章 37: The Last Laugh
"AhhahahHhahahhhha."
Mark pushed himself forward and flew towards the Joker. His body was wracked with nothing but pain and he felt himself on the verge of collapse but the anger of seeing the Joker had spiked his adrenaline. He flew straight into the Joker, shoulder first, tackling him across the ground and punching him in the face with his good arm. All the while the Joker laughed not even bothering to defend himself "You seem upset, did you know that little boy you killed, HaAhahaahhAhhaHahah!"
"Shut up!!!" Mark yelled as he kept punching him only to be hit in the face with a blast of heat vision from the Joker. Mark flipped off him and landed on his stomach, before he could attempt to stand up the Joker was already there and he grabbed him up by the neck "I must thank you, today truly has been hilarious, I only wish I was there to watch Bizarro murder the other heroes, but it's just like cake you can't have too much of it or it'll ruin the taste," The Joker said as he chuckled.
Mark's eyes widened, and he slammed his fist down on the Joker's elbow before head-butting him and kicking him away. He shot off towards where he'd left the other injured heroes and where he imagined Connor was right now. "Where are you going? AHaHahhahahaahah!" The Joker flew up behind him grabbing his head and hitting it into the ground before flying straight up into the air and tossing him away.
Mark cursed as he realised he'd need to deal with the Joker before he could help Connor. 'I should've killed that damn fake Superman when I had the chance,' Mark thought to himself as he stopped himself from moving in the air and flew back towards the Joker. The Clown was waiting for him with a grin plastered on his face "How about a change of scenery, not enough red for my tastes," The Joker said as he sped towards Mark punching him in the stomach and grabbing him by the back of the neck.
Mark tried to use his powers to push the Joker away, but after using purple to defeat Doomsday he could barely summon enough strength to make himself heavier. Barely ten seconds later the Joker threw Mark into a densely populated city where he crashed through multiple buildings; Mark felt slightly sick as he felt the bodies of people explode against him turning into a bloody mist as he plunged through them. He was reminded of the fight with his Dad as he crashed into the streets slamming into a truck which stopped his momentum.
Mark's vision was completely blurred, the only sounds he could hear were the screams of the people around him, and their footsteps running away from him. His nose was filled with the scent of blood, his own, other people's, he didn't know which but it made him feel sick. Mark had gotten lucky in most of his death matches so far, but right now he couldn't help but think that things weren't going to work out so well this time.
He fell out of the truck and onto the ground as he tried to use his hand to steady himself —forgetting it was gone. The Joker landed on the ground cracking the asphalt "I always love coming to cities, the people do love serenading me, hehehehhe," The Joker said as he kicked Mark through the truck; The Young Viltrumite smashed through the metal before tumbling across the ground. Mark pushed himself up and managed to duck a punch from the Joker 'At least I have one advantage,' he thought to himself as he sent an uppercut to his chin which lifted the Clown into the air before Mark grabbed his leg and slammed him down.
The Joker still cackled as he kicked Mark in the knee cracking the bone. He then launched a kick straight to the bottom of his chin which sent him flying into the building behind him; Mark flew back out in an attempt to surprise the Joker but he was able to avoid the punch —which was instead taken by the ground. The Joker grabbed Mark in a bear hug and started to squeeze Mark's already injured body.
Mark yelled out in pain as he felt his bones start to crack. The Joker laughed as he revelled in the screams coming from the Young Man. Mark slammed his head into the Joker's nose multiple times, but despite making him bleed profusely he didn't let go. "Let go!!!" Mark shouted as he tried repelling him off, the Joker loosened his grip enough that Mark was able to elbow him in the side and slip out of his grip, but the Joker sent a full blast of heat vision straight into his chest sending him into a storefront.
"You're not very entertaining you know, I would've thought you would do better," the Joker said with a disappointed expression.
"Oh well, I guess there are plenty of others to entertain me!" He said before his eyes started to flow red and he unleashed his heat vision against the populous of the city who were still attempting to get away. Mark pushed himself up from the ground with his remaining arm 'I should run away...' He thought to himself. He was going to die if he stayed and tried to fight any longer; Mark could leave while the Joker was distracted slaughtering those people.
He hobbled to the entrance of the collapsed store and watched as the Joker gleefully killed everyone around him. He crushed a woman's head with his hands before punting an elderly man at a moving car causing it to crash.
'You don't even know these people,'
'You owe them nothing nothing.'
'You're not a hero Mark, leave it to them.'
Mark crushed the wall he was holding himself against in his hands as these thoughts ran through his head. A large part of him wanted to leave, to escape and leave everyone to their grizzly fate, but a small part of him didn't and that part whispered something he didn't want to hear.
'Was Waylon a hero?'
"You're damn fucking right he was!" Mark shouted.
"God dammit!" Mark shouted, he felt his adrenaline spike again as he shot off the ground and towards the Joker who was about to rip apart a woman and her child. Mark tackled him through multiple buildings before hitting a gas station, the large explosion blew them apart sending Mark skipping across the street and the Joker into the actual station.
"AHaHahHahhAhHah seems like you've still got a little spunk left In you," the Joker said as he brushed the dust off his torn and burnt suit.
Mark rushed towards him sending a straight punch right to his nose, but the Joker was able to avoid and counter with his own punch. While the Joker may have held the advantage physically he lacked the skill and technique that Mark had and so was surprised when Mark was able to avoid his punch by dropping to the floor and then jumping up catching him with an uppercut.
Mark dragged him out of the city by his hair before smashing his face across his knee and tossing him through the sky. They both flew across the air at speeds faster than sound as they punched, kicked and tried to tear each other apart; Mark who was considerably more injured than The Joker felt great pain as he tore chunks of flesh from his body. The Joker would also burn and freeze the exposed muscle on his body causing a considerable amount of pain, but despite that, he continued and slammed his fist into the Joker repeatedly, he smashed his face until his teeth fell out, and he smashed his body until he felt ribs crack and break.
Mark threw a wide punch but the Joker used his superior speed to fly underneath and impale Mark through his chest —though he managed to move slightly just before and avoid having his heart pierced.
"AAhAhHahaHahHahHahaHah!" The Joker laughed as he flew through the sky with Mark on his arm, they were thousands of miles away from where they were previously and the Joker threw Mark towards a large mountain range covered in snow. The impact shook the mountain and caused an avalanche to fall right on top of Mark; The Joker flew above the avalanche with glowing red eyes, he then unleashed a wide beam ray of heat melting the entire section of snow, which revealed Mark in a large crater.
The Joker slammed down feet first on one of his legs, and his kneecap shattered causing him to yell out in pain. The Joker shot his heat vision at Mark who blocked it with his hand; The Joker grabbed his hand and put his foot on Mark's chest before ripping it off. "At least you can park right next to Walmart now, AhahHahahHhHa," he laughed as he listened to Mark screaming. The Joker stomped on Mark's head multiple times until Mark stopped screaming; Mark felt his skull crack underneath the power and he felt his already blurred vision grow worse.
The Joker slammed his fist into Mark's throat causing him to choke. He then wrapped his hands around his throat and started to choke him "I've always loved killing people like this, something personal and romantic that a gun just doesn't have," the Joker said as he applied more pressure-crushing Mark's windpipe. Mark who hadn't been able to take a breath found himself trying to gasp for air; with no arms and increasingly depleting strength, it looked like it was the end.
"It does look like all good things must come to an end, I'll miss you, AhAhHahHahaahaahaaha," The Joker cackled.
*BOOM*
The Joker was launched off Mark rolling down the mountain into a large plateau. He looked up unsure of what hit him, what he saw was Mark who was now standing up, he had formed arms on his stumps made of the same energy he used for his Red Spheres. Mark took in a deep breath as he had just been on the brink of suffocating; The Joker who was getting annoyed now flew back towards Mark intent on finishing the job, but to his surprise, Mark let himself be tackled and instead used the momentum to flip himself around on the Joker. The Joker covered his face as he expected a punch but instead, Mark grabbed both of his ears and tore them off causing a considerable amount of pain.
The Joker looked up in surprise before he started to laugh "Now you're getting it!" He said before he delivered a punch right to his jaw; Mark let the land hit before grabbing at and biting off three fingers with his mouth. The Joker kicked him off but Mark was unrelenting, he rushed towards the Joker like a wild animal, and he punched the Joker in the stomach which sent him leaning forward, he then bit off the Joker's nose. The Clown hit him in the head multiple times with enough power to shake the mountain.
Mark caught his hand before he could do it again. His arm turned blue which stopped the Joker from moving it away, he grabbed the Joker's other hand with his throat and ripped his arm off just like the Joker did, but unfortunately doing this left his body wide open.
*Squelch*
Mark looked down and saw the Joker's other arm in his chest. He grunted as the Joker removed it with his still-beating heart in his hand. "Giving your heart to little ol' me, I'm flattered," the Joker said as he crushed it in his hands.
Mark stepped back a moment he murmured something too low for the Joker to hear "Huh! What was that? Speak up, boy!" The Joker said as he put his hand around his ear.
"I still have time..." Mark said louder before he grabbed the Joker's neck and tore a chunk of it out. He then tackled the Joker to the ground and thrust his hand struggle into his stomach before ripping out his intestines. The Joker unleashed a full ray of heat vision at his face burning off what little hair and skin he had, but all he did was thrust his overhand into the Joker tearing him open even more; The only thing the Joker did during this was laugh and continue to cause Mark as much pain as possible.
Mark tore through his body like a man possessed, hollowing out his body before he started smashing the Joker's face. By the time Mark was done with him, his face was flattened, his brain had flooded out of his ears and the top of his head from the pressure; the Joker was very much dead.
Mark's arms dissipated and he stood up and stumbled off the Joker's body, he crouched down before shooting off into the sky attempting to fly to civilisation to get some help. Mark was too weak, he immediately fell out of the sky landing in a snowy forest with pine trees surrounding him.
The snow around him was dyed red with his blood. Mark smiled as he felt snowdrop onto his face, in Gotham snow meant a tough winter —especially if you couldn't afford to heat— but now he could lie here and appreciate the beauty of it. Mark closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
———————————————————-
(Five months later)
"Kara, are you ready?" Debbie Grayson called out as she put on her coat and scarf.
A heavily pregnant Kara walked into the front room from Mark's old bedroom "I can't wait to get this baby out of me, I can barely wear the clothes I got a month ago," She complained as she rubbed her belly.
Debbie giggled before a sad smile made its way onto her face "Mark was a big baby, in the hospital I thought he'd tear me in half."
Wiping a few stray tears from her face Debbie smiled again "Ready to go?" She asked.
Kara who also had a sad expression on her face nodded "Yes," she said, and they both left out the doors of her apartment before heading down to the streets where Debbie hailed a cab. Helping Kara inside the cab took them to an alleyway outside of Wayne Tower where the duo walked down the alleyway to a stretch of wall that had the bat symbol painted on it.
"Don't move too quickly after going through, the first time always makes you nauseous," Kara warned her as she placed her hand in the middle of the symbol a blue light scanned her hand; the wall opened and a zeta tube opened up. Kara took Debbie by the hand and led her through the tube, where on the other side they appeared inside the Hall of Justice in Washington DC.
"Friend Kara! And Mother Deborah, it is good that you made it in time," Kori said as she waited by the Zeta tube for them.
They all walked together into the main hall where a large amount of people were. News reporters, heroes, civilians, the hall was filled to the brim with them all, and at the front on stage was Superman and the rest of the founding members of the Justice League —having all recovered from their injuries.
"It wasn't even a year ago today when we lost some of our greatest heroes to the villain Omni-man. I stand here today because I believe that we can do better in remembering our Heroes." Superman said loudly, his voice boomed across the room.
"But it wasn't just against Omni-man that we lost people to. While I've been advised against telling the world this, I won't allow their sacrifices to go unnoticed."
"Five Months ago a secret operation was conducted in Bialya to stop a weapons auction from behind held by Intergang. Needless to say, this mission ended up going wrong, dozens of heroes were injured and some even died," Superman said as he clenched his fists.
"So I stand here now to tell you the names of the people who gave their lives in the name of justice," Superman said as he flew up to a number of statues which were all covered.
"Atom Smasher."
"Ice."
"Fire."
"Red Arrow."
"Shazam."
"All of these heroes gave their lives in the fight against Omni-man and it is a crime that they were not celebrated for their sacrifice sooner." Superman then walked to another set of statues and started revealing the ones who died in Bialya. He then reached the last two statues, where he hesitated before pulling them down.
"Nightwing, without his sacrifice I couldn't even fathom how much damage may have been caused to the world," he said with a pained expression on his face, he then pulled down the last cover.
"This young man had no reason to help us, the Justice League hunted him unjustly and yet when we needed him he came to save the world, this young man stopped Omni-man from conquering the world, and he stopped Doomsday who returned five months ago, no matter how injured he was he kept fighting."
"Everyone I would like to introduce you to Invincible."
———————————————————-
"You do realise Megan has the hots for you right?" Gary said as he handed his friend a wrench while he was underneath a car fixing it.
"So what, you know I'm not interested in any girls at the moment," the guy replied as he continued changing the oil of the car.
"Come on have you seen the tits on her, they practically shake while she's standing still, tell me you don't want to spaff all over them," Gary said crudely as he gave out a lecherous laugh.
"Fucking hell Gary can you not be disgusting while I'm working," he said with annoyance.
"If you're so interested in her then why don't you go after her?" He asked.
"If I could get a piece of ass like that do you think I'd be hanging around with your ugly mug," Gary said as he dipped from his cup of coffee.
"Well this ugly mug gonna be motorboating her tits later while you jerk off in your bedroom," He said, causing Gary to spit out his coffee as he started laughing.
"Damn Mark I was starting to think you were a damn eunuch these past few months," Gary said as he watched Mark roll out from under the car and stand up before dusting himself off.
"Well first few months I doubt the girl would've liked to ride on me while I had an existential crisis," Mark said with a chuckle.
He then grabbed his own cup of coffee and walked out to the garage door and looked out to the small snowy town he lived in. "Well try not to fuck all of them, leave some for the rest of us, Cole is already furious about Megan breaking up with him, he might just come to break your legs," Gary said as he clapped Mark on the back.
Mark snorted "I'm not worried about that posh boy, who knows if I'm even still gonna be here by then," he replied.
"Still thinking of leaving? Discovering who you are or some shit?" Gary asked.
Mark shrugged "I like Bayview, it's pretty peaceful, despite the assholes roaming around."
Gary squeezed his shoulder "I'm sure someone will come looking, any day now," he said with an encouraging smile.
Mark smiled "Thanks Gary, for everything, I owe you guys a lot," he said sincerely.
Gary waved him off "Think nothing of it Mark, it's been nice having someone my own age around the house, it can get pretty boring in a small town like this,"
"Yeah, I can imagine..."
(AN: That's the end of the Arc. Now I'm gonna explain the logic I created from what's explained about Viltrumite biology. So Viltrumites can hold their breathe for long periods of time, so I assume that their cells utilise oxygen and deliver it throughout the body more efficiently. The heart pumps blood through the body which sends oxygen, if the heart stops the body becomes oxygen deprived and all your organs shut down. Anyway I think based on their biology that a Viltrumite will be able to survive without a heart for a lot longer than a human. It's shaky logic but it's what I'm using. Anyway hope you enjoyed the chapter and the arc, and I hope to see you for the Raven Arc.)
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