A figure wearing blue, black, and gold flew through the clouds, a smile unable to be kept off his face.
"I can't believe it. Can't believe Dad even approved. This is the best day ever!" Invincible cheered while soaring through the air. He saw his home closing in, so he began to slow his speed and descend from the air. When he landed in the backyard, Invincible took off his costume in the shed before walking into the back door with a huge grin. Before he even took two steps in the door, he heard
"Mark!" Caleb rolled his eyes—yep, another round of "What Did the Older Twin Do This Time?" was already starting.
Caleb shook his head and walked into the room to see his family acting normal. Mark was reading some fantasy book that he had never heard of, Debbie was telling him to stop reading and come to dinner, while Nolan was already sitting at the table, not even trying to convince the older twin.
"Fine, Mom," Mark compromised and got up from his seat, while putting his book in his backpack. Mark put both his hands inside his black hoodie's pocket, which accidentally pulled the collar down slightly. Debbie's eyes looked like they were about to let off heat vision.
"You got more tattoos!?!?" Debbie was ready to throw Mark out of the house when she saw that her 16-year-old had even more tattoos than the last time he had shown them to her.
"Just a couple more. Nothing too major," Mark tried to downplay the tattoos, but Debbie wasn't having it.
"Can you just behave for a week? All I ask for is a week! What do your bosses think of these?" Debbie asked
"One of them says that he could have drawn them better if he was a gimp. The other said that I need to be more careful with them," Mark replied honestly while walking toward the dinner table and taking a seat.
"What kind a boss uses that language?" Debbie's attention immediately shifted from the tattoos to his boss's choice of words.
"He said—and I quote—'I'm a bloody bastard with taste, and those are tragic.'" Mark casually picked up a slice of pizza and put it in his mouth without giving it the chance to touch the plate.
Before Debbie could go off on Mark's language, Caleb interrupted since he knew how this song and dance went. And he did not want to wait for the next one.
"Um, before you tear Mark a new one, I have great news. The best news," Caleb pulled the letter out of his bookbag and showed it to the rest of the family. "I got invited to join the Teen Titans. Not just an honorary member, but I've been invited to stay at the tower. It's from Nightwing with Dad and Clark sponsoring me!"
"That's amazing, sweetie." Debbie congratulated the younger twin, her eyes beaming. "You've been working hard these past few months and deserve a team like them. Just one step closer to the Justice League."
"Hmm. You've been working hard, Caleb. This is truly a proud moment for our family," Nolan had a gentle smile on his face when he looked at his son, happy that he had reached this level so fast.
"Oh, yeah. Me too," Mark remarked, shattering the calm of the family
"Wait. What?" Debbie asked in disbelief
"But you don't have powers! At least not super ones," Caleb chimed in
"Who on Earth recommended you and sponsored you?" Nolan asked, voice barely remaining calm, but the tension was there.
"Wonder Girl. Donna Troy. Whichever you prefer to call her. Constantine and Diana sponsored me, though," Mark got up from the table to get the last slice of cake. "I'm taking the last slice in case anybody wanted it. Not offering to share but just telling you so you don't get your hopes up."
The entire family was too confused to process Mark stealing the last dessert. For all they knew, he was a normal kid. Sure, he could bench press a tonne and never lost a race to normal teens, but he was normal for the most part. He spent weekends camping and had an after-school job. When Mark got back to the table, all eyes were on him.
"Does this have anything to do with your after-school job?" Nolan asked
"Yep. Moonlighting under Constantine. Learned how to screw over a demon in poker before I got my learner's permit," Mark told him calmly before caking a bite of the lemon cake and frowning. "Not sweet enough. Probably should add more sugar next time, Mom."
"And your camping trips?" Caleb asked
"Training on Themyscira. Once Diana found out Constantine was training me alone, she knew I couldn't be left alone. She was right," Mark laughed when he remembered how Diana first met him while he and Constantine were looting a cult they had just defeated.
It was an instant 'Nope' before she picked him up by the collar to drag him away for personal training. Once that wasn't enough, she brought him to Themyscira. He was tortured/trained by the women there for 2 years during every break he got from weekends to spring, winter, and summer breaks.
Mark finished off his cake before heading to the sink and placing it in a sink of warm water to soak. "Gotta go pack. Orientation and Move-in are in 3 days."
Mark went upstairs to let his family stew in the storm he had just caused, packing his supplies like this was any other school trip and not an interdimensional powder keg waiting to happen.
Debbie sat down slowly, eyes still locked on the stairs like Mark might moonwalk back down and say he was kidding. Caleb looked like he was trying to solve a math problem he didn't know had letters in it. Nolan stared into his slice of pizza like it owed him an explanation.
After a moment of silence, Nolan finally spoke. "…He was trained by Amazons?"
Caleb dropped his head into his hands. "Of course he was. Of course he was."
Back in his room, Mark tossed a few essentials into a duffel bag— some extra clothes, books in languages no one else could read, an etching and painting set, a few pouches of enchanted salt, and a heavily warded cold iron box labeled 'DO NOT OPEN. SERIOUSLY.'
He paused, looking at his reflection in the mirror.
The runes on his skin shimmered faintly in the low light. One of them pulsed like a heartbeat.
"You sure you want to do this, Mark?" Mark asked himself. "A tower full of hormonal superheroes. That's not a mission—it's a punishment."
Mark smirked. "Diana said she'd suplex me if I didn't. Donna promised five different chokeholds. Constantine bet I wouldn't last a month without accidentally setting something holy on fire. Hard to say no in those circumstances."
He zipped the bag closed and slung it over his shoulder. A flicker of gold shimmered at his fingertips and vanished as quickly as it came.
"Give it a week," he said, stepping into the shadow near the window. "They'll be praying I go back to weekend cult hunts and demon poker nights."