15930/Delivering the Message

Delivering the Message
Date of Scene:	24 September 2023
Location:	Bushwick <Mutant Town>
Synopsis:	Cain invites Mark to Starbucks and proceeds to cream him in the name of fatherly love. Content Warning: Extensive Violence, Medical Gore
Cast of Characters:	Mark Grayson, Cain Marko

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Mark Grayson has posed:
Bushwick. With the failure of the CURE bill, there has been an uptick of protests, especially those that hope the failure of the legislation will perhaps crack that door to start allowing for representation of Mutantkind. One of those protests are just ending, as in the cloudless blue sky above, a single figure, clad in blue, yellow and black watches those before.

It had gone really well. No major issues. Maybe things can work out? Taking out his phone, he works his thumbs over it to send a message and then takes a selfie before scouting around. "What's good to eat around here?" he asks, mainly to himself.

Cain Marko has posed:
Cain has been working with the JLD, occasionally helping people, and generally being a semi-upstanding citizen. Butttt he still works. And sometimes he gets hired to do less upstanding things. Okay, lets be honest. He almost exclusively gets hired to do less upstanding things. For instance, today he was hired to deliver a message to some kid superhero. He doesn't know why, really. But it was specified that said message not be a permanent one. The client DID detail the capabilities of said message receiver though, so he knows he doesn't have to hold back too much.

As mark continues his patrol, a group of terrified looking people come running out of a street to the side, shouting and scrambling to get away from something. Should Mark decide to check it out, he'll see... a Starbucks. One right in the middle of the street. And to the side,a gap in the rows of buildings where the ground is tore up. Moments later, the scent of coffee will suddenly grow stronger, and the Starbucks will seem to get bigger. Because the entire building is hurtling towards Invincible like it's a pitch at a baseball game. He'll have a couple of seconds at most to react to this.

Mark Grayson has posed:
It was also a nice and tidy sum, can definately help pay the bills for a couple of months. Mark's attention turns as he hears the panicked cries and he's starting towards the corner. "What's going on?" he starts to ask as he suddenly himself face to face with a building that may still have people inside of it flying at him.

He is able to smash through the logo of the franchise and his hands try to grab a hold to control the fall of the building. He knew he couldn't dodge it, no telling how much damage it would do! Instead, as he and the building fall, with a grunting yell of frustration, Mark is able to bring the building down in a controlled crash in the middle of the street, the whole structure shuddering as it settles on the ground. It moves again as he tears through the sidewall, a glance around to make sure it's empty before he crawls out of the top of it and reaches up to pull down his goggles to take to the sky.

He doesn't know where the attack came from yet, but he's immediately swiveling around to try to face down whatever may come. Because whatever it is, they are about to face...

                                 Invincible!                                  

Cain Marko has posed:
There was nobody in the building. He's not being paid to kill civilian's! The Juggernaut watches Mark wrestle the Starbucks(tm) into a controlled landing, then starts forward when he pops out of the side. "Yo. You Invincible?" Invincible. Really, the names they come up with these days. Ten feet of crimson armored muscle, a dome helmet on his head. It's possible he's heard of him before. ....actually, since he's dating Bunny, and Bunny dated Gabby, it's possible she heard about him from her. He might have heard the guy is less on the villainous side these days. It doesn't explain what's happening at the moment, however. He stops in the street.

Mark Grayson has posed:
All Invincible knows at the moment is that there is a really big guy in the middle of the street dressed like a reject from a Gladiator movie and is calling out to him. Turning to face off against the mountain of a man, Mark sucks in his breath.

"I am. You gotta habit of chucking buildings at people you're not sure about?" he asks. Not that he's giving Cain a second chance as he rockets down to street level, looking to slam into Cain and get him off the ground to try to throw him into a less populate and lower constructed area so that Cain can't get a hold of any other ammunition!

Cain Marko has posed:
As the blue and yellow clad hero comes barreling at him, Cain breaks into a run. "Nah, I just wanted to get your attention." They slam together and... despite him being easily strong enough to lift the Juggernaut's weight into the air, Invisible finds that he can't push him back for some reason. It's like the impact had no effect in terms of his speed at all. Cain fists both of his huge hands over his head, and brings them down in a double hammer-blow aimed for the back of his opponent. Flyers are annoying. It helps when they willingly come down to your level though. If his blow lands, there's going to be a massive THOOM that'll probably send dust and bits of debris flying in every direction. "You make a habit of rushing into situations without figuring out what you're dealing with?"

Mark Grayson has posed:
"Why aren't you budging..." Mark grunts out as he slams into Cain and finds his progress stopped. His feet dig into the ground, trying to find a leverage. If he can get Cain off the ground, he'd be easier to handle! At least that was the working theory.

That is until that double sledgehammer slams him into the ground, cratering the asphault, breaking the lines beneath it and causing Mark to exhale sharply, his breath knocked out of him.

A spurt of blood comes up, but Invincible powers through, trying to curl and launch upward into an uppercut into Cain's midsection. "...sorry, didn't realize you'd allow me to interview you on your stengths and weaknesses!" As the fist slams home, it's clear to Cain, Mark's all raw power. He's got a lot to learn. A whole lot.

Cain Marko has posed:
"Hmm. You got a decent arm on you, kid. You're damn raw though." Cain takes the blow to hi gut with a grunt, coming to a stop. Well, it didn't seem to hurt him much but he reacted anyway? Then he abruptly headbutts the teen hero, slamming that curved dome into his face. Or at least trying to. Then he grabs at him, trying to get one or both hands onto the half-Viltrumite to pin him in place, in case he decides to try and take off into the air again. "And c'mon. Maybe not interviews, but you kids all got those phones, right? Quick search, and you'd know a little bit more about me. Like, it's probably a bad idea to trade hits." If he manages to latch onto the boy, he'll start to squeeze. A steadily increasing pressure on whichever part of him he caught, like a vice tightening. "You're a flyer. Seem pretty quick. Maybe try to dodge more instead of taking hits, you know?" Getting pointers from the people seemingly try to kill him probably isn't that common for Mark.

Mark Grayson has posed:
"Oh, you have a Twitter---" Mark doesn't get to finish the statement as the goggles are smashed against his face, his nose bloodied. For someone that touts himself as Invincible, it seems that his insides are quite squishy indeed. But the fact that he's still on his feet even after the hard hits speaks volumes to his fortitude apparently?

As he was about to launch skywards when Cain grabs a hold of his right calf, and as the Juggernaught starts to apply pressure, he spins around, trying to bring his fists down hard and fast on the beefy forearm. He can feel the pressure increasing on the bone in the leg and as he wails away, there's a sudden *KRAK* and scream of pain as Cain shatters the fibula and it goes further down, starting to bend and splinter the tibia.

Mark screams, his swings becoming wilder and more desperate as he tries to tear himself away from the monsterous grip. Words are not coming as he spits and cries in pain, tethered to something he's finding it increasingly impossible to break away from.

Cain Marko has posed:
"Oh hey. Squeezed a little hard I guess. Suppose you're not as tough as I'd heard." The Juggernaut grunts out the words after the limb shatters in his grasp, pulling Invincible further down. He definitely feels those hits on his arm. The kid really is amazingly strong. But as strong as Cain himself might be, he's even tougher. So he locks his fingers into place. He's doing his best not to do anything that'll cause permanent damage. If that's even possible with somebody like this. The muscles of his forearm shaking a bit but ultimately that's it.

As the mark becomes more frantic, Cain latches his other hand around his waist in turn, releasing his leg. He studies the goggles-wearing hero, and can't help actually feeling a little bad for him. Ah well. "Sorry about this, kid. We all gotta get paid, right?" Then he draws back his huge fist. Mark will have time to anticipate what's coming before it swings in like a sledgehammer, cracking him in the face. Enough to split lips, bruise flesh. Maybe loosen some teeth. He draws back a moment later, and launches again. Again. Again. A steady and one-sided beating that's honestly unpleasant to watch. After a time, he stops. Raising him into the air, then slamming him down into the ground like he's swinging a sack. Hard enough to shatter pavement and send cracks radiating outward. He slams him several more times, squeezing the hand around his waist tighter. Maybe enough to crack some ribs, though probably not outright shatter them. He's being systematic about abusing his body. Being sure to limit the amount of damage to any one area. Using his extensive fighting experience to gauge when enough is enough. He'll only stop once the Viltrumite hero finally passes out.

Mark Grayson has posed:
Mark clutches both hands over his head and mirrors Cain's earlier attack, trying to pile drive his hands down onto the thick forearm. It's not enough. Mark was out of his league the minute that Cain got his hands on him. His mistake was trying to take it in close to prevent collateral damage.

There's confusion about Cain's last words, but he doesn't get a chance to ask as the first punch slams into his face, each concussive blast cracking bones, his flesh rising in anger and repair as his left eye swells shut.

More piledriver like punches cave his face in further. Nolan... Omni-Man... Omni-Man could tank Juggernaut and give him a hell of a time.

But Omni-Man had over 500 years to prepare for such. Mark has only had his powers a hand full of years. Eventually the arm he had brought up in defense slump and drop listlessly to his side and he rolls backwards, drooping in Cain's grasp as unconsciousness pulls him under.

Cain Marko has posed:
Cain stops when Mark goes limp. He studies the kid, absently checking his pulse. Okay, yeah. Still alive. If the client was accurate, he'd probably have to rip this kid in half to actually kill him. Still. He glances around. People would come by soon enough. If he leaves him here passed out, they'll probably take his mask off to see who's under there. And while the mass of bruises and contusions that currently is his face isn't very good for identification... ah fuck it. He slings him over a shoulder, and starts to tromp off. He'd just dump him at the bookstore, let them keep an eye on him until he wakes up. Nolan didn't really say what to do with him after giving him the beatdown, so nothing wrong with a little aftercare. "I don't know who that guy who hired me was, kid. But he must really hate you."