Chapter Text
Invincible Verse, Earth-645
“Uggghn…almost there.” Invincible breathes out as he lifts up part of a collapsed building. It has been 3 months since his battle with Conquest, and in that time he allowed himself to recover from his injuries…for the most part. After seeing the destruction their battle caused, which was right after the world was invaded by variants of himself from different dimensions courtesy of one Angstrom Levy, He decided to help with the rebuilding of all the cities that were leveled, despite not being 100 percent.
Thankfully, Rudy made him specialized casts out of the same material as his armor. Which helped much with the healing process. However there was reluctance from his mother, Eve and even Cecil that Mark shouldn't be back in the field so soon…And a part of him agreed with them.
Just when it seems Mark had his life going better (or at the very least stable) for him, a new problem kept piling on top of another. Just once he'd wish for things to calm down for once. At least for a little while…
…but fate has different plans in store for him.
“STOP!!!”
Before he could process or react, Invincible was tackled by an unknown assailant causing him to drop the remnants of the building, almost crushing nearby civilians who thankfully got out of the way just narrowly getting away.
As Invincible crashed into a taco stand he looked up to see his attacker…a red man-shaped dinosaur with prosthetic armor covering his limbs, currently screaming at his face, engaged in a rant.
“YOU DISRUPT THE NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS! Do you have any idea the evils you have served?! DO YOU!” He shots causing confusion to arise on Invincible's face, not understanding his reason for attacking.
“Dude…the hell-?!” Invincible tries to say but gets cuts off by the dinosaur once again going on a rant.
“You disgust me, you naive fool! You have no idea what you've done. The worldwide devastation in all the major cities was the best thing we could have hoped for! The lack of food and supplies, the spread of illness among the displaced city dwellers would have stemmed the pending catastrophe in overpopulation! The destruction of the densely populated city centers would have led to substantial decrease in carbon emissions leading to a possible end to global climate change. The public works projects would have taken YEARS if you and your superhero friends hadn't interfered! It would have employed millions worldwide and brought upon the strongest global economy in history! But you had to meddle, you couldn't let nature take its course. It ends here! Your meddling ways! YOUR VERY LIFE!” The dinosaur exclaims and raises his hand to come crashing down onto Invincible, but he quickly flies into the air, dodging the hit.
“Finally! I thought you'd never shut up, man!” He states before flying in, closing the distance and punching the Dinosaur across the face, knocking out several teeth whilst damaging the cast on his arm.
“Crap! Man, Robot's going to be pissed. Pretty sure these things aren't cheap. Oh well, I mean I'm pretty much healed now. Been wearing these things for-” Invincible rambles to himself before dodging another slash coming from the dinosaur.
“Whoa! Okay, you're fast-Hey!” He says in surprise before the dinosaur then bites down on his left hand, breaking the next cast.
Invincible then pulls his hand from out of his mouth, letting out an annoyed breath.
“Great. You're actually a viable threat.” Invincible states before turning his attention back to his attacker who barred his teeth, snarling.
“I stand before you now to say you are the old way, Invincible! I represent a New World Order! Tremble before the might of Dinosaurus!” He finally reveals his name in dramatic fashion, adding to Invincible's irritation.
“Oh, shut up!” Invincible then punches Dinosaurus with enough force to send him flying into the side of a nearby building, breaking it behind him. Upon impact, he turns into a scrawny man with a goatee, who looks at his surroundings, evident shock plastered on his face.
“No, no, no, not again!” The man starts and proceeds to get out of the now oversized prosthetic armor.
“Uh, what the-?”
“Bro, you gotta do something. That thing is like, as evil as it is smart! I don't know or think it can be stopped! It can return at any time! It makes me hurt people, man! You gotta help me!” The man rambles to Invincible, his words sounding like a plea.
However, a contemplating Invincible takes in his words. Not long after was his look of thought, replaced by anger, which then causes him to wrap his hands around the man's throat.
“Whoa! What are you doing, man?!” He questions, locking eyes with Invincible who starts tightening his grip on his throat.
In his head, this was the only way, right? If he let him live, more people would die due to the man being left alive. Especially, if he didn't have a proper handle on his powers. That made him more dangerous. As he starts to see the man stop struggling, a voice calls out to him from above making his cease his actions.
“The Guardians of The Globe can take it from here, my friend.”
Invincible looks up and sees Robot descending from the sky with the rest of the Guardians in tow, with their newest leader, Brit, landing first.
“Christ, what a mess. Our work is never done.” He states with a tired sigh and Invincible lets go of the man, turning to face the Guardians, having Robot being the one to confront.
“Invincible, what is it were you going to do to that man? Surely, you weren't going to…” Robot speaks but his words pause as he takes note of the angered look that was still on Invincible's face.
“You were, weren't you?” He finishes, a small hint of shock evident in his voice.
Upon hearing this, Invincible spares a glance at the man who was now being put in restraints by Brit. He lets out a breath and faces Robot.
“Yeah. I-” Invincible begins only to be interrupted by the sound of a large ‘PING!’ causing a large portal to open up in the middle of their current vicinity.
“Yo, what the fuck?” Bulletproof says, becoming confused while getting his guard up for a fight, along with the others. Invincible moves in front, with Robot and Brit behind him watching as a large figure walks forward, a shadow being cast over him before stepping out, with a giant metallic club in hand, revealing he was covered by a green and gold attire with a bronze shoulder plate.
The figure examines them one by one before letting a small laugh.
“Heh. I take it you must be the “heroes” of this Earth!” The figure greets, causing Invincible to raise an eyebrow in confusion.
“This Earth?” He mutters to himself and Brit moves forward.
“Damn right we are! Now who the hell are you?” Brit demands and the figure forms a wide grin on his face.
“I am Kalibak! Second in command to the army of Apokolips! Eldest Son of Darkseid! And it is in his name, that I shall kill all of you and take over this backwater planet! Something the “Viltrumites” have failed to do.” He informs and Invincible's eyes widen in shock before narrowing into anger once again.
“You're not taking over this planet. I won't let you.” He states through gritted teeth, in an attempt to intimate Kalibak but he remains unfazed.
“Ah, I was informed of you by their Grand Regent. You are the one they called “Invincible?” Kalibak addresses him with a smirk, unnerving Invincible but he doesn't let it show, nor give him an answer.
“I'll take your silence as a yes…Now that mediocre introductions are out of the way…let's see if you live up to your name.” The New God says and Invincible glares at him, then rushes forward winding up a punch at full strength.
However Kalibak fires force bolts from his club which knocks back Invincible sending through several buildings. He then leaps into the air, following Invincible to where he might land.
“Shit! Guardians, we need to back up Invincible and keep this fight contained. We can't afford any more casualties!” Brit orders and the Guardians start moving to intercept but Robot stops them.
“Everyone, wait! The portal…it isn't closing.” He informs them which causes the Guardians to look back in confusion. They all heard…screeching coming from the other side. And in the blink of an eye, a swarm of Parademons came flying out of the portal.
---*---
Invincible had crashed into a small restaurant, his body covered by rubble. He lets out a pained gasp and brushes most of it off him. The half-viltrumite tries to sit up but feels a stinging sensation in his chest, he glances and sees the blast left a severe burn.
“Fuck…” Invincible says then gets up from out of the rubble, he moves forward stepping into the street, where Kalibak lands before him.
“You're still alive? Good. Your species may be lacking in comparison to a Kryptonian, but still, I expect a decent fight.” Kalibak states, cracking his neck, while Invincible shifts back into a fighting stance.
“I dunno what the hell you're talking about…and I honestly don't fucking care. You're going down.” He says and Kalibak laughs off his threat.
“Is that so? Then by all means…” Kalibak puts away his club, and gets into his own fighting stance, his grin still plastered on his face.
“You are welcome to try…weakling.”
Invincible shouts then flies forward, striking him with an uppercut, then spinning a back-fist into a side-kick, pushing Kalibak away. His feet grinding into the street.
However Invincible doesn't relent and continues to hit the New God with a barrage of his most powerful strikes, that sends Kalibak flying away towards a delivery truck, crashing into it and causing it to slide across the street, as it falls over to its side.
Invincible then hovers towards the truck, his eyes narrowed into a cautious look.
“Not as tough as you look…” Invincible says, feeling confident to know he's won the fight.
…He hadn't.
In a sudden moment, Invincible was knocked several feet away by a fist that busted through the truck's container. He quickly regained his bearings and looked ahead to see Kalibak ripping through the container and stepping out, his expression was one of disappointment…something Invincible was not expecting.
“Is that all you have to offer me? If so, then the outcome of this fight will not be in your favor.” Kalibak remarks, causing Invincible to bar his teeth in anger.
“Shut. The. Hell. Up!” Invincible then presses off the ground, flying forward once again and throws a left jab aimed for Kalibak's head, but to his surprise, his opponent slips under the hit and punches him with full force into his stomach.
Invincible gasped in pain, his breath getting stuck in his throat allowing for Kalibak to follow up with a right hook to the side of his face, destroying the eyes of his mask.
The punch sends Invincible down bouncing off the road like a rock skipping across water, until he braces himself. But Kalibak was unrelenting.
He had closed the distance by leaping forward and stomping onto Invincible, and started pummeling him with a combination of punches, each one harder than the last.
Invincible raises his hands catching both of Kalibak's fists, trying to push them away but struggling to do so.
“Jesus! This guy's strong!”
Invincible mentally exclaims, using his full power to keep hold of his fists and succeeding for the most part. However, he glances around the area and sees civilians taking cover behind their cars or exiting the block as fast as they could, prompting Invincible to form a new idea.
“I need to take this somewhere else!” He then headbuts Kalibak hard enough to stun him momentarily and pushes himself off the ground, proceeding to fly into the sky with the New God in his grasp.
---*---
Back with the Guardians, they were holding their own and have taken out some of the Parademons but were getting overwhelmed, the horde of them seemingly endless.
“Goddamnit! These things are fierce!” Brit states as he rolls backwards, avoiding an attack only for another to sneak him from behind. Fortunately, Samson managed to push one back, covering his leader.
“No kidding, Brit. And we'll be facing a whole lot more of 'em if we don't shut down that portal!” Samson informs and Brit assists in taking down another Parademon.
“Agreed. Robot! Tell me you can shut down that portal!” Brit questions to Robot who blasts away several Parademons, keeping them at a distance.
“I have been trying to no avail. This technology that controls the portal…it is far more advanced than the ones currently in my disposal or in the GDA's for that matter. The only potential to close it and keep this contained is by finding what controls it.” Robot says.
“Um, what about that Kalibak guy, Invincible is fighting? He might have it.” Shapesmith says as he keeps narrowly dodging attacks.
“Kalibak. Of course…Invincible?”
---*---
“Mark? Are you there?”
“Ugh!” Invincible crashes into an open park, sliding across the grass until coming to a halt. His nose was bleeding, his lip having a small cut while there was bruises forming on his face and a soreness spreading throughout his body.
“A little busy right now, Rudy.” Invincible says into his comms link, getting up as Kalibak lands down in front of him, having broken free from his hold in the sky.
“I understand but the danger in our situation over here is becoming more dangerous by the second. The portal that this “Kalibak” came out of hasn't closed. And we're currently dealing with forces from what I assume are from his home.”
“Okay. So, what do you need me to do?” He asks.
“Find the device controlling the portal. It should be located on his person. Once you have it. Shut it down.” Robot instructs and Invincible examines Kalibak, before spotting a rectangular device of unknown tech and origin on his hip.
“I see it. I'll talk to you in a bit, Rudy.” Invincible says letting out a breath before getting ready to seize the device from Kalibak.
“Alright. Here we go…” Invincible mutters to himself before once again flying towards Kalibak who sighs.
“Please, at least switch tactics before engaging your enemy!” He scolds as he takes out his club and shoots out more force bolts.
Invincible, this time manages to maneuver around all of the blasts, getting in close enough range before grabbing the device off his hip and attempts to destroy it.
“NO!” Kalibak then uses his free hand to grab Invincible's wrist while the other comes down with his club, but gets blocked by Invincible's other hand.
The two were now engaged in a scuffle with Invincible being pushed down to his knees, the ground beneath breaking under the pressure. Kalibak then squeezes down on Invincible's wrist, causing him to let out a pained grunt as he felt his bones crunch.
But Invincible doesn't back down, and keeps his hold over the device while trying to find a way to shut down the portal for Robot.
“Let go, you miserable worm!” Kalibak barks at him, but Invincible uses his resolve to fight through the pain, then presses one of his fingers down on the device, pushing a mechanism that activates another portal beneath them.
---*---
The Guardians had managed to survive their current wave of Parademons, however not unscathed with members such as Shapesmith and Black Samson being inflicted with multiple injuries. The only ones left standing for the most part are Robot, Monster Girl, Brit and Bulletproof. Even now, though tired and weary, they were preparing themselves for another fight as they could see more Parademons closing in.
As they were nearing the edge of the portal, it closed almost instantaneously. Allowing relief to wash over them.
“They stopped?” Brit questions
“Yes. No doubt because of Invincible. Speaking of which…” Robot then accesses the coms-link, patching directly to Invincible.
“Invincible, the portal has been shut down. We'll be assisting you shortly once we've-” He says only for static to enter his ear, confusing him.
“Invincible? Mark? Mark, are you there? Mark?”
---*---
Earth-1
“ARRRGH-OOF!” Invincible yells coming out of the Boom-Tube and bumping onto a truck and crashing into the ground ahead of him. Kalibak followed shortly after, falling face-first into the street, a pained grunt escaping his body.
As Invincible got to one knee, he gazed around seeing they were no longer in one of the destroyed cities. But instead a new one. That was…completely intact. With no damage from the invasion of his alternate variants or his fight with Conquest.
“Whoa, who is that?”
“Is that Nightwing? He looks like Nightwing!”
“That can't be one of the Titans. Unless he's new?”
Invincible heard civilians conversing on the sidewalks causally, like he and Kalibak hadn't come out of a portal, crashing into their streets.
“All of you! Get out of here! It's not safe!” Invincible urges, but is met with a punch sending him flying across the air until he crashes into a billboard, making it collapse as he makes contact. The hit had now shattered one of his goggles while the other was cracked. Kalibak leaps upwards and lands on the roof, a primal look of rage finally seeping over his face.
“You…I found you amusing at first. But now you've grown to be a damned nuisance!” Kalibak exclaims taking out his club once again, stepping onto the billboard pinning Invincible who was moving out from under it.
“This…is your end, weakling.” Kalibak raises his club high, reaching over his own head. Invincible's eyes widened as his mind was taken back to the earlier months in his superhero career. When he first helped Titan against Machine-Head, to which he first encountered Battle Beast. Where he was less than experienced, and most notably a lot weaker. Now, despite all his training and battles, he once again found himself in the same predicament…
Fortunately, by some miracle, Kalibak was attacked by a blur of red and blue, sending him flying off the rooftop and crashing back down into the streets below.
“What the-?” Invincible quickly pushes the billboard off of him and goes back to ground-level, only to see Kalibak laying in the middle of a crater, knocked-out. And the one responsible was currently hovering over his body. He was wearing a leather jacket with shades over a black bodysuit with red accents, blue in the middle under a giant ‘S’ plastered on his chest.
“Hey rookie, you good?” He asks turning around to face Invincible who starts slowly descending to the ground.
“Uhhh, yeah. I'm good.” Invincible says.
“You sure? Because uh, you look like you had a rough go of it, dude.” The guy says with a chuckle before Invincible's expression hardens a little.
“I'm fine. But mind explaining who the hell you are?” Invincible says, and the guy raises an eyebrow confused, before letting out another laugh, adding to his sour mood.
“I'm being serious, dude.” He reaffirms, causing the guy to stop, his eyes widening in surprise.
“Wait, like actually? You don't know who I am?” He questions, his tone laced with disbelief.
“That's what I said, yeah.” Invincible tells him and the guy lets out a breath, taking off his shades.
“Dude…I'm Superboy.”