Location: New York City, Times Square
Date: Thursday, January 19th, 1989
Mark POV:
"What are you doing here, Mark?" Susan asked, concern evident in her voice.
"Trying to help." he replied, taking in the situation.
Things were not looking good.
The Torch was just beginning to come around after being knocked out of the sky. The Thing was making his way over after being thrown from the building. He was unhurt, but the Skrull had a huge advantage against Ben in the city, where the surrounding buildings restricted his movements.
Reed was still on the rooftop, being engaged by the Skrull with fire. It seemed the creature was no longer restricting itself to matching each member of the Four with their own powers.
Reed immediately leaped off the roof to escape the flames, his body flattening out and he started gliding toward them. Mark could see the utility of the power, but Reed looked ridiculous, like a flying-squirrel.
The Super-Skrull engulfed itself in flame and flew after Reed without hesitation. It reached Reed in seconds, and Mark only had a moment of warning through the Force before a blinding white flash of light lit the entire square like a second sun.
Mark cautiously opened his eyes as the light faded.
"And that's just a sample of what I've got in store for you!" Johnny yelled up at the Skrull.
The light had blinded it, and its fire faltered as it rubbed at its eyes. Then the Skrull suddenly vanished from sight. Not even its flames could be seen.
However, Mark could still feel its presence through the Force, as it moved to a nearby building.
"Hey! Show yourself, coward! Flame On!" Johnny shouted as he ignited to pursue, but Reed intervened.
"Johnny, wait!" said Reed, landing beside Mark and the rest of the Fantastic Four, "That only bought us a moment. He's more powerful than us, and we'll need a plan to defeat him."
"I couldn't do anything..." Susan said in frustration, almost to herself, "I have never felt so helpless."
Ben grunted as he finally reached them, dusting rock chips off his rocky shoulders, "Ah, don't beat yourself up, Suzie. That green banana had us all on the ropes. We'll get another crack at 'im."
"That's right, don't let it bother you Sue. We haven't achieved any more than you." Reed replied, "Now we need to retreat back to headquarters before it recovers."
Mark said nothing.
Reed was right. They had yet to even hurt the Skrull, and he could feel the malice in its gaze turning back toward them again.
"It's preparing an attack." said Mark as they all started moving away from the area.
Staying with the Four was probably the safest place for him at the moment, and simply leaving them to handle this on their own was not an option for him. Even if he had no idea how he could help, yet.
Reed glanced over, looking at him fully for the first time, just as arrows of fire came streaking toward them, each one burning a small hole into the sidewalk as it struck.
The attacks were not moving rapidly enough to pose a real threat to Mark, and he focused on dispersing any that were aimed at the Four. But then, the attack stopped.
Mark reached out through the Force, searching for any sign of pursuit or another incoming attack, but for some reason, none came.
---
Mark and the Fantastic Four made it back to the Baxter Building without any further trouble.
Once they arrived he had half expected them to say hit the road, but they surprised him by inviting him inside.
Despite the lingering threat, Susan took the opportunity to make introductions, "Everyone, this is Mark. Mark, meet my little brother, Johnny Storm. This is Ben Grimm, and Reed Richards." Susan said, gesturing to each of them in turn as they reached the elevator.
Ben stuck out a massive orange hand, "Ben Grimm. Or the Thing, if ya prefer. Pleasure's mine, kid, long as ya ain't another Skrull in disguise."
"A pleasure to meet you all, despite the circumstances." he greeted.
"Oh, no worries. It's more interesting like this anyway. Beats one of those fancy, boring parties everyone always wants us at." said Johnny.
The others greeted him in turn, exchanging handshakes.
When Mark shook Reed's hand, it felt... normal, mostly. There was a strange softness to it, almost like the skin gave just a little more than it should have before returning to shape. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, just a little.
"Hello Mark. I take it you have met Susan already?" asked Reed.
"Yes, a few weeks ago." he replied as they entered the elevator and for a moment there was only the quiet hum of the machinery. Johnny was the one to break the silence.
"So," he said, leaning against the wall of the elevator, "who exactly are you?"
Mark glanced over, "Mark."
Johnny gave him a look, "Yeah, I got that part."
Susan smiled faintly, "He means what can you do?"
"Various things."
"Various things?" Johnny repeated, raising an eyebrow, "How informative."
Reed was pulled out of his thoughts by the topic of conversation and looked over at Mark, "I didn't see you use any obvious abilities, but you seemed to know what the Skrull was doing after it disappeared."
"I have good instincts." Mark said with a shrug. It was even mostly true, from a certain point of view.
Reed studied him carefully, "Good enough to track an invisible opponent?"
"Yes." he said. Hiding a useful ability that they might need would be foolish, but Mark did not like the way Reed was starting to get curious.
Johnny grinned, "Okay, now you're just messing with us."
Susan gave Mark an amused look, "He was a little more forthcoming when I met him. He knew I was there despite being invisible."
"Really?" asked Johnny, surprised.
"Fascinating." said Reed, as his attention sharpened, "If you're willing, I'd like to run a few tests. Nothing invasive, just a few scans while I try to find a solution to our Skrull problem. We could learn a lot about how your abilities work."
Mark shook his head, "I understand my powers already, thanks anyway."
Reed paused, "You do?"
"Yes." It was true enough, and Mark was not about to agree to being scanned or otherwise become a lab experiment. He did not want Reed specifically, or anyone else in general, to learn any more than necessary about his powers.
"Very well." said Reed, "If you change your mind, let me know."
'Fat chance.' he thought, but simply nodded.
The elevator soon came to a stop, and the doors opened onto the Baxter Building's main floor. Reed barely paused before heading toward his lab, his thoughts already turning back to the Skrull and how they could possibly defeat it.
The conversation never really started again as everyone seemed absorbed in their own thoughts.
---
It had been the better part of an hour, and Mark had plenty of time to think about everything. His encounters with the X-Men, the group that destroyed his old place, and even his spar with Gwen had left him overconfident.
He had expected to at least be able to do something against the Skrull. That had not been the case.
On the one hand, if he had stopped to think about it, it should have been obvious that he had no way to fight a Super-Skrull. But on the other hand, there was always going to be someone stronger than him.
'What could I have done instead?' he wondered, 'Whenever a strong enemy appears, should I just run away?'
That is not what a hero would do, and he would not do so either. Besides, someday Thanos will show up, and hiding in a hole somewhere would not save himself, or anyone else.
'The question then becomes, what can I do.' he thought, quickly checking his status. But even if everything was 100%, he simply did not have the strength to fight the Skrull.
Looking around, Mark knew there had to be something he could do to help. Reed and someone he did not know named Alyssa, were working on something in the lab while everyone else was essentially waiting around. He could feel that the others were as equally frustrated as him, and the longer they waited, the more frustrated everyone became.
Mark glanced toward the lab and asked himself if there was some way to help there, but quickly decided against the idea. Of course Cortana could easily help and then some, however he would not reveal Cortana to Reed under any circumstances.
'There has to be something I can do to help.' he thought again, as he looked around at the others until his eyes settled on Susan.
'I... have not see her use any force fields...' he slowly realized, 'Has she, not learned about that yet?'
A sudden lightbulb lit up in his head.
'Of course. It seems I need to take greater advantage of my Marvel knowledge.' Mark thought as he walked over to Susan, 'I just need to approach this in a way that does not look suspicious.'
Mark knew that Susan had only been able to turn invisible initially in the comics, and that she eventually discovered the true extent of her powers later. What he did not know was how she discovered her force field powers.
'Whatever. Susan learning a little earlier would probably be fine. What could possibly happen? ...hmm, is that thought tempting fate a little too much?'
"Susan, I had a question about your invisibility."
He could feel that his words brought her out of a dark mood as she said, "Yes?" her smile a little too forced.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
"...No, you are not," Mark said, looking her in the eye. "But I won't push."
Her smile faded at that, and she held his gaze for a moment before saying, "Out there today... I couldn't do anything but watch from the sidelines. There has to be something more I can do to help, but..."
"I understand. I have an idea that may be able to help with that."
Susan blinked, the faintest hint of surprise crossing her face, "Really?"
"When you turn invisible, what all can you hide with yourself?" he asked.
"Just my body, and the uniform because it's made of unstable molecules." she replied, gesturing at her Fantastic Four uniform, "Why?"
'Wait, wasn't she wearing normal cloths that first time they met... doesn't matter.'
"The Skrull today, it seemed to have all four of your team's powers. When it turned invisible, it was still flaming like Johnny, but all of its flames disappeared too."
Susan's brow furrowed as she followed his reasoning.
"That required its invisibility to cover a large area, so... if your power works the same way..." he said, letting her reach the conclusion herself.
Susan activated her power and vanished. Mark could still sense her presence through the Force, but otherwise she was completely invisible.
"Okay," Susan said, her voice coming from just in front of him, "But now what?"
'Perfect. Now just a little help in the right direction.' he thought, holding his hand out, "Try extending your power toward my hand."
There were a few moments of nothing and he could feel her frustration growing, "Susan, you need to focus... imagine your power moving out from your body and wrapping around my hand."
"Okay."
Mark kept his full attention on her through the Force, hoping he would be able to feel whether she succeeded or not. It was after a few more moments that something started to happen.
It was unlike anything he had experienced before. Mark could feel what seemed like psychic power, but shaped into something solid. It felt... clean, and like it was an extension of Susan herself.
As she extended it toward him, an invisible pressure pushed against his hand. At the same time she started becoming visible again.
"You did it," Mark said, a smile spreading across his face.
"What is that? And your hand, it didn't turn invisible." she said, before realizing her invisibility had faded, "What happened?"
"I think you just discovered a new power."
Susan stared at her hands, then back at Mark, "A new power?" she asked, and looked down at her hands again, almost as if she expected to see something different, "What was it?"
"You extended your power beyond yourself. Just do what you did before, between your hands. You will feel it." he said, letting her experiment.
Susan hesitated, then focused. A moment later an invisible force field came into existence between her palms that she seemed able to see. She drew a sharp breath and began testing it, pressing against the unseen surface with growing wonder.
Their actions had drawn Ben and Johnny's attention. As the two men started over, Mark glanced at Susan, "Do you have a training room to test your powers?"
She looked up from the force field between her hands, "Yes."
Mark turned and waved for Ben and Johnny to follow, "Lead the way, Sue. You are going to need the practice if you want to stand against the Skrull."
The reminder of their situation drained some of her enthusiasm, but she nodded. A new resolve settled over her features as she led the group out of the lab.
---
Several hours later, Reed called them back to the lab over the intercom. He had a solution, and a plan.
He was completely unprepared for the surprise Susan had to share.