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[OOM: Amber starts to worry about Mark's private life. Meanwhile, Invincible is going on a trip.]

Invincible stepped out earlier to head home for a much shortened Summer Vacation before starting college. Now, he steps back in, smiling. He stops in the doorway, then his smile broadens to a grin. "I'm going to MARS!" he announces to the room. Oblivious to any conversations he interrupted, he walks over to the Bar and orders himself a massive cheeseburger, onion rings, and a Coke.

Soon-to-be astronaut, eating lunch, happy to be bothered.

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"Dude! For real?"

"For real! How cool is that?" Invincible was pretty thrilled when Stedman told him, but as liftoff approaches, he's getting more and more pumped about it.

"That is awesomely cool."

Enzo would totally like to go into space, but they'd need the InfiMap for that, and Frostbite doesn't lend it out for frivolities.

Invincible nods. "I know! We lift off in about two hours." He gestures at the Door, adding, "That's Cape Canaveral through there."

"Sweet. Could I have a quick peek, or is it restricted?"

"Not much to see," admits Invincible. "I was going into the locker room to use the bathroom. I'm not riding in the ship, you see. I'm escort."

"Dude, if you need the bathroom, don't let me keep you."

What is it with Milliways and bathrooms?

"Not in the ship?"

"Thanks. Be back in a sec." He makes a quick pit stop, and then returns.

"To answer your question: Nope, not in the ship. There's a public... mood right now, that people don't want to be too dependent on superheroes. Given current events and certain revelations about... well, my dad, Agent Stedman wants me out of sight."

"However, there's also, thanks to my dad, and the alien invasion back in May, an increased interest in defending the planet from attacks from space. Hence, the mission to Mars. So I'm going along to keep the ship safe, but I'm not to be seen by the astronauts unless it's an emergency." He grimaces, but shrugs. What's a superhero to do?

"So you're gonna be outside the ship? Are you, like, hanging on, or do you have to fly along the whole way?"

"I'm flying the whole way, though if I get tired, I can latch on. They're rigging me up with a breathing apparatus, so I don't have to hold my breath the whole trip. Which would suck."

He seems to be pretty sanguine about the whole "flying through the vacuum of space" thing.

"Dang, man."

That is really all that can be said.

"Hey, I still get to go to Mars," Invincible says. "It's all good."

"No, just... you can do that. Even for a superhero, that's impressive."

Invincible smiles and gestures to his uniform. "Superhero. I flew to the Moon in half an hour."

While getting beaten up by a giant alien with one eye, but that's beside the point.

"Even for a superhero, I said. Dani could turn the ship invisible or intangible, but she couldn't do that."

"Point taken. I guess I don't have much basis for comparison. It's not like I test myself against other heroes." He frowns. "I suppose... that'd be something I'd have done with Dad."

"Er, yeah. I guess it's hard to compare yourself to heroes with different power sets."

Awkwarrrrd.

Invincible shrugs. "It is," he admits. "There are plenty of super-strong heroes, but there were only a few that are close to Dad and my level. And, between you and me, I think they all still think I'm going to turn villain on them."

"That's not very cool."

"Yeah," agrees Invincible. "The Immortal followed me home, and gave me this whole speech about how I was Omni-Man's son and he knew I was going to be dangerous and how he would be Watching Me." He sighs. "I mean, I get that he's angry that Dad killed him, twice. But you'd think that somebody who was... well, immortal, would learn to not jump to conclusions."

"Captain Dynamo's been keeping his distance, too, though he did a nice card to Mom, through Agent Stedman. And Supreme, well... he's Supreme. Nobody's completely sure what he's going to do sometimes. He goes off and 'fights the enemies of reality,' and then comes back and says he's saved us, but no one saw any threat and all the other heroes have been dealing with alien invasions and monsters and such. I don't know if he's even noticed that Dad is gone."

Invincible shrugs. "I think I'm left with testing myself against sea serpents and alien invasions, for the time being."

"And flying to Mars."

Invincible smiles. "This is true," he agrees. "You want me to bring you back a Mars rock?"

"Dude, that'd be awesome! As long as carrying it back isn't a problem."

"I think it'll be cool," Invincible replies. "I may have to send it through decontamination first, but they'll probably want to make sure I didn't pick up any extraterrestrial parasites anyway. Mars is inhabited, after all."

"Your 'verse has Martians?"

Invincible nods. "The Martian Man was one of the Guardians," he says. "Most people thought he was just someone claiming to be from Mars, but both Dad and Agent Stedman confirmed that he was actually an extraterrestrial. The Martians are isolationists, so they don't communicate with Earth."

"Are they gonna be upset that you're there?"

"I don't think so?" says Invincible. "I think Agent Stedman would've mentioned possible hostilities with the locals when he briefed me on the mission. He seemed more concerned about attacks during the trip more than when we got there. Of course, since I'm going along to protect the astronauts, if there are problems with the Martians, I'll have to deal with them too." He doesn't seem too pleased with that idea; the Martians have never been a threat to Earth before, and he doesn't like the idea of starting a interplanetary war.

"Do you have to stay hidden even while you're protecting them?"

Invincible nods. "Unless it's an emergency. Of course, if the Martians attack, that'd be an emergency, so if that happens, I might get to ride home inside the ship."

"Plus side of getting attacked, I guess."

Invincible laughs. "There is that," he says, smiling.

"So, how're things with you? Moved into your new place?"

"Yup! Took a while to get used to not having roommates anymore, but Dani and I have our portal and... oh, hey, I don't think you met Minus yet. Where'd he get to..."

Enzo whistles sharply. A moment later, the chatilus flies over.

Edited 2014-01-28 15:49 (UTC)

Invincible nods, and is about to say something about looking forward to moving in to the dorms at Santa Cruz, but that thought is rather forcibly derailed by the flying green crustacean.

"What...?" Achievement unlocked, Enzo. You have boggled the superteen.

Cephalopod, actually.

"This is Minus. My new pet chat client. Say hi, Minus."

Ping!

(The mun knew that nautiloids are cephalopods. His brain failed to inform him of this fact at the time.)

Invincible stares at the nautilus for a few moments, then says, smiling, "That's a bit weird, dude. And I say that, having been to the Supercomputer and seeing what you call 'normal.'"

"Probably," Enzo agrees. "But isn't he cute?"

"Eh, for certain definitions of the word, sure," says Invincible. Far be it for him to criticize someone else's choice of pet; he doesn't even have a goldfish. "Where'd you get him? Her?"

Hey, the log spiral on that shell is beautiful.

"Him-her-it, I honestly got no idea. Do you know the T-Minus chat system they have here?"

Invincible shrugs. "Not really. Is it like AIM or something?"

Mark's not big into computers. The Grayson's have one, but Mark's only really used it for homework.

"Kind of, but it's got some extra features, like interdimensionality."

Invincible nods, understanding. "And you took it home, and it ended up with a shell and tentacles."

Invincible considers. "Cool. Is it housebroken?"

"Mmmmostly. He's young, we're working on it."

"Aaaand that's all I want to know about that," says Invincible. Because, really, who wants to know what a chat client that isn't housebroken leaves lying around?

"So you're settled in, your girlfriend has a key to your apartment - so to speak - and you've got a pet," summarizes Invincible. "Living the dream, dude."

"I know! I'm trying not to wait for something to go wrong."

"Don't jinx it, man!" Invincible says, laughing.

[OOC: Fade on this?]

[OOC: Looks good to me!]

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