John gasped for breath as he sat up from where he was lying. Sharp pain hit him across his whole body like thousands of needles when he gained consciousness, those needles soon turned into knives when a rough wind blew into him. He started shivering violently, he tried to move his arms but felt confined by something, he looked down and realised there was a blanket over him. "John... calm down." He heard a voice say from beside him.
John while still shivering looked over to see Mark sitting next to him, they were both sitting by a fire in what looked like a forest just off the shore. "W-What h-h-happened?" he stuttered out through chattering teeth.
Mark didn't face him yet and just fiddled with the fire with a large stick in his hand. "A wave capsized the boat," Mark simply said, his voice was too calm and toneless for the words that just came out of his mouth.
"W-Where's m-my c-crew?" He asked with concern in his voice. Mark didn't answer, he didn't even turn around to face him he just kept fiddling with the fire.
John reached over and grabbed Mark "They are dead," he said in a cold tone.
John felt his heart drop at Mark's words. 'Mike... Fitzs... George... Lenny,' he felt his eyes start to water but he quickly shook that off "No they can't be dead! They might've washed ashore like we did right?! It's possible they survived!" He said a little desperately.
"No they all died, their bodies won't wash up for months, but by then they'll probably all be eaten," Mark said as the fire continued to crackle and burn.
John pushed the blanket off him and got to his knees "You can't know that... we washed up here, they could be further down the shore, we have to look for them!" He said trying to convince Mark.
"We didn't wash up here... I flew us out of the water," Mark replied.
"Mark stop joking around, we need to find them," John said as he pushed himself to his feet stumbling back to the ground. Though where he fell he got a better look at Mark's face and was shocked at what he saw.
"Mark... what..."
"They are dead John... I can guarantee it..."
———————————————————
It had been a long search but Kara had finally managed to track where the Joker had died. It was weak but she could still smell the blood that had soaked the earth, she was joined by Kori who flew above trying to find any kind of sign that Mark could've also been there. Kara did struggle slightly in their search, she was heavily pregnant, and she would likely be giving birth the next month or maybe even sooner; she should be at home relaxing but the hope Kori had given her that Mark might be alive made it so she couldn't simply relax.
"Friend Kara do you see anything?" Kori said from above.
Rubbing her stomach with her hand she sighed "No I don't see anything but snow!" She replied slightly frustrated. She pushed off the ground and joined Kori in the air "It's been months since it happened Kori, any signs of Mark would've been long swept away, and that's even if we could find any," Kara said, though as she said those words she felt intense sadness overwhelm her. She had come to accept that Mark was dead over the past five months, she wished Kori hadn't given her this false hope.
"We mustn't give up Friend Kara, there is a lot of ground to cover I am sure we will find signs," Kori said as she grabbed her friend's hands. Kara sighed but nodded, however before they could start searching again the sound of a crack on the wind sounded out in the air.
Kara's exasperation only increased "What do you want Kal?" She said as she turned to her cousin who was now floating next to them with his arms crossed.
"You should be home," he said as he looked sternly at her.
"I'm fine Kal, I don't need you to babysit me," Kara said as she glared at her older cousin.
Clark sighed "Come on Kara, you're heavily pregnant you shouldn't be in a place like this."
"I can fly in the vacuum of space with no problems I'm sure a little cold won't hurt me or the baby," she said as she rolled her eyes.
Clark flew closer to Kara and put his hand on her shoulder "He's gone Kara, people don't just come back, no matter how much we want them to."
"We never found a body, so there is a possibility, no matter how small..." Kara said despite the fact she didn't believe it.
Clark pulled his younger cousin into a hug "Come on I'll help you search for a bit, but then we are going home."
Kara nodded with a small smile on her face. All three of them spread out and started searching the area to find anything that may have hinted at Marks's survival. Kara and Kori felt their hope slowly disappearing as they found nothing, it was as if the Joker was alone the entire time.
Clark however found something strange, he was flying over a nearby forest when he saw a number of collapsed trees. He landed down in the centre of them and inspected them, he could immediately tell that they had been felled by a blunt force. 'Like if something was thrown or crashed into them,' he thought to himself. He then looked down at the snowy ground and inhaled a deep breath before blowing away all the snow in the area.
Under the deep now was a crater, big enough that a person could've easily made it. His sharp vision caught something else however, inside he could see bone fragments and a couple of teeth. He wasn't very familiar with Viltrumite anatomy but he could tell that these bone fragments didn't belong to a human, they were ultra-dense, far too much to be a human. 'Maybe Kara was right?' He thought to himself as he collected a few samples and flew back to his cousin.
Kara was moments away from giving up before her cousin flew back to her "I think you may be right Kara," her cousin said as he opened his palm to show her what he had collected. She focused in on the samples and her eyes widened.
Clark put his hands up before she could get too excited "It could be something else, I'll go back to the watch tower to get it tested, try not to get your hopes up." But despite his words, Kara's smile was already brighter than it had been in months. Clark couldn't help but chuckle as he flew up into space.
"Let me come as well!" Kara said as she shot off after him.
Kori who had been searching the other side of the mountain looked confused as she heard the cracks of both Kryptonians breaking the speed barrier. She then shrugged and continued searching, though her search had taken her a bit further off course than she had intended. She still had trouble navigating earth and so large stretches of land that looked the same gave her a bit of trouble.
As she flew her eyes caught something, it was a small cabin in the woods. She landed down in front of it 'Perhaps Honoured Mark is in here,' she thought with a smile on her face as she walked up to the door and knocked.
When the door opened it wasn't Mark who opened it but her friend Donna, Kori's smile brightened as she saw her "Friend Donna it is good to see you," she said as she pulled her Amazonian friend into a hug.
"Kori?!" Donna said with no small amount of confusion.
"What are you doing here?!" She asked.
"I was looking for evidence that honoured Mark is still alive, I do not suppose you have seen him have you?" She asked.
Donna felt a pang of pain at the mention of him, instead of replying she just shook her head. "We are on a mission for the league at the moment," she stated.
Kori made an 'O' expression with her mouth before moving past Donna inside. Zatanna was meditating in the middle of the room while Mary was standing by the window with a bored expression on her face. Kori smiled at both of them as while she had only met Zatanna a few times she seemed nice, though she never recalled meeting Mary. "What is your mission, perhaps I could be of some help?" She offered.
Donna closed the door to the cabin "We are trying to find an artefact that has been causing problems across the world, I don't really understand anything other than that," she said with a shrug of her shoulders.
Kori nodded "I see, I see,"
Zatanna's eyes abruptly opened and she took a deep breath "I believe we are getting close, very close," she said.
"We should check the town, it's the only one within a hundred miles," Mary said as she leaned against the wall.
"How do you know that?" Donna asked as she crunched her eyebrows.
Mary held up her hand, and in it was a piece of folded paper "There was a map on the kitchen counter," she replied.
"Then let's go, we don't have much time," Zatanna said as she stood up from her seat.
———————————————————-
Mark didn't know how long he had walked before he got back into town, but with his clothing torn and his entire body still soaked he made for quite the sight in the centre of town. He was immediately taken to Bayview Hospital where they warmed him up with blankets and contacted Amelia and the Evans family. Mark was dreading seeing them again, how could he tell them that John was dead.
"Mark! Mark! What happened!" Amelia said as she rushed inside nearly slamming the door open to his room. Gary and his sister followed in shortly after her and they all went to Mark's bed to check if he was okay.
Mark felt emotions overwhelm him when he looked at the Evans family "What happened Mark, where's Dad?" Gary asked. Mark's silence all but confirmed what had happened and Amelia covered her mouth with her hands as tears welled up in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't save him, the boat capsized," Mark tried to explain but Amelia and her daughter had already started wailing while Gary sat down on one of the chairs with his head in his hands. Mark thought the guilt he felt at that moment couldn't get any worse but seeing the family that had taken him in looked so hurt, it was almost too much for him to bear.
"How did you survive..." Gary asked him as he looked up to Mark.
"I don't know..." Mark replied.
"How did you survive!!!" Gary shouted again as he stood up. He knew he was unfairly blaming Mark, but right now he wasn't thinking straight, he had just lost his father. Gary just looked at Mark with anger before walking out of the room. Mark couldn't stand to be here a moment longer, he disconnected the wires attached to him opened the window by his bed and hopped out. He hadn't been injured so he had no reason to be there any longer; Mark quickly rushed back to the Evans house where he used the spare key to get inside. He gathered up his clothing and what meagre belongings he had before leaving, before he left he looked at a picture of John which sent pangs of pain into his heart.
He'll never forget the image of John being washed away by a wave while Mark could do nothing but watch. 'Where do I go now?' He thought to himself. He still had no memories of his life before Bayview, he didn't have a car and didn't have money to get a plane. He was sure Mai and Yang would help him out but he didn't want to bother them, he also didn't want to go into town; Bayview was a small place and he had no doubt news of what had happened would spread like wildfire.
'I guess I can squat there till I figure something out,' he thought to himself as he looked over to the abandoned manor on the hill. With his bag on his back, he walked down to the gate before flexing his leg muscles and jumping over the gate.
*W-W-Wa-rning*
Mark clutched his head as a sound echoed out in his head. "What the hell is that!" He shouted as he felt a sharp sound reverberate through him. After a few minutes, it stopped and it left him kneeling on the ground with blood dripping from his nose. He wiped the blood from his nose and was shocked to find that it looked shiny and slightly metallic. He wasn't sure what was happening to him, but at the moment he didn't care he just wanted to get inside and hopefully wake from this nightmare.
He kept walking up the path, it went on for a while giving him a good look at Bayview. When he reached the door to the manor the wooden floorboards creaked underneath him, the door was open; it didn't surprise him the place looked like it had been abandoned for a while. When he walked inside he immediately felt like walking back out, the place was creepy, to say the least, but he didn't have anywhere else to go. The wood of the manor seemed to have lost its colour and darkened as if there was a fire. He walked down the main corridor and past a broken staircase into what seemed to be a dining room with an adjoined kitchen.
There was also a balcony that seemed to overlook Bayview and the ocean —the door to which was left wide open. "That's strange," he said to himself as he walked over to the dining room table, on top of it was a bowl of cereal that looked like it had been poured recently. "Hello?" Mark called out. It was possible that someone else could be squatting here, he did remember seeing a woman in the window when he walked down to town once, but he thought that might be his imagination.
*Creak*
Mark whipped his head around only to see nothing, he couldn't explain it but he knew someone was there. "I know you're here, come out now," he said sternly as he started inspecting every room. However, when he came to the room to the basement he found himself being thrown across the room and through a wall. 'What the fuck?' He thought as he stood up only to see a woman with pale grey skin and red eyes.
"Umm hi?"
———————————————————
Nolan Grayson sat on a large rock he had found on the dark side of the moon. He had been waiting here for the past day and he was getting annoyed, they should've arrived by now; he knew they were making him wait on purpose. He had finally gotten in contact with the empire and they had dispatched two agents to meet with him, he knew his failure would likely mean a severe punishment, but he wouldn't take it lying down. He would slaughter the two agents if they tried to kill him.
'Nolan...'
Nolan stood up as he saw two Viltrumites land a couple of dozen feet away. He recognised them immediately and almost laughed, the Empire wouldn't have sent Lucan and Anissa if they had wanted to kill him.
'Lucan... Anissa, you're late,' he responded.
Lucan smirked at him 'I see you lost your arm, were these weaklings too much for you?'
'Yet I could still kill you without a thought,' Nolan bit back. Lucan clenched his fists and both men got ready to fight.
'Enough, remember why we are here Lucan,' Anissa cut in with an unimpressed look on her face.
Lucan growled but crossed his arms and allowed his partner to speak 'Thragg read your report, he is interested in your son, a true Hybrid Viltrmite was rare even before the scourge virus, now it could change the outcome of the war,' she stated.
'My son is dead, he perished fighting a villain from the earth,' Nolan replied. While his face remained stoic as he said those words his fists tightened and his heart ached slightly.
'You also mentioned a possibility of a Viltrumite-Kryptonian Hybrid,' Anissa stated.
'Mark impregnated a Kryptonian woman, she is in the late stages of her gestation period, but it won't matter, our DNA isn't compatible with Kryptonians, and the baby won't make it past the first year,' he responded.
'Thragg believes that since his father is a true hybrid there could be a chance to save the child, he had asked us to collect the child as quickly as we can,' she explained.
'It won't be too difficult, between the three of us they won't stand a chance,' Nolan said with a nod.
'Good, if we succeed in this task then your failure will be forgiven,' Annisa told him.
'Then let's get it done.'
(AN: So stuff is happening, what happened to John? Mark finally meets Raven and Nolan gets some reinforcements. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.)
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