A week had passed.
Early in the morning, the clock was ringing in Mark's room, but the person who should have been in the bed was not there. Mark was already dressed in a deep blue and white striped hoodie, deep blue pants with a white stripe, and a blue cap with white at the front.
He stopped the ringing clock and headed out of his room. He went downstairs straight to the kitchen and grabbed some orange juice and a piece of fruit.
Before he left the house, he wrote a small note saying he was heading out to buy some things and stuck it under a magnet on the fridge. Once he was far enough away, he pulled his hoodie over his head and began searching for the Mauler Twins.
It had been a few days of searching for the two tall, muscular blue men ever since he had mastered flight. Originally, he had planned to get War Woman to train him, but he had given up on that idea. The risk was too high.
"They should be around the town, if I'm not wrong." Mark himself wasn't sure. It had been a while since he had read the Invincible comic.
He had been going through warehouses around the area, checking for the twins. A few things he had found were crime gangs working in abandoned warehouses, just like right now.
Mark took a deep breath before swooping in. With no warning, he proceeded to knock each of them out without a word. He cleared everyone in the warehouse.
Mark was about to leave, but he spotted a bag of money. He couldn't leave it behind. So he took their money, just like that, and stashed it in a secret spot where he trained his flight. He dug into the ground, and inside the hole were quite a few bags of money already. Mark tossed the new bags in and covered it back up.
After that, he resumed his search for the twins. When the sky turned orange, signaling it was time to head back home, he spotted a muscular blue-skinned figure. He stopped mid-flight.
As he observed the guy properly, he realized it was the very person he had been searching for. After days of looking, he had finally found one of the Mauler Twins. But there was only one Mauler, and he was trying to enter a truck. Mark completely changed direction and flew straight toward him.
Before the Mauler could start the truck's engine, he heard knocking on the driver's side door. When he looked at the side mirror, he saw Mark in his hoodie.
"Leave, kid. I got work to do," the Mauler said, annoyed that some kid was bothering him while he was about to go scout the town for something worth taking.
"I came here to give you work. Are you interested?" Mark offered.
The Mauler was surprised that a young man had come to find him to make a deal. Curious, he decided to indulge the boy and stepped out of the truck.
"What kind of work?" the Mauler asked. He wanted to hear what Mark was offering.
"Building tech for me. I'll pay you good money for it," Mark told him plainly.
The Mauler smirked. The kid was speaking his language.
"But we'll talk tomorrow. I'm busy today. Where can we meet?" Mark asked.
. . . .
The next day.
Mark was waiting on a bench in a large park for the two of them to show up. He had come here right after school. Next to him sat two black bags. He had arrived early because he had nothing else to do.
In a truck nearby, the two Maulers sat in the back, watching and scanning Mark for their own safety using a scanner and tracker they had built themselves.
Mauler One grinned. The kid was the real deal. The scanner showed that Mark had no tech on him and no people on standby waiting to ambush them.
"See? The kid's not lying," Mauler One said.
"You don't know that. For all we know, he could be with the feds," Mauler Two said in frustration. "We should still be careful. You never know these days. Teenage heroes have been popping up a lot."
"I know that, but why are you making excuses when you know I'm right?" Mauler One said with a smirk.
"Shut your mouth." Mauler Two rolled his eyes and left the truck, taking a different route than Mauler One, who took the front route.
After a few minutes, they finally showed up. Mauler One walked up and sat down next to Mark. Mauler Two arrived and stood behind them. Mark had been hearing them ever since they stepped out of the truck.
Mauler One looked at Mauler Two with a grin. He had been right. The kid meant no harm and really wanted to make a deal. Mauler Two gritted his teeth, annoyed at Mauler One even though they were about to make a profit.
Still, the two of them weren't entirely sure they would profit. Mark was young, and they didn't know if he actually had money. Then Mark proved them wrong. He patted the bag that sat between him and Mauler One. Mauler One opened it, saw the stacks of cash inside, and zipped it closed again.
"This is just the start. There's more to come," Mark said, staring straight ahead as he enticed the Mauler Twins.
"What tech do you want us to make?" Mauler Two asked directly. They needed to know what Mark was requesting.
"Here. I want it made as fast as possible." Mark pulled a folded paper from his pocket and handed it to them.
The Mauler Twin who read it nodded. It was doable and could be made quickly. Mauler Two spoke up. "This money isn't enough for this tech."
"Don't worry. I plan to get more. This is just an advance." Mark looked at them. "How much do I owe you?"
"How much is in this one bag?" Mauler Two asked to confirm the amount.
"One million," Mark said. He had counted it before coming.
"Give us one more million, plus labor and materials," Mauler One offered.
"Then I'll give you two million more, and you guys find your own materials," Mark countered with a different price just for the tech.
Mauler One and Two looked at each other and nodded. They finally agreed to the deal. It was profitable for them, and Mark didn't care much about the cost. This wasn't his money, and he could always get more.
"Deal," Mauler One said with a grin. Finally, they were making a profit after days of stealing from shops.
"Deal," Mark said. He continued, "And if I like your work, we can make another deal. I have tons more tech I want made."
Hearing that, the Maulers smiled. They would likely make a lot more money from now on. But before they could think too far ahead, Mauler Two handed Mark a piece of paper. Mark took it.
"This is our number," Mauler Two said. "But how do we contact you?"
Mark sighed. He had forgotten about that. "I'll give you my phone number when I call to give you the rest of the money."
"Alright. We'll wait for your call," Mauler One agreed. They would make a profit regardless.
Mark stood up from the bench. Before leaving the park with his hands in his pockets, he said, "I'll go first. Don't steal from now on. There's a hero monitoring the city through cameras. Be careful."
The Mauler Twins were surprised by the warning. If Mark was telling the truth, they were in serious danger since they had been stealing.
Mauler Two took a seat next to Mauler One and picked up the paper. He began analyzing Mark's request. The device was a watch that could increase or decrease the gravity exerted on the wearer.
"This shouldn't be hard," Mauler Two muttered as he read the request.
"Agreed," Mauler One nodded. "If we dismantle our robot army, we should have enough materials for this tech."
"But how fast are we going to make it?" Mauler Two asked, still worried that Mark might not pay.
"As fast as he gives us the rest of the money he owes," Mauler One said with a smirk.