"So how are things going?" Mark asked as he and his mother were eating breakfast.
"With what?" Debbie asked.
She had a rather content look on her face, something that was rather pleasing to see for Mark. He was rather happy today, since it was graduation day for him. No more attending the 'influence-the-young-sheeple-institution' and he was more than glad about it. He hadn't attended any lectures anyway, having taken the tests, and then he was done with it.
"The buildings and the tenants," Mark said after stuffing his face with food.
After Debbie had taken over the position of CEO of Invincible Inc., things started to look better, and they started to make money after taking care of all the necessary repairs and renovations. Debbie liked to take things seriously and do them to the best of her ability, which was another reason why she wasn't thinking about Nolan that much anymore.
"Yes, but the nice houses have started to attract the wrong kind of attention. As we discussed, I haven't raised the rent compared to what they would realistically be, and that seems to gather criminals and all kinds of crooks. When was the last time you showed yourself there?" she asked.
"Like, two or three weeks ago. Has it already gone down the drain again?"
"No, nothing like that. But I have gotten two reports about someone wanting something akin to protection money, despite you telling me that there shouldn't be any more criminal activities in the area."
"Last time I checked, but those guys will never leave. I might have to show some more presence for a while and break some bones. No one knows what I did with Tighten and Machine Head, so there is still a lack of respect."
"Lack of respect, after what you did for the world? I doubt that," Debbie said and took a sip of her coffee.
"The minds of the people work in mysterious ways. They usually believe what they want to believe; that's how we get by. It's easy."
"Say, Mark, isn't there an event you should get ready for today? Like... I don't know, GRADUATION?!"
"Of course! And I am more than prepared for it. Look at my smile," Mark said.
"Yes, it has been reflecting the sunlight since you came downstairs. Now wipe the grin off your face and get a move on."
"Yes, boss."
.
Mark flew over Manhattan and was alerted to some fighting in the streets. He saw a large man who looked like he was full of steroids, handling three superheroes that he had never seen before. And the man was manhandling all three of them. Mark looked around and flew back home, changing and then zooming through the sky to confront the steroid-man. As he approached the group, the Steroid Monster threw his fist around, hitting one of the heroes and smashing him through the air.
Invincible catches the man and stops him from crashing into the police car behind them.
"You alright there?"
"Urgh, sorry about that. Invincible, right?"
"Yeah, who are you? And what's going on here?" Invincible asked.
"The name's Bolt. I saw you and your dad on TV... tough break, kiddo. Good to see you're on the side of the angels, though," Bolt said, rubbing his head in pain.
"Mm-hmm. So what's this? Who's Steroid Monster?" Invincible asked.
"That's Thomas Winters. A lab accident caused his wife, Holly, to become immortal. After years of dealing with it, he decided to try to duplicate the experiment so that they could live together forever. Something went wrong."
"No shit."
"Heh. His cells regenerate, but at such a rapid level that it's affected his thought processes and behaviour. Now he's super strong, indestructible, and he kills any man that so much as looks at Holly," Bolt explained, while they observed the other two get pounded.
"So what, she's a looker or something?" Invincible asked.
"Heh, you have no idea. And the funny thing is, Commander Capitalism has been dating Holly for about two months."
"... Come again? What's his name?"
"Commander Capitalism. Come on, before he kills him."
Bolt ran forward and tried to choke Thomas Winters, who was on a hulk-like rampage. But they were not doing well. Winters smashed his elbow into one of the three carrying a hammer, playing second-hand Thor and continued to pummel 'Commander Capitalism' to the ground with his fists. Bolt got headbutted and flew through the air, falling to the ground next to Invincible.
"Invincible, what are you doing? You're strong, how about you get in on the action?"
"Not yet."
"What? What are you talking about?!" Bolt asked.
"He deserves a beating for just dating that dude's wife. What a cunt does that? He definitely had it coming," Invincible said and looked as the man was crushed more and more, with blood flying all over the place.
"What?! Dude, he'll kill him!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll take care of it. But I'm not happy about it," Invincible said and walked forward.
He smiled, seeing the breaking of Commander Capitalism's rips and how he lost almost all his teeth. Invincible understood that, while there wasn't really anyone he could see himself spending his life with just yet, if he ever found someone or multiple someones, he would not just pummel the guy who started dating them... he'd fucking kill them. Nevertheless, this brute was out of control at this stage, so he would stop him from doing something he may or may not regret when he came down from his rage-trip.
*BOOM--*
He caught Winter's massive fist, feeling his enormous strength. There was a lot of potential in his strength and abilities. He was constantly regenerating and therefore seemed to grow stronger as the fight went on. But his base power was already high, which made him a truly scary opponent. But compared to Viltrumites, it was still thoroughly lacking.
"I feel you, man. But try to kill him, once you're clear of mind. This won't give you satisfaction," Invincible said.
"HOLLY! MINE! MINE!" he shouted and punched Invincible.
Dodging the punch, Invincible moved in front of Winters and delivered a beautiful upper-cut to his chin.
*BOOOOM*
His fist connected, sending Winters into the air. Invincible followed him right away, carrying him into space. He allowed the man to punch him two times, until he used up all his air, and then he didn't move anymore. After another moment, Invincible pulled him back down and dropped him on the ground. There, Thomas Winters's movement was restricted, and he was made ready to be transported somewhere. The three heroes were being treated already.
"Y-you did go-ood out there, kid... If you ever want health care and overtime pay for what you're already doing-- give us a call..."
Invincible looked at Commander Capitalism, who sadly, hadn't died and was actually smiling like a fool.
"No. I don't like cunts like you," Invincible said with a deadpan expression.
"Wha--"
"Oh, Phillip! Baby! Are you okay?!!"
A stunning woman ran forward and touched Commander Capitalism's face, looking all concerned. Things suddenly made sense for Invincible.
"It's not as bad as it looks, Holly. Your ex ain't so tough. You go wait in the ambulance, honey. You can ride with me to the hospital," the Commander said.
"I like to watch her coming, but I love to watch her walk away. So fine, and all mine," Commander Capitalism said as he watched Holly enter the ambulance.
"Big words for someone who almost died a moment before. You're lucky I didn't know the situation beforehand. If I did, I wouldn't have stopped to help you," Invincible said.
"What? What's your problem, kid, huh?"
"Don't act all mighty, asphalt smoocher. You not only stole that guy's girl, but you also had to get help after he confronted you about it. And you lost. Urgh, pathetic," Invincible said and shot into the sky, leaving.
For some reason, he hated what he had observed. The entire situation made his blood boil. He felt as though there was hypocrisy involved, but couldn't quite place why that was the case. He just knew that he couldn't stand Commander Capitalism.
.
"... and that is why I've decided to make this my final year as principal of Reginald Vel Johnson High. It has been a joy to watch all of you grow and mature during your four years with me, and I am so proud to see so many of you here today. It warms my heart to usher you into adulthood, and while I will miss it, the time was right for me to move on-- and speaking of moving on... I promised I would make this a short speech, and now, I've been talking for half an hour. So without further ado, let's get on with the graduation."
Mark walked to his seat and sat down. His seat was located beside Eve, Amber and William.
"Where were you?" Eve asked.
"Manhattan. Lovely place."
"Come on, Mark. Take this seriously," William said.
"Why?"
"Well, for one, Winslow is retiring. It's a shame he couldn't have done it a year or four earlier," William said.
"You don't seem very excited about your graduation, Mark," Amber said.
"..."
Mark looked at her for a moment.
"You don't remember my name, do you?"
"I want to say, Elsbeth..."
"It's Amber. God, you're unbelievable. You don't have to be such a dick to me all the time."
"Real smooth, Mark. Way to go," William said.
"I'm surprised you believe I care about your opinions," Mark said and took out his phone.
In front, Principal Winslow was calling out names.
"Chadwick Thomas Anderson."
Eve leaned over to Mark.
"Do you have anything to do later?" she asked.
"Not really. Why, you wanna grab some food?" Mark asked.
"Uhh... w-well, sure, but there's something I have to do before that," Eve had a very faint red shade on her cheek and stuttered for a moment.
"What's that?"
"Cecil visited me and asked me whether I could help him with a problem."
"I see. So, because I haven't answered any of his calls, he thinks you'll get me to reconsider. Quite clever."
"NO! He didn't ask me to tell you. It was my idea," Eve waved her hands.
"I don't really care. Sure, let's do that. What is it you have to do anyway?"
"Apparently, Darkwing was sighted in Midnight City. Or at least someone acting to be Darkwing."
"For real? That's some fan service."
.
Both Atom Eve and Invincible had made it to Midnight City. The city was cursed after a suicide mission by the Midnight Magician, which caused the area to be permanently stuck at midnight. The sky was red, and there was an eerie feeling everywhere.
"Are you sure this isn't a hoax like that Red Rush thing?" Invincible asked.
"Not according to Cecil. We'll see."
The two saw someone dressed like Darkwing standing on a roof, over two men. Invincible and Atom Eve dropped in front of the man.
"Are you the one who has been dressing as Darkwing these past weeks?" Eve asked.
"What do you want?" he asked them.
"Who are you? We know that Darkwing died, so who are you?" she asked.
"I'm simply continuing Darkwing's legacy. I was Night Boy. His assistant," the new Darkwing said.
"Heh, assistant. Hehehe," Invincible chuckled.
"What are you laughing about, son of a psychopath?" Darkwing asked.
"Huh?" Invincible cocked his head to the side slightly.
"Let us not talk about this, Darkwing. Invincible did what he could to stop Omni-Man. He has risked his life for all of us," Eve said. "Besides, what happened to these two men? Are they--"
"Dead? Yes. I was too late to save them."
"Save them? Who attacked them up here?" Eve asked.
"Killing them was a kindness. You need to be strong and ruthless at times, to stop evil and bring justice."
"..."
"So you just go around killing everyone who commits a crime? That's fucking pathetic, man," Invincible said.
"You're coming with us, Darkwing. Cecil wants to talk to you," Eve said.
"I'm not going anywhere with a little girl and the son of a psychopath," Darkwing said.
Invincible walked towards Darkwing and wanted to grab him, but the latter moved back and then threw grenades at him. Before they could hit, though, Eve created a shield and blocked them. However, Darkwing was gone afterwards. He suddenly reappeared behind Eve and punched her twice, knocking her to the ground. Before he could knock her out, Invincible appeared in front of him and punched him lightly.
Darkwing flew against the wall, but then disappeared into he shadow right away.
"You okay?" Invincible asked.
Eve was bleeding quite heavily.
"Impressive, isn't it? My predecessor was developing this micro-thin exoskeleton before your father killed him. It's quite useful," Darkwing said as he rose from the shadows. "But that's just the beginning of my powers."
He reappeared next to Eve and was about to punch him when Invincible appeared in front of him. But it turned out that Darkwing was expecting that and was actually targeting him. He dodged low, grabbed Eve's arm and pulled her into the shadow. Realising what was going on, Invincible held on to Eve's leg and was pulled into the shadow as well.
"Welcome to the Shadowverse."