Powerplex's Mission is an ongoing event in Invincible, in which Scott Duvall/Powerplex begins his senseless crusade to kill Invincible in the name of his late sister, Jessica Duvall.
History[]
One year ago, Jessica Duvall and her daughter, Gretchen Duvall, were two of the unlucky civilians killed in the battle between Omni-Man and his son, Invincible. This catastrophe was forever remembered by the survivors as the Destruction of Chicago.
Scott Duvall was an unfortunate witness to the incident and was, no doubt, in shock and horrified that his sister and niece had died. He blamed Omni-Man, of course, but unlike many, he also blamed the event on his son, Invincible, who ironically attempted to save people that day. Scott attempted to petition District Attorney Barnett into opening an investigation and trial against Invincible, only to be told that there was nothing she could do.
Revenge For The Fallen[]
These two need help.
With both the law and the Global Defense Agency refusing to do anything about Invincible, Duvall resorted to taking matters into his own hands. Using his own position as a researcher at the GDA, he stole experimental power storage discs to enhance his own low-level energy absorption powers. With the support of his wife Becky, who shared his misguided hatred towards Invincible, Duvall created his super identity as Powerplex with the intent of forcing Invincible to face justice for the massacre in Chicago.
In an effort to get Invincible's attention, Powerplex jumped off a high building and made a spectacular landing to charge himself up. Quickly getting both police and media attention, Powerplex caused acts of destruction and demanded Invincible face him. Though Invincible, in his civilian identity as Mark Grayson, saw Powerplex on the news, he chose to ignore it because he was celebrating William Clockwell's birthday, choosing to instead delegate the crisis to other superheroes.
Shapesmith fights Powerplex.
With his nemesis unwilling to show and his audience reacting in fear of him, Powerplex began to rant on about how Invincible should pay for the lives lost in Chicago. However, instead of Invincible, the only superhero to show up was Shapesmith, who tried to fight him, only to charge his opponent up and blast him with a powerful storm of electricity, knocking out Shapesmith as well as devastating the surrounding area. Shocked at what he just did, Powerplex tried to defend his actions before retreating from the scene upon seeing civilians scared expression and when the police called for backup.
Desperation[]
Returning to his home, Powerplex lamented in his failure and botched plan to face Invincible, and exclaimed that the GDA would figure out he stole their technology, estimating they had only a few days before they found him. As he wondered why Invincible did not show, Becky suggested that Invincible knew facing him would have only proven his point. She then suggested that he try calling out Invincible again at the memorial event happening in a few days, commemorating the very lives he was seeking justice for.
Powerplex did just that as Chicago's mayor was beginning her speech and seized her podium, calling out some of the names of the fallen, including his sister and niece, and demanded Invincible face him. As a matter of fact, the Graysons were among those in attendance, but Mark's mother restrained him, recognizing Powerplex as deeply troubled and that Invincible facing him would only make it worse. Instead, Powerplex came face-to-face with Atom Eve, who tried to get him to stand down, but he attacked her out of anger. Quickly deducing how his powers worked, Eve managed to restrain him as The Immortal, Darkwing II and Shapesmith arrived to take him into custody.
Powerplex was then loaded into a GDA transport to take him to prison. However, Powerplex quickly charged himself up by slamming himself into the wall of the vehicle, after which he caused the transport to crash so he could escape. Returning home a failure once more, Powerplex anticipated the GDA would soon be arriving and urged Becky to take their son Jack and flee. However, his wife insisted they make one last play to face Invincible.
Face to Face[]
Despite having cut ties with the GDA, Mark met with Donald Ferguson atop the Tailor Shoppe for information on Powerplex; Donald agreed to provide the information without Cecil Stedman's knowledge. He then added that the G.D.A. raided the Duvall house and found that he had been tracking Invincible for months. Mark assumed that Duvall was the one sending spy drones after him only for Donald to assure him the drone he caught was not G.D.A. technology. Wanting to make peace with Powerplex, Mark requested to see him only to be told that he had escaped, shortly before Donald received word that Powerplex had apparently taken two hostages, who were in fact his own wife and son, and sent a viral video demanding Invincible face him immediately.
Powerplex and Becky see Invincible (off-screen).
Invincible confronted Powerplex in the very apartment building destroyed by his and Omni-Man's clash that killed Jessica and Gretchen. Invincible attempted to apologize for his loss, but this only caused his enemy to attack him out of anger.
Refusing to fight back and realizing that the "hostages" were in danger, Invincible attempted to save them even when Powerplex stood in the way, forcing him to kick him into a wall. But before he could free Becky from her bonds, she instead spat in his face, calling him a monster. Powerplex soon recovered and threw Invincible away from his family before grabbing him by the head and in a sheer fit of rage, unleashed a massive surge of energy in a reckless attempt to kill the here.
Invincible forces Powerplex to deplete his energy by bear-hugging him, with Powerplex's deceased family visible on the right.
As Invincible fell to the floor, Powerplex turned to see that he had accidentally killed his wife and child. Grief soon turned to rage as he attacked Invincible, blaming him for their deaths. Invincible managed to withstand his opponent's attack and grabbed him by the wrist, giving Powerplex a bear hug. Powerplex unleashed the rest of his energy, only to exhaust his powers and leaving him weeping on the floor.
Powerplex was then sent to Payton Penitentiary and was fitted with restraints to keep him from escaping. Donald stated that it was impossible to remove the discs from his body without killing him, meaning rehabilitation would be difficult. He assured Mark that the GDA would do everything possible to ensure an incident like this never happens again. Mark then spoke with Duvall privately, trying to sympathize with his loss, but Duvall still irrationally blamed him for all his losses and vowed revenge, forcing Invincible to depart.
Sightings[]
| Season 3 | ||||||||||||
| 1. "You're Not Laughing Now": | Absent | 5. "This Was Supposed To Be Easy": | Absent | |||||||||
| 2. "A Deal With The Devil": | Absent | 6. "All I Can Say Is I'm Sorry": | Debut | |||||||||
| 3. "You Want A Real Costume, Right?": | Absent | 7. "What Have I Done?": | Absent | |||||||||
| 4. "You Were My Hero": | Absent | 8. "I Thought You'd Never Shut Up": | Absent | |||||||||
Trivia[]
- This event is considered one of the most disturbing in the Invincible series, as it depicts Powerplex’s family being electrocuted to death by Powerplex himself.
- It also marks the first time a child is killed on-screen in the series; previous episodes only hinted at the deaths of minors off-screen.
- In the comics, Becky smiles when Powerplex electrocutes Invincible, whereas, in the show, she is ironically shocked.
- Additionally, Atom Eve never encounters or fights Powerplex in the comics; this is an exclusive moment from the show.