16621/Support

Support
Date of Scene:	18 December 2023
Location:	Chelsea
Synopsis:	Balm reaches out to Invincible in the wake of the latter finding out his father isn't all he's thought he was. Phoebe knows a thing or two about that. She's there to support as much as he needs.
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Mark Grayson

---

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    It would come up as a ping on Mark's phone from a 000-000-0000 number.

    >Hello Invincible!
    >Don't panic, this is Balm. I traced a communication line through some mutual friends. I don't have your real number.
    >I would like to talk.
    >I have some experience with people you look up to not being truthful.

    >Also I have pizza.

    >Meet me on the rooftop of the Space Bar in Chelsea NYC

    And Balm was sitting, her hood up in the cold, wearing a sweatshirt over her typical uniform. The location she chose was sheltered on three sides by bushes decorated for the season, the fourth side looking out over the river. At night this would be a cool party location, lit up with lights and propane heaters, but for the moment it was a quiet refuge.

    And she did, in fact, have a thermal bag with what looked like a large box in it.

Mark Grayson has posed:
Invincible's day so far has been thus.

Checked in on Bunny and Sunny.
Checked on Mom.
Went out in the skies.
Thwarted a robbery.
Rescued a car about to fall off the Washington bridge.
Fought Tether Tyrant and threw him in the back of a paddy wagon.
Rescued a cat from a tree.

He's in the skies. Looking for the next crisis. The next attack. Something, anything, to prove that he's a hero. He's not what he was told he was by his father. The chime on his phone catches him off-guard and he glances at the unfamiliar message and it takes a moment to remember that he has met her before. It's been a while.

With nothing needing his immediate attention (no police sirens he can hear), he decides to respond to the mysterious messages by showing up, dressed in his blues and yellows as he arrives at the rooftop. No coat or the like. The cold doesn't bother him, apparently. "Hey." he greets as he comes in for a landing, the gentle scrape of the roof gravel crunching under his feet.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Balm raises a hand in greeting to Mark with a small smile of her matte black lips, and motions to one of the chairs around the table. "Hey Invincible. First off, not gonna even ask because obviously the answer is 'everything sucks'." she gives a look of understanding over to him, and she pulls back her hood, showing the gray hairwrap around her head as she pulls out the pizza box.

    "So I want to say that if you wanna talk, we can talk. If you don't wanna talk about it yet and it's still processing, you can just have pizza and we'll share patrol stories. But I didn't have anyone I could talk to when it happened to me, and no one deserves to be alone trying to figure out their identity after having a bomb dropped like that. So... whatever you wanna do." she gives a small smile, opening the box.

    And the bag must be magical, because the cheese is still steaming and bubbling on an extra cheese pizza.

    "I...uh... didn't know what you liked for toppings, and I'm kinda dietary restricted. So I hope Cheese is okay."

Mark Grayson has posed:
"I take it that means you heard Prisma's broadcast. Smart girl. Smarter than me." Invincible admits as he approaches. Because part of him is screaming at him if this is a trap. Because if Omni-Man was right... he could be a threat too. A sigh of breath, trying to shake off that thought as he listens to her. And decides to give it a shot.

"Prisma's still in recovery. Incredibelle is with her. I needed some space." he admits quietly.

"My whole life is built on a lie. That he was here to help. That I was his legacy. Prisma believed that. So did Incredibelle. And now..." he reaches up scrubbing a hand over his face. "We're what? Preparing the world for takeover? Sometype of evil merger like Disney gobbling up everything? That all this time, where I've been doing all this training, all this help? Was I just sizing everyone up for him?" He still can't bring himself to call Nolan dad or father. His lips purse, expression dark and confused.

"I didn't know and the people I care for the most suffered for it. I've never felt so alone as I do right now."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "And it's understandable and okay to feel alone facing this. It's huge. You admired him, wanted to be just like him and emulation is a powerful thing." Balm replies, taking out a paper plate and putting a slice on it, and she hands it over to Invincible.

    "I've worked with Incredibelle before. Though weirdly I kept on thinking 'Indestructibelle'." Balm replies, adding a connection. "And yeah. An open broadcast of Omni-Man's real mission to everyone? Not a bad idea. Helps others get ready for the fall out -- not just us heroes." she lumps Mark in with everyone, "But support too. Cities prepped for mass evac or hiding in the subways. Hospitals and trauma centers. You three bought everyone /time/."

    She reaches for a slice for herself.

    "Disney is totally an evil organization too, well spotted."

Mark Grayson has posed:
"You're right. It's Indestructibelle." Fuck, Mark. You were using her pet name! Clearing his throat, Invincible accepts the pizza slice and takes a bite of it. "He's a fool." comes his next words. "I've fought alongside Kryptonians. Seen what they can do. They make me look like a normal human by comparison. But who knows how long he's been training." He takes a moment and a bite to collect his thoughts, before he continues. "What I was taught, at least recently is that the more a Viltrumite fights, the stronger we become. That was why ... that was why he kept sending super strong villains after me. Every ass-kicking that I took made me a little stronger."

"I'm a bit stronger than Indestructibelle because of it. I don't know what was in those pills that he tried to give us. Prisma took those." Another breath and he sets down the pizza slice and his fingers go into his hair, hunching over. "We just had Thanksgiving together." he says, his voice showing the first signs of breaking. "It was a decent Thanksgiving and the meal was good and... and... he even has a /present/ under our Christmas tree!"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Well, yes. Of course he would. He's your father." Balm states gently. She doesn't try to touch Mark.

    "You couldn't have seen this coming. There wasn't indication, he hid it purposefully from you."

    She leans back in her chair a moment and looks over the river.

    "So he was trying to prepare you for the 'happy work' of taking over the planet by sending people to hurt you, making you stronger so that he could try to convince you to his side, and you would help."

    She doesn't tell him not to cry. She doesn't tell him to 'man up'.

    She does, however, hand him a fistfull of brown napkins from the pizza place.

    "I can turn the lenses of my domino dark if you need to take off your headpiece." she comment quietly. "It's less important to me than for you to know there's someone to listen without judgement."

Mark Grayson has posed:
Invincible's hand waves off the napkins. Even if she doesn't tell him to suck it up, he's doing it anyway. Becuase he has to be the strong one now. "Hell, he even hid that he still had his powers. Why? He could have been doing so much more good in the world. He could have been trying to make alliances. Maybe to stand up against whatever it is that's coming."

Quieter, Invincible adds, "...he could have spent all that time training me, instead of just sending me out into the world to figure it out for myself. And then, there's Indestructibelle. She's the same as I am. Which apparently was what he was waiting for. What? Somebody as strong as I am? Someone that understands what it means to be a Viltrumite. I don't even know what that means. I grew up on this planet, with a human mother. I have never even seen Viltrum, much less be able to find it on a star map or whatever!" A small flail and he sighs.

"This is home. Fuck Viltrum."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gives a nod.

    "Fuck Viltrum." she agrees verbally.

    "So it sounds like neither you nor 'Belle know what it means to be a Viltrumite, but you *do* know what it means to be a hero on Earth. Standing up against the odds. Willing to put yourself on the line for those who can't do it themselves. And it sounds to me like you have a good starting point to do better by Earth than Omni-Man did." she states thoughtfully. "You can make alliances. Stand up against whatever's coming. And you know you can do it with Indestructibelle and Prisma at your side. Along with any number of our friends." she gives a small smile, and she looks to Invincible.

    "Having to separate yourself from someone you love is difficult. It *sucks so bad* to rebuild your identity, and you're going to end up second-guessing yourself a lot for a long time, Invincible. You have an advantage over my situation, though. I spent a lot of time being trained, which kind of divested a lot of people in the magic community from me. You can point to that and say 'I did this, I did this and I did it on my own, so I get to decide what to do with it. Not Him.'"

Mark Grayson has posed:
Drawing in a breath, Invincible listens to Balm as she speaks to him. "You're right. Omni-Man never really made friends. Even when he was back and actually doing hero work. Instead of just..." he trails off and blows out the breath before he nods. "I know what I need to do. Just hope that we can gather enough help to turn him away. I've never seen him like this. I barely recognize him. Which I guess helps."

"It's harder when there's a lot of your identity that you still need to be around. My mother, for instance. I can't just leave her behind. Prisma, in a way, 'Belle. But yes. There's a lot that I've done. And I hope it's enough." He scarfs down the rest of the pizza slice and offers a smile. "Thank you for your words, Balm. I appreciate it. Guess the name isn't just a moniker."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Like I said... I was similar to where you are right now. I didn't have anyone who sought me out to talk to me about it, and I was alone and hurting." Balm gives a grin.

    "I want to be the person I needed at the time." she offers out a fist to fist-bump.

    "Anything else you need to vent on?"

Mark Grayson has posed:
"Not at the moment." Mark accepts the fist-bump and returns it.

*dap*

"You were. And I appreciate it. And I have your number, so if I need it again, I will totally call." he promises. About that time, he hears an ambulance siren off in the distance. "I should get that." he comments as he lifts off the ground.

"It was good seeing you, Balm. Thanks." And with that, he's launching skywards.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "... I literally texted you from a spoofed number." Balm points out with a grin, but gives a nod as Invincible rises skyward, and she gives a wave as she leans back, and looks at the remainder of an extra large NY pie with extra cheese, with two slices missing from it.

    >Hey, my actual number is 555-717-1547. If you need anything, or need to talk, or want a happy picture of a dog hit me up.

    >You aren't in this alone. I won't know exactly how you feel, but I know that it is valid. Also my magic shields stand up to Kryptonians. In case you need to punch something. #BeenThere #MyPoorPunchingBag #SparringWithGuysWhoLiftBusses