LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 2: Things Never Change
Mark walked up the steps to his apartment, the old wooden staircase creaked with every step, he thought that he even saw plaster fall from the ceiling as the building would collapse at any minute. But to him for the past 10 years this had been home 'Though hopefully for not much longer' he thought to himself as he walked down the corridor before fishing the keys out of his trousers and unlocking the door to his apartment.
The whole apartment was dark, and the window had been left open again, Mark sighed as he saw his Mom on the sofa again having fallen asleep in her uniform. She wore a cheap business skirt with a dress shirt, she had her own real estate company back in Metropolis but after Dad disappeared she took it pretty hard and it fell under. Now she works for some other real estate company owned by some of the Old Bloods of Gotham, though he wished she would quit. They worked her hard and paid her a pittance, and she rarely gets any commission as she's been given the job of selling properties in the Bowery, no one with money and a single brain cell would be stupid enough to buy anything there. So it meant she had long days and short nights nearly 7 days a week.
But Mark was going to change that, he'd done well on his first job and if he just took a few more they could leave this place and maybe go back to Metropolis. He'd miss some of the friends he'd made here but he loved his Mom more than anyone and if this is what it took to get her from working herself to death then so be it. His Mom had always told him when he was younger that things can always change and soon they would.
He picked up his mother before taking her towards her bedroom, placing her into the bed before taking her shoes off and tucking her in, he kissed her on the forehead before closing the door and heading back into the living area. Before he sits down he gets a text message on his phone, taking it out he looks at it.
*Good work, we have another job tomorrow. We only have one more batch of product coming in, high-grade stuff. Escort the truck, double the amount*
Mark sent a quick confirmation text before putting his phone away. While he was glad they were offering him more work he hoped he'd at least get a day to rest 'Guess it can't be helped' he thought to himself as he sat down on the sofa before turning on the TV.
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"Ahahhahahahahahaha"
Barbara scowled as she heard the obnoxious laughter of Damian Wayne, the newest Robin echo throughout the Batcave "Can you shut up! It's not funny" she shouted at him as she threw the closet object to her.
"Steady now Miss Barbara," Alfred Pennyworth said as he bound the bandages around her ribs, she'd cracked a few but they'd heal up in a few weeks, or so the Bat-family butler had said.
"There we go, all done now," he said as he stood up straight patting his hands and straightening his uniform.
"Thank you, Alfred," Barbara said with a smile as she lowered her t-shirt before getting off the medical table.
Damian still stood there with a smirk on his face which made Barbara punch the bridge of her nose "Father is going to be pissed... getting beaten by a low-level thug, I truly expected more from Batgirl" he said as he took a seat in one of the chairs around the Bat computer.
"Now now Master Damian, Master Bruce has had plenty of failures in his past, he won't berate her for her mistakes as long as she learns from them" Alfred said as he started to clear up, putting old plates and tea cups on a tray which he then started to take upstairs.
Barbara couldn't help but sigh, she did deserve to be berated, she made a stupid mistake and rushed in and it allowed him to get the drop on her. Though it did raise a question of what she was going to do, she knew Mark and even knew where he lived but she knew that he wasn't a bad guy. They had fallen out of touch ever since she had gotten stabbed, he felt guilty about her getting hurt and so they just kind of drifted away, it didn't help that they went to different schools.
'Should I tell Bruce?' Though as soon as the thought entered her head she dismissed it, she couldn't subject her friend to that especially after he went through the trouble of taking her away and making sure she was safe, even though he didn't know who she was.
She snapped out of her thoughts as she hears the roar of an engine echo out through the cave, both she and Damian looked to the large tunnel that led out of the cave and saw the Batmobile roaring through the tunnel stopping on a large circular platform. Batman jumps out of the car quickly and approaches them, Barbara thinks he's coming to berate her but is surprised when he walks straight passed her and to the bat computer.
Barbara breathes out a sigh of relief and figures she might as well leave "What happened at the Harbour?" He asks in his deep smooth voice, he doesn't even turn away from the computer as he asks.
"They had someone there who was a lot more skilled than I anticipated, also a possible super" Barbara explained, Damian sat there trying to hold in his laughter.
"What she means to say is she got her ass kicked by some Triad goon" He chimed in which caused Barbara to flip him off.
"Possible super?" He asked implying that he wanted more of an explanation.
"He was able to lift a barrel with one hand and throw it at me like it was nothing" she stated.
"Low-level Enhanced Strength" Batman stated, but Barbara didn't think so.
She shook her head "I don't think it's that, while his punches were strong they weren't anything I couldn't block, him throwing the barrel was completely unexpected based on our fight" Barbara explained only getting a grunt from Batman in return.
"Get some rest..." he finally said to her.
Barbara frowned "But what about the Triads," she said a little desperately.
"I'll handle it"
———————————————————
Barbara groaned as she sipped on a milkshake in front of her "I can't believe after just one mistake I'm off the case, I could handle it perfectly well" she moaned.
"Well you could always not listen to him you know" a voice replied from across the table. Barbara looked up and into the eyes of her friend that had come to visit her. Before she was a beautiful girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes, she was wearing glasses at the moment and her hair was in a ponytail, however underneath this disguise was Supergirl.
"Come on Kara you've met him before you know how well that'll end" She said with a raised eyebrow.
Kara giggled she remembered her first meeting with Batman involved him chasing her all over the city "Why not talk to that friend of yours then, maybe convince him to stop?"
Barbara looked a little unsure, however, "It's been years since we've spoken I doubt he'd remember me let alone listen to me"
Kara just shrugs "Won't know unless you try, that's what Ma and Pa Kent always say anyway"
Barbara pulls out her phone, the number she had was a couple of years old but from what she remembered Mark never changed phones too often. She hovered her thumb over the call button hesitating, she couldn't help but think that maybe she shouldn't call him, but she didn't want to end up fighting him either. In the end, the choice was taken out of her hands when Kara presses the call button and it starts to ring. She glares at her friend who only gives her a sweet smile in return.
"Hello? Barbara? Is that you?" She hears the unmistakable sound of Marks voice on the over end of the line.
"Yeah... it's me" she said quietly though loud enough for Mark to hear her.
"It's been a while... how have you been?" He asked in a slightly awkward voice.
"I've been good... listen I was hoping we'd be able to meet up," she asks cutting straight to the point. For a while, Mark doesn't reply and she goes to speak again but is cut off before the words leave her mouth.
"Yeah that will be nice, though it will have to be tomorrow, I'm kind of busy tonight, is that cool?" He asked
"Yeah that's fine I'll see you tomorrow" she said before hanging up, inwardly though she was panicking.
'Does that mean he has another job tonight? Is he gonna run into Bruce?' All these thoughts raced through her head, she only snapped back to reality when a gust of cold wind hit her in the face. She glared at her friend who only stuck her tongue out at her childishly.
"If you are worried for him why don't we team up, we can watch and stop anything before it happens" Kara said, Barbara was about to discount it and wave it off but then she thought about it a bit more.
'Technically I wouldn't be getting involved, If we just watched' Barbara thought with a smirk on her face as she launches herself over the table and kissed Kara on her cheek.
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It was now the next evening and Mark had just finished zipping up his black hoodie, he'd bought heavy-duty Kevlar for tonight just in case things get a little hairy, he doubted Batgirl would show up again, she'd need to heal those ribs which he was sure was at least cracked. At most he expected Robin but what was more likely was a rival gang trying to steal product, which happened every day in the East End.
This Kevlar he had on was the heavy-duty stuff, it could probably stop a bullet without I'm even feeling it, and the best part was as long as part of it touched his skin it wouldn't weigh a thing. He finished packing his clothes and put his mask in his pocket, before heading out of his room into the living area, he saw his Mom on the sofa thinking of a glass of wine. He thought she was watching TV at first but nothing but static was playing.
"Mom? Everything okay" Mark asked as he placed a hand on her shoulder.
She jumped slightly before looking up at him and smiling "I'm fine hun, just been a long day" she says as she places a hand over his own.
"I'm going to work now Mom, I'll see you later," he says with a smile as he kisses the side of her head.
She nods at him with a smile but she can't help the sob that escapes from her "Mom?! What's wrong?!" He asks with slight concern.
"It's nothing, hun, just me being silly... it's just your father used to say the same thing to me every day before he left for work until he didn't come back" she said as she wipes her eyes.
She then looks up to Mark "Mark promise me you're staying safe out there, I've been working hard for a while now and I think I might be able to get a transfer to another city" she said a little desperately.
"I just don't want you to leave one day and n-never c-come b-back" she said her voice cracking at the final words.
Mark hugs her from over the back of the couch, he hated lying to her this way but he couldn't stand to see his Mom this way "I promise Mom, I'll always come back" he said with a smile though it didn't feel real.
Debbie smiles "I just know that you might've gone through some changes... and those changes might make you feel invincible, but your father was much the same way and he found out the hard way it wasn't true" she said mysteriously.
Mark scrunches his eyebrows at her words "Mom... what are you trying to say? Is there something about Dad you haven't told me?"
"When you get back home we can talk about it more, but for now I need to go to sleep, have a big client meeting tomorrow," she said as she kisses his cheek once more and headed to her room.
'Could it be Dad was like me' he thought to himself as he headed out the door to the Harbour to meet the convoy.
———————————————————-
Mark couldn't believe he was getting paid $10,000 for this, he was sitting down in the passenger seat of a truck playing a game on his phone while a guy drove the truck through Gotham, they had to take a long out the way route that avoided traffic and police stations but that's what made it a nice ride.
He recognised the driver from last night, he was one of the guys who unloaded the crates and put them into the trucks, the man had tried to make conversation with Mark, mostly about how he kicked Batgirl's ass but Mark ignored him. It made him wonder if this was how Heroes had it, trying to ignore people that annoyed him.
He sighed as he looked outside the window, they had two cars escorting the truck, one in front and one behind, they probably would've splurged on more protection but it would've looked suspicious and they also spend that money on Mark. Looking in the rearview mirror he can only be surprised as the rear protection car is slammed out of the way by a large black car.
"Oh fuck me..." He said to himself as he recognised the car of Gotham's caped crusader.
"Step on it!" He shouts to the man next to him, though he only glances at him with a stupefied look.
"Drive! Drive! Drive!" He shouted as he pressed down on his leg, finally getting the message he steps on the gas and makes the truck go faster. The car in front of them sees the truck speeding up and senses something is wrong, they allow the truck to pass in front of them and see what they were trying to escape.
Guards immediately roll down their windows and lean out before firing their weapons at the approaching Batmobile. Though their guns seem to have little or no effect on the car not even scratching it 'We are so fucked' Mark thinks to himself as he rolls down his window before altering his weight and flipping himself onto the roof of the truck. Just in time to see Batman completely take out the last car they had for defence.
Mark puts his hand down on the truck and tries to make it lighter, however, it's very heavy and has a larger surface area than what he's used to. Though he sees it working as the truck starts to speed up, though not for long as Batman essentially her a supercar. So Mark tried Plan B and he jumped onto the approaching Batmobile, barely hanging on as Batman swivelled trying to shake him off. Mark did the same thing he did to the Truck only this time he made it heavier, he started to feel blood pour out of his nose as he pushed passed what he'd been able to do, eventually, he heard the sound he wanted to hear.
*Pop*
*Hiss*
He'd kept the weight of the tires the same whole increasing the weight of everything else, eventually, it became too much and the tires popped. Something that surprised both Mark and Batman as he didn't think it would work and Batman thought he'd safeguarded against such a crude tactic.
Mark smirked and lightened himself before jumping backwards and onto the truck as the tires of the Batmobile started to spark. However, Batman wasn't one to give up so early and he used an ejection seat to launch him into the air before spreading out his cloak and gliding straight towards the truck. Mark had just stood back onto his feet and turned around only to be met with the Dark Knights's foot straight to his face which launched him towards the other end of the truck.
'He doesn't have powers right?' Mark thinks to himself as he stands up holding his jaw, he felt like some of his teeth had been knocked loose just from that kick. He's glad now that Batgirl showed up yesterday if Papa Bat packs this much of a wallop.
"Stand down, resisting will only make it worse," Batman said in a calm neutral voice as he stood up straight, not even doing anything to get into a fighter's stance.
Mark didn't think he'd simply be allowed to run away, and it wasn't like he could fly, he could float which doesn't make for an easy escape. No, he'd have to fight, hopefully, knock him off the truck and then sneak off.
"Sorry but I can't afford to give up now," Mark said before getting into his stance.
Batman doesn't say anything else and instead charges Mark. He sees that Batman is going to throw a right straight by the way his body is positioned, and he goes to counter it by side-stepping and launching an uppercut. However it was all a feint, instead of hitting him with a straight he hooks his arm to the side spinning around and avoiding Marks uppercut, he then transitions into a jumping roundhouse that hits Mark right in the chest knocking him down to the truck bed.
Mark feels like he's been hit by a baseball metal bat straight to his chest and he struggles to catch his breath, his eyes widen as he sees Batman go to pin him down, and he lightens his weight and uses Batman's Leg to lift himself and manoeuvre around his body. Though Batman was having none of it and does a backwards kick, Mark has to make himself heavier to stop himself from flying straight off the truck.
Mark stands up finally having caught his breath, he needed to focus, he can't fall for such feints again otherwise he'd be taken out, he needs to go on the attack. He charges Batman who stands there in anticipation of his attack, he throws multiple fast punches that he steps out of the way of. However, he's taken off guard when Mark jumps up higher than normal kicking him in the face before increasing his weight and bringing his elbow down on the Dark Knights's Head, which forces him down to his knees.
Though Mark sees this as a victory he only managed to get a grunt out of Batman, who stands back up "Ted Grant... I recognise his style anywhere" he simply states making Mark's eyes widen slightly.
In a panic, he throws a couple of heavy blows increasing the weight of his fists, but Batman can deflect his blows off to the side. Mark overextends with his right arm and it allows Batman inside his guard, he elbows his face before hitting him with multiple fast punches that hit his body, he then ends it with a massive kick that cracks his sternum.
Mark feels like he's completely outclassed here as he holds his chest in pain "You seem to be able to affect the weight of yourself and those around you, a powerful ability, too dangerous to let you use so recklessly" he said as he approached Mark.
Mark started to panic as he stood up, and managed to deflect a blow from The Dark Knight before throwing one of his own which was caught in his hand. Mark has an idea and quickly acts on it, he increases the weight of Batman's armour as much as he can but it seems to not affect him and as he was concentrating Batman drags him forward by the first and headbutts him forcing him back down to the truck roof.
His nose felt like it had just broken, and his vision was blurry but he would still fight, however before he could get up he was hit again by Batman "Stay down" he commanded, though Mark still tried to escape by pushing himself backwards and off the roof of the truck. However, Batman simply pinned him under his knee and reigned down blow after blow on him.
*THUD*
*THUD*
*THUD*
*Thud*
*thud*
*ping*
Mark felt confusion well up inside him as Batman's fists no longer felt like getting hit by a car, he didn't even feel them anymore he could only feel the contact that they made with his skin. He caught the next punch easily as catching the fist of a child, he pushed himself upwards all the while Batman struggled to free himself from Mark's grip.
Mark felt amazing, it felt like all the pain he'd suffered under the man was gone, it felt incredible. He looked back towards Batman and smirked, before lifting him and slamming him against the truck roof denting it in the process, Batman grunted in pain but otherwise showed no outward sign of pain.
Mark looked down at the Dark Knight "Stay down" he said to him, though instead of surrendering he was met with multiple batarangs that he slapped away, only these exploded and he was sent off balance he leaned forward and was met with the Dark Knights foot as he kicked him straight in the chin. Had he not gotten this sudden influx of power he would've been out like a light, it made him wonder if Batman was taking it easy on him.
Mark grabbed Batman's leg before picking him up and slamming him once again, he then grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up and then punching him softly in the stomach without letting him go, all that force that would've launched him back wasn't allowed to and instead was contained in Batman. Batmans dents underneath the punch and he even spits up some blood.
Though Mark knows how persistent he is so he slams him back down to the roof of the truck before doing so again and again, he then flings him off the truck.
However, as he's falling to the road underneath him he seemingly disappears the only thing remaining is a red and blue blur. Mark who had turned away didn't see this and so was taken completely off guard when he was grabbed from behind and thrown high into the sky, even leaving the Gotham City borders, he is punched multiple times as he was launched through the sky before he's sledgehammered straight to the ground.
While the punches had hurt they had hurt nowhere as much as Batman, though that was before the changes that had happened to his body.
As he stood up from the crater he was met with a familiar S-shaped symbol as a beautiful blonde girl with a red skirt and exposed midriff looked at him with a frown.
"I don't suppose you'd let me leave" Mark said trying to reason however her frown just intensified and seemingly transformed into a scowl. She then charges at him, though he's able to see it this time and he grabs her outstretched fist before swinging her around himself and skipping her across the field they were in.
Mark jumped out of the crater and was met with the angry Red eyes of one of the last Kryptonians, Supergirl. Who had been watching the entire thing unfold.
'Second day of being a criminal...'
(AN: Chapter 2 done and the next chapter starts with Mark vs Supergirl, I wonder how that will turn out. Also Mark got his powers, it only took Batman beating the shit out of him to do it. But yeah let me know what ya think of the story so far, tbh I'm not even sure how many fans I have of my hero stuff)
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