nolan with a raised eyebrow.
"Don't worry about him; he's a tough kid. He was quite enthusiastic about the training; that's all" Nolan reassured her easily, looking towards where Mark had gone.
"I thought it would be complicated, but I think things are going in the right direction. Maybe him getting his powers is a good thing"
.
.
.
He debated with himself, why not just lie down on the bed and relax? His body was already starting to feel better; Viltrumites healed quite quickly.
Still, he decided he needed a more secluded place to think. Carefully, he opened his window, and his body easily lifted into the sky.
Flying was amazing; now that he could appreciate it without worrying about being hit, he could fully enjoy it.
"Woaaa!" He did a somersault in the air, ascending beyond the clouds and looking down.
Everything seemed so small.
This world would soon be chaotic; it was really stressful, thinking about everything that was about to happen and everything that could happen that he didn't know about.
Being caught up in this situation left him stunned in more than one sense; it was almost unreal.
Of course, that feeling of unreality disappeared as soon as the first blow fell upon him; that pain, there was nothing more real than that.
"I've already died once; I'm not going to do it again" He loved being alive; life was amazing, there were so many things to do and so much to enjoy.
Dying without achieving anything and with dreams and goals left unfinished was painful.
No, he wouldn't experience the same thing again.
"Stronger, tougher, faster... faster?" He stopped.
He blinked and thought again about his words, trying to remember everything he knew about Invincible.
"This series, it comes from a comic, right?" If this world was originally a comic world...
"Then maybe..." It was probably crazy, he would probably just make a fool of himself, but if he didn't try, if he didn't try all his options, then he didn't deserve to be alive.
"All right, let's do it" He looked around; he was very high in the sky, and probably no one would see him, but he was still cautious. His hand rose to his mouth and covered the lower half of his face just in case.
He might not have seen the Invincible comics, but he had read many other comics.
He didn't have a perfect memory of it all, but one thing stuck with him thanks to his older brother. It was a childhood game they played together, something they just did for fun, inspired by their father's old comics.
His brother was taller and older than him; he had a significant physical advantage, and for that reason, he had given him a little way to help him.
"If you can't catch me, you just have to be faster, and if you want to be faster, you just have to say the formula."
Of all the things he could have remembered, maybe this could be the key to his survival. He began to whisper, in a voice so low that it was even difficult to hear for himself; the words flowed easily from his lips.
"3x2(9YZ)4A=?"
For a moment, nothing happened; then everything stopped.
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Note:
Don't expect quick updates, this is just something that occurred to me since today ends the second season of invincible and I had to write something about it, so then I saw that scene with a reference to Batman and I thought, somehow is this connected to DC?
This is still in its infancy, I also want to take the opportunity to develop my writing NSFW skills, so expect some of that, like 40% of smut it, and 60% of plot?