The Invincibles Read Free Page A

city, slamming his face down through the crumpling buildings. He lay still as the flames ate away at his flesh and clothes.
    Nightshadow struggled up and wobbled about on his feet. He spared a quick look back at the children, who sat in horrified, gaping silence. They seemed to be mostly all right though. He then stared numbly down at the Reaper’s body. The blue fire charred and blackened it into only a mockery of a man.

PART ONE: POWERS

     
     

Chapter 1: HYPER-LIFE

     
    While Hyperman had stopped visibly aging decades ago, he’d only noticed this past year he was actually becoming more and more powerful over time too. He was now stronger, faster, and better than ever. For example, Diatomite-x, a glittering, ultra-hot alien substance, had once weakened or poisoned him in various ways, or even stole his powers, depending on what color it was. Nowadays, it did nothing to him. Not that this new El Dorado noticed.
    Having obviously soaked himself in a golden Diatomite-x chemical bath, he shimmered and radiated vast swathes of toxic heat. Fierce liquid metal sloppily covered him, turning him into a blobby, steaming radioactive mess. All morning, Hyperman had been repairing the damage Comet Master had done to the International Space Station. His hyper-hearing picked up the distress down in New Daedalus as El Dorado melted through a bank and set all the money on fire.
    “ Tell me I’m a deadbeat now!” El Dorado yelled, sloshing golden fire and burning toxic slop everywhere. “Tell me I don’t qualify for a loan! Tell El Dorado his mortgage payment is late!”
    Hyperman swooped down and carried off the bank’s employees, customers, and passersby to the safety of a park a mile away before anyone got seriously hurt, before sweeping back out of the sky toward the bank.
    The day had turned chilly. Trees fluttered in the sharp, sickle-like wind. A white sun hazed down. Due to El Dorado, the air smelled of burning body fat. Traffic had jammed and stopped due to the attack.
    El Dorado stalked out of the charred, black-scorched bank storefront with shattered glass, melted slop, and little fires surrounding him. His footprints burned through the sidewalk.
    “ BURN, FREAK!” he screamed. Thick, nova-hot radiation poured out of his fists into Hyperman and the booming blast was actually enough to knock him over. The force of the impact sent a few trees crashing through the storefront windows. Cars flipped over onto the sidewalk and bashed into townhouses. A stop sign went screeching down the pavement, and a few street poles broke and twirled through the air.
    Most bystanders fled, scrambling out of their cars or stumble-sprinting away, yelping and crying. At a distance, a crowd formed to watch the spectacle. Eyes peered past window curtains in the nearby buildings. People held up their phones to photograph and record what was happening.
    El Dorado’s radioactive muck was splashing everywhere and melting through the sidewalks, trees, cars, and mailboxes. Even at a distance, someone could get hurt or sick from exposure to the Diatomite-x, and everyone around stood a good chance of becoming collateral damage due to the fight.
    Hyperman knew he couldn’t screw around. He needed to end this fast before someone got burned. That meant getting a little sneaky. So he feigned weakness and struggled back against El Dorado’s onslaught. He even collapsed theatrically down to one knee.
    “ Yeah, fuck you!” El Dorado shouted. “You think you’re God, asshole? You’re nothing! NOTHING!”
    Hyperman rolled his eyes. Had this guy ever even considered using his abilities to help people and save lives? To change the world for the better? He could generate enough power for entire countries to run on! That’d make him far, far richer than knocking over some bank! He was a horrible, horrible waste of potential and power.
    After gulping up a huge, consuming breath, Hyperman blew it out. The storm of air blitzed into El Dorado and encased him