Chapter 8: Fighting For Once

Mark had to admit, tearing apart a car with Jason was more enjoyable than he expected. Sure, Mark had no idea what he was doing and followed whatever Jason told said, but he learned a lot about cars… and how to steal parts. Jason was nice, but a little aggressive with his words and attitude. He cussed a lot, sometimes he got upset with a piece and straight up threw it. He almost hit Mark once- not that it mattered, it wouldn't hurt anyway. He put on a tough boy act but deep down, Mark knew he was a genuinely good guy. Who had a temper and surprisingly knew a lot about literature.

Mark, however, struggled not to stare at Jason's hair. Still tinted a faint pink. He knew that if he laughed, a tire rim would intentionally fly to him.

After a long day of touring Gotham and tearing apart an expensive car, Mark was exhausted. Night fell and he retired to his room, bidding Jason farewell and leaving him to scramble out of the Batcave. Mark was ready to crawl into bed and sleep, to rest without a nightmare plaguing his mind… hopefully. He had planned to fly around a little and practice his landings some more, even though he had it down. But he didn't feel up to it, not after such a tiring day.

Mark snuggled deep into his sheets, sleep easily overcoming him. For once, he didn't dream. It was a breath of fresh air. He knew there would be a peaceful sleep ahead of him.

Then, after just a few hours of sleep, his door burst open. Mark flailed out of his blanket and wrestled it to sit up. Once free from his sheet prison, he sat up and saw Damian standing at the doorway. "Grayson, wake up. Father demands your presence at the Batcave… for some reason," Damian snapped. Mark was going to have a heart attack if Damian kept slamming open his door. Wasn't this the second night in a row?

"Wha..?" He mumbled rubbing his eyes. But the little brat had already walked away, with him glaring at the open door where the boy once stood. Mark was glad to grow up as an only child if this was the sibling experience. If Damian kept this up he'd try and stab him back.

Mark crawled out of bed, the clock beside him flashing at two a.m., taunting him, Mark scowled at the clock. He slipped out of bed and lumbered downstairs, unable to stop himself from yawning every minute. He made his way to the grand clock, turned the hands, and got the wrong combination. He squinted at the Roman numerals, what was it again?

He finally got the right combination and stepped into the elevator, thankful that no one watched him get it wrong three times. As soon as the doors opened, he realized that everyone was there waiting for him. Clad in their hero costumes, ready for battle.

"What's the occasion?" Mark muttered, still in his PJs. He felt a little underdressed.

"Gotham City has an emergency," Batman said sitting at the batcomputer. This emergency involved Mark because…? He didn't voice those thoughts, instead watching Bruce bring up various security cameras. They all displayed some type of villain wreaking havoc throughout the city. An ice man, a small guy with an umbrella, a… bat-man? Manbat? Didn't matter, the bat guy was plucking people off the streets to who-knows-where.

"Ah shit, they broke out again?" Jason- or, Red Hood muttered. An appropriate reaction. Except, this was a recurring theme? Just a typical Gotham night? No wonder the city needed eight vigilantes patrolling it.

"Arkham Asylum had a major breakout, all the villains escaped at the same time. The cause is currently unknown. I'll need all hands on deck," Batman turned to Mark and he knew exactly where this was going. He had a feeling as soon as he saw everyone in their costume, a sinking pit gathered in his gut.

"Bruce, I don't- listen-" he sputtered, his heart rate picking up.

"It doesn't matter Mark. We need all the help we can get," Mark's shoulders fell, knowing that Bruce wouldn't let it go. Besides, where's the harm in helping people? He wanted to do that. Mom would want him to help. He gave a weary glance to the security cameras, where innocent civilians were being terrorized on the streets.

"Fine. Sure," Mark said, looking away from Batman. "Just let me get dressed."

"I'm sorry Mark-"

"Don't. I get it," Mark muttered, cutting Batman off. People needed saving, and Mark… Well, he was the man for the job. However, he never thought he'd be wearing his costume so soon.

—----

Batman had forced them into pairings, each pair set after a specific villain, and then once done, they'd go after the next villain. Mark ended up paired with Steph- or Spoiler was what she called herself in costume. She was purple, literally, and Mark had a feeling she liked the color purple. He had the comm in his ear, which he got help figuring out from Tim. Because God, why was it unnecessarily complicated?

"A safety feature," he had said. More like a headache than anything.

"Spoiler, Invincible, you'll be going after Mr. Freeze. He's in downtown Gotham, currently trying to break into a bank," a woman's voice echoed on the comms, Oracle, was what she called herself.

"Of course he is," Spoiler muttered, grappling ahead as Mark slowly flew beside her.

"And… wild guess here, I'm assuming he has ice powers," Mark quipped.

Spoiler smirked, "What gave you that idea?" Before stopping abruptly at a roof edge. Mark skidded to a stop, landing beside her.

Down below was, in fact, Mr. Freeze. The name really highlighted who he was. He wore a mechanical suit with a glass dome for a head. He held bags of money in hand while freezing anyone who got in his way. Including the police officers, who were ice statues below.

"Gotham will experience a chilling night, no one will be able to freeze me," the villain said, shooting an ice beam at an officer who was then consumed by ice. Was… that a pun? Mark glanced at Spoiler, who was shaking her head.

"Ice puns. Get used to it," she muttered. "I don't know how skilled you are, but our goal is to stop him and limit casualties," Mark sighed. He'd rather not witness another gore show, or see people shatter into bloody ice shards. Spoiler didn't have to tell him twice, he'd be extra careful tonight.

"Does he have a weakness?" Mark asked.

"Heat. You don't happen to have heat vision, do you?"

"Uh, no?" Why would he?

"Then this will be a little more difficult. Just don't get frozen, Invincible," Spoiler said, before jumping off of the roof, grappling hook shooting out. Mark swallowed, this wasn't too bad. No one was getting killed, just… frozen, really. He could do this. He watched Spoiler slam into Mr. Freeze and knock the man off balance, his freeze blast shooting into the air.

"Spoiler," He hissed, regaining his balance. The suit he wore was rather clunky, Mark suspected it'd be hard to keep up with Spoiler while wearing it.

"Yep, here to spoil the fun!" Mark and Mr. Freeze groaned.

"Seriously? You too?" He shouted, jumping down to join her.

Spoiler grinned at him, "What? He gets to make ice puns but I can't?"

"Who's this?" Mr. Freeze snapped. "Another super clone?"

"Super clone?" Mark muttered, glancing at Spoiler for an explanation.

She shrugged about to speak, before an ice blast was aimed at her, Mr. Freeze clearly didn't care for pre-battle chit-chat. She quickly jumped away, Mark wasn't as quick. His body was quickly encased in ice, leaving only his head unfrozen. He heard Mr. Freeze cackle before a beeping dot was thrown at him. Exploding on impact and staggering the villain.

"Look at me! Look at me!" Spoiler chatted and threw more explosives at him. Mr. Freeze glared at her and sent more icy blasts her way. Mark looked away from the fight, intent on breaking his way out instead. With a bit of struggle, he managed to crack the ice and free himself.

"Cold…" he muttered, rubbing his arms. Spoiler and Mr. Freeze were currently dancing around the town. If fighting could be called that. Mr. Freeze couldn't freeze her, and Spoiler couldn't fully stop him. The heat from the small explosives wasn't enough.

But she was leading him somewhere. Where? His eyes widened as he spotted a nearby gasoline truck parked in an alley. She was leading him to a gasoline truck. If she exploded it, it'd wreck nearby buildings, and kill people. But, get rid of Mr. Freeze.

He couldn't let her explode the truck so close to the buildings or civilians. Mark sprung into action, grabbing as many civilians as he could and flying them out of range. Letting Spoiler handle the fight, since she seemed to be doing fine by herself.

"It's ok, I've got you," He soothed a little girl who was frozen next to her mother. A small hand wrapped tightly around her mom's thumb.

'Don't be scared, okay?" Mark breathed, watching the little girl scream for her mom. Once the building collapsed, all that remained was an arm. He had failed.'

Mark set the two down, his throat closing at the sight of them. Hand and hand face frozen in shock. He wasn't gonna fail. It's going to be fine. He'll save them. Mark told himself, besides, now wasn't the time to panic. He had other civilians to move. Once he finished evacuating everyone, he found Spoiler encased in ice. Mr. Freeze had some sort of device, threatening her with it. He didn't know what was scary about a metal rod, but Spoiler seemed worried, struggling within the confines of her icy prison.

Mark swooped in, and before the man could react, he slammed a punch into that glass dome of his. Mark felt it shatter under his fist, ice shards crumbling away. Mr. Freeze stumbled, clearly not expecting Mark to swoop in so fast. Judging by his shocked face.

"Spoiler, are you ok?" Mark asked, his breath short, sparing her a glance.

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine. He caught me off guard," Her suit seemed to glow before the ice around her shattered, steam rising off of her. Oh. He didn't know her suit could do that! "But… I think you could finish it."

Mr. Freeze collapsed on the floor, gasping, before the ice began to encase his head, allowing him to regain himself.

"He can't function without his suit?" Mark asked.

Spoiler shook her head. "Nope, once he's out of it, he'll be a simple cold man. However, it might be best to… heat him up a little," she then grinned at him. "Think you can remove him from his suit?"

Mark smiled back, "Only if you can set him on fire."

"Now you're speaking my language!"

"Shut up!" Mr. Freeze yelled. "I'm going to shatter you two!" He shrieked, before firing at them. They quickly dodged out of the way, and Mark set himself on the offense. He dodged the ice beams and flashed in front of Mr. Freeze, breaking his dome again. But this time, he dug his fingers into his suit. Panic flashed in his eyes, attempting to use the suit's arms to pull him off. But Mark's grip was as tight as steel and his efforts were useless. Mark ripped his suit apart, right down the middle. "Stop!" He screamed.

"Hey Mark! Over here!" He saw Spoiler, holding up a ton of… something. It was in a red container, probably gasoline from the truck. He adjusted his grip on the suit, swinging the man before throwing him at Spoiler. Who splashed gasoline on him as he crumpled to the ground. He glared daggers at them, and slowly lifted himself up.

"I'll freeze you to the bone, I'll-" Mr. Freeze began to freeze himself again, and Spoiler ran away. Mark stepped back, just as a beeping sound entered his ears. Mr. Freeze stopped talking and froze, "What's that-" before an explosion rose. His entire body burst into flames, engulfing his suit in heat. Mr. Freeze screamed and flailed on the ground.

Mark winced, "he's not…?"

"No! No, just wait," Spoiler said, standing beside him with a proud smirk on her face. The flames quickly simmered and in its place was a man in a broken suit, still breathing with steam rising off of his body. Mark sighed in relief, he was still alive. For a second Mark thought he killed the man. "Alright, one down, two more to go!" She exclaimed, she grabbed Mr. Freeze and tied him up, hanging him from a light pole. "The police will lock him up," she explained.

"You mean the frozen ones over there?" Mark said, jabbing a thumb at the civilians he had gathered. All frozen.

Spoiler nodded, "Yeah, those popsicles. Don't worry, more will arrive to unfreeze them," She patted his shoulder and then grappled to the rooftops. "Oracle-"

"Already on it. Commissioner Gordon is sending a clean-up crew," the comm in his ear said. His shoulders fell, no deaths, no casualties, everything was fine. Mark quickly followed her to the rooftops and landed just at the edge. He had to admit, being a hero did feel… good. It was good, saving people. It left a light feeling in his heart, an extra pep in his step. He smiled, why did he ever quit?

'You're fighting so you can watch everyone around you die!' Mark's smile fell, and he glanced back at Mr. Freeze, tied up and hanging from a light post. The people were still frozen and more police slowly arrived. There to unfreeze and take the villain back to his cell. The little girl he swept away cried as she clung to her frozen mother's arm. He could see the mom's mouth move, saying comforting words as the ice melted. 'These people are meaningless. They're cavemen without us.'

That's not true.

"Mark?" He jumped, spinning around to see Spoiler. A deep frown on her face and a crinkle between her eyebrows. "You ok?"

"Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine. I just… haven't done this in a while," he gave a weak chuckle and looked away from her. Sure, being a hero felt good, but now it felt strange as well. He didn't believe his dad's words, but it's weird to be a hero without having someone he looked up to. Someone he saw as a shining example. Only to find out Dad wasn't as kind as he once believed.

"Invini- Mark, if you can't do this you can head back. Who cares what Batman says?" She said, smiling at him. Mark gave her a small smile in return, shaking his head.

"No, I'm fine. I'll be fine," he said. Despite how his heart twisted, how his skin-tight suit seemed to strangle him more and more. He remembered it being covered in blood, and Mark was grateful to have fought Mr. Freeze. To have his skin cooled. "Let's stop some more villains," he muttered, shaking his thoughts away.

Spoiler nodded and watched him slowly fly past her. "If you say so."

—--

The hunt continued, and with Mark's help, it didn't take too long to find and capture escaped Arkham villains. Working beside Mark had been interesting, if not incredible. Steph wondered why he didn't want to be a hero anymore. Sure he's rough around the edges, but if he could hone that power of his, he'd be a force to be reckoned with.

"Honestly, you were a huge help. It's almost like having Superman around," Spoiler said as the two entered the Batcave. He was quick to pull his cowl off, Spoiler slapping him on the back. "You did good," she chirped, hoping to bring a smile to his face, anything to brighten that hollow look in his eyes.

Mark shrugged, "I guess," he muttered, teasing the fabric of his cowl between his fingers.

Instantly her smile fell, hand falling from his back. "Is something wrong?"

"No. No, nothing's wrong," Steph didn't believe that. She saw Mark the whole time they were fighting villains or saving civilians, he had this conflicted look on his face. He seemed happy to stop the villain, to save people, but afterward, he'd go quiet. He was almost brooding like Bruce, it was weird.

Maybe he had a horrible experience as a hero? Failed to save someone? Steph didn't know, Mark wouldn't tell her either. She tried to ask but he brushed her off, always saying he didn't want to talk about it. It didn't stop her from wondering.

"Good, you two are back. Did everything go well?" Batman asked. It seemed they were the last ones to arrive. Everyone else was already relaxing and peeling off their gear.

"Yep, Mark was a huge help," she said, as he was already fiddling with the zipper on his suit. Intent on putting it back in the display case. "So… I'm assuming everything went well with you guys?"

"Smooth as butter," Dick said, grinning. "Seriously. Joker was the only one who caused trouble. It seemed the other villains weren't exactly prepared to cause havoc."

"Can't believe you sent me after Penguin instead of Joker," Jason grumbled.

"You'd kill him," Bruce deadpanned, Jason scoffed at him.

"Whatever… Where are you going, Invincible?" Jason asked, bringing the attention back to Mark, who was pulling his pajamas back on.

"To bed," he said simply. "Night," he was in the elevator, hero suit back in its case. Whisked away. Not even sparing a second to talk.

"Shit Steph, did something happen?"

"No? He's just.. upset about something. I don't know," she said, shrugging her shoulders. Their fights had actually gone pretty well. No huge issues. It only took them so long because they were busy saving civilians, which Mark was very insistent on. Not that Steph minded, it was just… a little obsessive.

Batman hummed but made no other comment. Tim cleared his throat. "Well, moody Mark aside. I found some concerning evidence within Arkham Asylum," he started.

"Let me guess, someone broke them out?" Jason deadpanned.

"Bingo. But not in a discreet way," Tim tapped on the keyboard, bringing up security footage from a hallway within the asylum. Everything was rather normal. Workers pushing along trays of food, checking in on each cell. Until a red blur flashed across the camera, lights flickering, and within an instant, the alarms blared. Cages opened and chaos erupted. On the floor laid a few workers, ripped to shreds. Steph frowned, that's rather gruesome. "I slowed the footage down and here's what I got."

He showed the footage again and very slowly, a blurred man came into the frame. He was going too fast for the camera to catch all the details, but they could see that he wore a cap. A white and red suit, white skin, and black hair. He was flying. The workers were ripped to shreds by the pure speed of his flight.

"That's not much Drake," Damian muttered.

"Yeah, but we know to be on the lookout for a man in a white and red superhero suit, and this man isn't nice," he showed more shots from cameras. Displaying killed workers at the asylum, all dying in a red blur. Necks cracked, or bodies ran through. Just like in the footage, Tim showed, except this man didn't spare a single soul.

"Wow," was all Dick said, Steph shared the same sentiment.

"This man doesn't play around. Murdered anyone in his way," Tim said, Batman narrowed his eyes at the footage.

"Fast. Can fly. Super strength," he muttered.

Steph frowned, "What are you saying?" She knew what he was saying, she just didn't like it.

"I'm saying, Mark might know who this is."

"No. We're not asking him now," Steph instantly shut him down.

"Steph-" Batman started.

"No! You already forced him to do hero work when he didn't want to. Let him rest. Leave him alone for now," she defended. Mark didn't need more stress, and if he knew this person- then what? He didn't need more on his plate. He already looked fucking miserable half the time.

Batman's shoulders fell, a resigned sigh escaping him. "Fine."

"One day. Give him one day."

Bruce's fists clenched, "Steph, this man could do damage. We need to know-"

"One day, you research on your own. Then the next day, ask Mark," Steph didn't budge on her stance. She heard Jason snicker at Bruce's face. They glared at one another. Steph wouldn't back down, and for a second, she feared Bruce wouldn't either. But then his face crumpled and he looked away.

"Fine. One day," he gritted through his teeth.

Steph smirked, "one day."

"Good. Let the poor guy relax a little," Dick said, laying a hand on Bruce's shoulder. Bruce sighed and nodded his head, eyeing the blurred footage of the mystery man. Mark should be thanking her. After all, she just saved him a day from Batman's interrogation.