Bang! Bang! Bang!
Struck by three heavy punches in succession, Mark, already exhausted and barely holding on, plummeted from the sky and slammed into the ground, blasting out another enormous crater.
"Nolan taught you well, kid, but not well enough."
Spitting out several broken teeth, Conquest, now utterly caught up in the fight, floated down beside the badly injured Mark with a vicious grin and hauled him up.
In the original story, Mark had been far too weak when he first fought Conquest. Conquest had deliberately held back considerably to prolong his fun, and with help from his teammates later on, Mark had barely managed to win at the cost of severe injuries.
But Superman's guidance had made him noticeably stronger lately, which prompted Conquest to go all out from the start. Before long, he had beaten Mark into the dirt.
Simply put, the stronger Mark got, the weaker Mark became.
"Zuo Ci, aren't you going to save him yet? Mark's in really bad shape."
Watching from the sidelines, Superman's heart was in his throat. He did want to train Mark, but he had absolutely no intention of abusing him.
He had wanted to intervene several times while Conquest was pummeling Mark, but Zuo Ci had stopped him every time.
"No rush, let's... actually, let's save him. Any later and Invincible might lose more than just his invincibility."
Holding a camera, Zuo Ci had recorded the entire fight and had intended to get a little more footage. But on closer inspection, he realized Mark had been beaten so swollen he was almost turning into Ryoko.
No helping it. My turn next.
Oh, Invincible, why do you always end up getting beaten up?
"Superman, get ready to catch him. Remember to give him the medicine."
After saving the video, Zuo Ci