a/n) I prob didn't need to split these, I lowkey just liked the ending lol. it's kinda sad the invincible fandom is so small??? if it were on netflix instead I can tell you already it would be the next voltron (but like, better) ______________________

Rule of Thirds

•••

I never got to experience 'day two of sitting with William' because I had a 'family emergency' during third hour and had to leave school early.

By family emergency, I mean the Flaxons were back again making the same exact destruction in the same exact spot in the middle of town. Maybe it was funny the first time but I'm not laughing anymore.

The commute there was much easier this time, as Teen Team had been so gracious to pick me up from school. We met at a location off site-out of sight of course, but they'd rolled up in their fancy aircraft and flew me straight in with them.

It was a lot more "superhero" than the car, that's for sure. Faster, too.

"How are they back again?" I exclaimed.

"Determination? I don't know what they think they're going to do - they haven't even made it out of the city," Kate remarked, although I noticed the way her shoulders tensed.

My hands tightly gripped whatever I could grab for stability as we flew, currently being the underside of the seat. Robot kept making too-sharp turns and I was afraid I was going to fly off and die before I even got to the fight. I wasn't very afraid of heights, but the difference between this and flying in an enclosed plane was stark.

As we neared the site of impact, it was clear to see something had changed.

No longer were people being blasted straight through - they were being vaporized. Their armor had doubled in size, and likely durability. Even their ships were unrecognizable.

"I have bad news," Robot reported.

Oh really?

"Oh! Robot has bad news everybody! Did you hear that? Hey, Robot, what's the bad news?" Rex exclaimed, gesticulating expressively.

"There are too many of them, their technology has advanced too far, and they've rendered themselves immune to our time stream," Robot explained monotonously. For such a dramatic topic, his voice seemed to almost downplay it. "We should consider the city lost. Our best bet is a nuclear response."

"What? No! No way," Invincible immediately argued.

"Absolutely not happening," I agreed, looking out at the destruction going on. "These people have lives, too."

"We're not nuking anyone, Robot. We can't give up," Eve added, flying beside us. Her and Invincible dipped down into the fray, headstrong.

"What are we, Fight Force?" Kate remarked, hopping out of the ship.

"I love you man, but sometimes you've got a screw loose," Rex said, following suit. He jumped off with a whoop.

"I don't use screws," Robot told me, a barely tangible tint of annoyance in his voice. "My fastenings are all magnetic interlocks."

"Not like other robots, eh?" I remarked before jumping off too.

On the ground, there wasn't a second of hesitation granted before we were engaged in fight. I realized quickly this one wasn't going to be my biggest win ever, if a win at all. I could hardly reach anyone to take them out, spending all of my energy dodging shots.

Invincible must've had a warrant out for his arrest because while I was busy trying to tuck and roll through the forces like a bowling ball, the Flaxon leader grabbed him by the leg and threw him like a shotput through the bridge.

I watched in slow motion as he skidded into the concrete road, at least a hundred feet away. Immediately following after, the Flaxon soldier hurtled himself straight over the bridge, giving Invincible no time to recollect himself. This guy was going ham.

I couldn't see anything, shadowed by the huge alien, but I could hear it. This loud, reverberating crunching sound of the asphalt shattering. If he could break solid ground like that, I worried what else he could be breaking.

"Invincible!" I yelled, my attention completely elsewhere from the fight I was currently engaged in.

Something smart must've triggered inside of me, some sort of danger autopilot, because I hurriedly grabbed a lamppost out of the ground and swung it like a bat through the Flaxons. I wasn't aiming for damage - although I wasn't complaining - I just needed a clear path.

As I ran, I speared, hit, and sliced through the army until I was just about home free. When I thought I was safe, I dropped the post and sprinted as fast as my legs would carry me.

One of the Flaxons shot my back in a barrage, creating a searing pain that filled all of my nerves. I stumbled, both from the force and the light that filled my vision, nearly eating cement, but persevered. I had no time to take a breather, no matter how bad I was down.

"Die," the Flaxon leader said, lifting Invincible by his collar. He pulled back for a final, critical punch and I found it within my body to bring on one final burst of speed.

Despite whatever pain I was in. Despite my physical abilities. I needed all I had.

"Shit!" I screamed, bringing every ounce of my forward momentum into a singular punch.

To be honest, I felt pretty cool right then because the Flaxon let go of Invincible in shock, letting out a thundering cry. I knew I hadn't hurt him through that armor, not detrimentally anyway, but my plan had worked. Plus, I did leave a pretty big dent.

Invincible groaned, and I reared up for another punch, ready to stand my ground despite the fact my opponent could probably mortally wound me in five hits, when a streak of white flashed through the sky. In an instant, the Flaxon who had seemed so overpowering was being held in the air one handed.

Looks like Omni-Man decided to join us.

"I'll take it from here, thanks," Omni-Man said. I almost thought I heard a layer of disgust in his voice, but brushed it off when he asked, "Are you okay?"

Weakly, Invincible nodded, fighting to pull himself off the ground.

Omni-Man threw the Flaxon leader back over the bridge to where he came from, triggering a barrage of shots from the troops. I thought there had to be no way anyone could survive that much ammo - I felt almost incapacitated by a couple - but as the shots subsided and the air cleared, there he was. Looking completely unharmed and unfazed.

"My turn," Omni-Man declared darkly.

What I witnessed next was one of the coldest fights I'd seen in my entire life. No question.

While Omni-Man worked on taking out the army, I ran the rest of the way to Invincible who was brushing debris off his body, fighting against my desire to collapse in a heap. Despite damage to his suit and face, he looked surprisingly okay.

"Here, take my hand. You've got to be feeling like shit. I've got you," I said, holding out a free hand. Already, it was humming with power. Or those laser shots.

Invincible turned to meet my eyes for the first time since he'd been knocked down, and I realized his goggles were cracked. On one side, the glass piece had been entirely blown out and I was stunned to see he had some of the nicest eyes I've ever seen. They were just brown, yeah, but they were the sort of brown that feels like a cozy evening by the fire. He looked so familiar; but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"You don't have to do that, I can handle it," Invincible declined, brushing his hand against mine to lower it down. He flashed an unsteady smile, accompanied with a dribble of blood.

"I know you can," I assured, offering my hand again. "I'm giving you the opportunity so you don't have to. I know you're strong - you're Invincible. It's up to you, but I'm more than willing to share the wealth."

I kept my hand out, allowing Invincible time to think. It was important to me he got the choice - some people truly would rather heal on their own. I couldn't blame them.

After a moment, Invincible took a deep breath. He clasped his hand around mine and gave me a nod.

"If you're sure. And only a little. I need to learn how to heal if I'm going to get stronger," he explained. "Half the battle of taking punches is keeping them."

That was one way to think of it, but he had a point.

I nodded, squeezing his hand. "You got it. Tell me when."

I fired up my power, the hum growing in intensity. Immediately I could feel my joints and muscles burning infinitely worse, but the look on Invincible's face almost made it worth it.

He looked so at peace, for just a second. Despite the loud banging going on courtesy of Omni-Man, Invincible seemed to hardly notice it.

It would've been really beautiful, if it weren't for the fact every nerve in my body was on fire. If this was 'a little', Invincible had taken an earth shattering (literally) beating. Like a champ, too.

"Stop," Invincible called out, although I could tell it took him a fight and a half to say it.

I let go, easing away to make sure I still had my strength with me. The first couple seconds after were the worst. I clenched my fist a few times, the joints still buzzing with energy and aches, and let out a slow breath.

"That might've been a tiny bit more than a little," Invincible commented, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize how good that would feel."

"I wasn't going to say anything, but I noticed," I replied with a weak laugh.

"You could've stopped if it was too much," Invincible stated. "I wouldn't have minded."

"I could handle it, really," I said. "I fear the day you ask me for a lot."

"I'd never ask that of you. This was more than enough," Invincible assured with a smile. He still had blood all over his face, and definitely wasn't looking great, but he had much more fight in his eyes. "I have to be able to rescue myself. Still, it felt nice to let someone else help with it for a day."

While we shared our moment, Omni-Man was busy taking out their entire army in a couple fell swoops. It was honestly impressive the way he just plowed through everyone like they were nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

Invincible and I gathered ourselves together and hustled (I use 'hustled' loosely) to the rest of the team. They were equally as in awe of the scene as we were, watching like hawks as a situation we couldn't have dreamed of fixing was solved in minutes.

"Is everyone good?" I asked, although my peripheral vision was still focused on Omni-Man.

A chorus of yeahs spring back at me. Invincible really got it hard.

I watched, mesmerized, as last of the aliens retreated into their portal, despite their leaders protests. Hundreds of Flaxon soldiers, gone. Poof. Just like that.

The last one to stay was their grand leader. His eyes scanned over us with malice, probably imagining every scenario in which he turned us, and our planet, to dust.

Just when it looked like he really would stay back to fight for himself, Omni-Man took one last swing and hit him into the portal - carrying himself with him.

"No!" Invincible yelled, his voice breaking.

And the portal closed behind them.

I ran to change into my street clothes, speeding to pull my phone out and text William. This was an ASAP emergency.

I wasn't sure what I thought I was going to do, but I felt compelled to check in with Mark. News was sure to have covered that whole altercation, and knowing his dad just disappeared, he was probably pretty worried.

My fingers flew across the screen like I was on a timer, awaiting William's every response.



William William William I'm having a crisis

I'm on my way joking what's the situation?

This is going to sound stupid But what's Mark's address?

that's your big crisis? 1st world problems

I'm not joking dude Please It's an emergency (seen)

okay weirdo



Within seconds, William had sent me an address, complete with a link to the location. It was only a few minutes away, and even on my way home.

No surprise seven minutes later I was showing up at the door.

I rang the doorbell, hopping from foot to foot. In the few seconds I stood there I suddenly had a moment of clarity. What was even the point of this? This was so weird. Why did I-

My thoughts were cut off when a kind-looking woman greeted me at the door. It must've been Mark's mom - the resemblance was relatively striking.

"Oh, hello," she greeted, trying to hide her surprise. "Are you one of Mark's friends? What brings you here?"

"William asked me to drop this off," I explained.

I held out a random pack of gum I found in my car that William most definitely did not ask me to drop off.

She eyed me and my gift strangely, but proceeded to call her son to the door.

"He'll be right out," she stated before retreating back into the house.

I stood there for an excruciatingly long three seconds before Mark decided to make an appearance.

"Hey I brought this for you," I immediately said, nerves filling my body. I struggled to meet Mark's brown eyes.

I just punched a bloodthirsty alien and I can't even meet someone's eyes.

What the hell was I doing.

"Thanks?" Mark replied, giving the pack of gum the same look his mom did. It was plain spearmint - I hoped he was a fan.

"No problem," I remarked with more enthusiasm. "Courtesy of William."

"I'll be sure to thank him too," Mark said with a nod. He stuck the gum into his front pocket mindlessly. Sticking a hand to his forehead he added with a sigh, "Sorry, I'm probably not in any state to talk right now."

"Are you okay?" I asked, eyes softening.

"Yeah, it's just my dad. He's... I'm worried about him." Mark's face dropped into a more natural looking expression of anxiety.

"I'm sorry. I'm sure whatever he's going through, he'll be able to pull through," I assured with a soft smile.

I'd come with the intention of breaking the news, rather than coming in with the comfort. I knew he was worried about Omni-Man, but I also knew I wasn't supposed to know. I was more worried about Mark himself than the actual hero - I was sure he'd survived worse, although I was less sure how he was going to get home. Mark, however, was stuck around waiting.

I didn't really like seeing Mark look so distressed. I would've felt that way for any of my friends, but it seemed almost worse to see it on his face. It crossed my mind for a second that with a superhero parent, he was probably worried almost constantly.

"Thanks for the confidence," Mark said. "My mom said something similar."

"She must be pretty smart," I mused.

"Yeah," Mark agreed, although I wasn't entirely sure he had registered the words. "I know it's insane, but sometimes I get worried. I know you're supposed to believe your parents are super strong and capable, but sometimes I wonder if he's not going to be strong and capable enough."

"I understand completely," I replied, and to an extent, I really did. "Even the strongest man can be beaten somehow. But I bet your dad'll come out on top."

"Thank you," Mark sighed, nervously rubbing his hand up and down his thigh. "I'm sorry, this was probably a lot coming from someone you just met."

"No apology necessary. I'm happy to be there."

It was the truth. Knowing he felt better because of me was an incredible feeling.

"I should probably get in to work on some studying," Mark declared, shooting a thumb behind him into the house. "I really appreciate you listening. And the gum, of course. The gum takes the cake."

Confidently, he patted the packet of gum in his pocket.

I laughed. "Alright, alright. Good luck with the homework. I'm sure your dad will turn out fine."

"I hope you're right."

I did too. I had to be. Omni-Man was the strongest protector of the people - I wasn't sure who would save the world without him.

"Trust me," I assured. It took all it had in me not to grab his hand and squeeze, a universal reassurance. "Have a good night, Mark Grayson."

"You too. I'll see you at school?" Mark asked, almost a request.

"See you at school," I confirmed.

With a wave, Mark closed the door. I took a deep breath, centering myself. That didn't go half bad at all.

As I walked down the street to my car, I heard the sound of rustling leaves and a flapping cape. Smiling to myself, I resisted the urge not to turn and look.

I was right. Mark had nothing to worry about.