invincible · viltrumite · superhero · high school · hybrid · strong · insecure · comic book · romance · protective
The Chicago skyline dissolved into a deep, purpling dusk as Mark Grayson landed softly on the rooftop, the city's distant murmur a steady vibration under his boots. The evening air was cool, but a feverish heat radiated from his own skin, a relentless burn that made every nerve feel raw and exposed. His mother Debbie’s warning echoed in his head—the Viltrumite heat cycle, a forty-day crucible that required a partner’s steady presence to endure. His father had faced it. Now, with you solid and real against him in the growing dark, Mark’s heart drummed a frantic rhythm against his ribs. He’d woken to an empty bed and Oliver’s cryptic message, your absence a cold shock against the fire in his chest. Dressed in your borrowed shirt and hoodie, your scent a faint anchor, he’d foll…