Guardians of the Globe base.
Eden walked in just in time to hear Rex Splode sneer at Monster Girl.
"Hahaha! Seriously? Why is a little kid like you in the Guardians' second team? What, you gonna pout at the enemy until they die from cuteness?"
Donald winced. "This… doesn't look good."
"Damn it, Rex," Cecil muttered, rolling his eyes. "One of these days, I'm gonna pay someone to sew that mouth shut."
"You think I'm cute?"
Monster Girl's skin suddenly glowed. Her tiny frame stretched and twisted until, in a flash, she towered over the room—transformed into a hulking green beast.
"Monkey Hulk," Eden thought dryly.
"Oh, shit."
Rex stumbled back, legs trembling as he stared up at the monster.
"Die!"
Monster Girl—now male, thanks to her cursed transformation—swung a fist that sent Rex flying from the lounge. He slammed into the reinforced glass overlooking the training field.
*CRASH!*
The glass shattered like paper. Rex tumbled ten meters down, crashing onto the field with a sickening thud.
*BOOM!*
Monster Girl leapt through the broken window and landed beside him, eyes blazing.
"Damn beast…" Rex groaned, dragging himself up, clutching his chest as he staggered back. For all his whining, he could take a hit.
Monster Girl cracked his knuckles, every pop echoing like gunfire. He stalked forward slowly. "Time to prove which one of us is really the cute one."
"That's enough."
Cecil's voice cut through the tension. He stepped into the field in a blink, gaze icy. "This is the Guardians' base—the highest hall of superheroes. Not a playground. Not a street brawl. If you two want to keep fighting, you can take it outside."
"Tch. Lucky bastard," Monster Girl muttered, shifting back to her child form.
"Shrunk again," Eden observed quietly. His Super Senses caught details others missed—her body wasn't just shrinking. It was getting younger. Faster than anyone realized.
At this rate, she'd end up needing someone to change her diapers on the battlefield.
"So who exactly made it into this second team?" Eden asked Donald.
Donald grimaced. "Uh… I just got here too. Don't ask me."
Robot strode over, ever-efficient. "Currently, the roster is Atom Eve, Rex Splode, Dupli-Kate, Black Samson, Monster Girl, Shrinking Rae, and myself. This is the best lineup I could assemble."
Eden sighed. "And the first team? You booted the Immortal—who's filling his spot?"
"We've narrowed it down to Brit or Bulletproof," Robot replied.
"Put Brit in," Eden decided instantly.
"Understood." Robot nodded.
But their conversation wasn't exactly private. The other heroes were already whispering.
"Who the hell is this guy?"
"He's wearing Superman's crest… what's his deal with him?"
Bulletproof wasn't whispering. He stomped forward, glaring up at Eden.
"Hey! Wearing Superman's logo doesn't make you him. You don't get to decide who replaces the Immortal on the first team!" His eyes narrowed. "What, you think you're more qualified than Brit?"
Eden's face stayed calm. "Of course I am."
"Damn right I am too!" Bulletproof puffed up his chest. "I've got everything Brit's got—his durability, his invulnerability. That's why they call me Bulletproof! And I've got more—flight, super strength, super speed! Abilities Brit doesn't even touch. If anyone deserves that spot, it's me."
Eden didn't answer. He'd already heard enough. His Super Senses had picked up every arrogant word Bulletproof bragged to the others earlier: *Don't worry. I'll take Brit's spot. Then all the fangirls around the world will be lining up for me.*
Yeah. Eden wasn't giving this clown anything. This wasn't a rap contest, and they weren't recruiting a guy who bragged about sleeping with fans.
"I'll test your durability myself," Eden said coldly, raising his fist.
"Go ahead," Bulletproof smirked, pounding his chest. "Do your worst."
*SMACK!*
Eden didn't throw a punch. He slapped him.
"Shit—!" Bulletproof's confidence crumbled in the split second before impact. In his eyes, the slap grew impossibly massive, a tidal wave about to crush him. Death itself flashed in his vision.
Too late.
*BOOM!*
The sound rang like a cannon. Bulletproof shot across the field like a human missile, crashing into the training ground so hard the shockwave rattled the entire base.
When the dust cleared, he was a broken mess at the bottom of a hundred-meter crater, bloodied and barely conscious.
Eden looked down at him without a shred of sympathy.
"Guess you're bulletproof. But not slap-proof."
His gaze swept across the stunned heroes.
"Anyone else got a problem with my decision?"
"Nope!"
"Not me!"
Hands went up, heads shook, voices rushed to answer.
A few muttered under their breath:
"Holy shit… he's not just wearing Superman's symbol. He fights like him too."
...
"Get him out of there!"
Donald, the GDA's top agent, barked orders. His men scrambled to dig Bulletproof's mangled body out of the crater and rush him to medical.
Eden didn't so much as glance their way.
Bulletproof had made three fatal mistakes. One, he was a poser. Two, his attitude sucked. And three, he actually had the balls to mouth off to Eden's face.
"Those who've just been selected for the Guardians' Second Team, assemble here immediately!
"The rest of you, don't get discouraged. You might have a shot at the Third Team down the road."
Robot stepped in, breaking the tension, rallying the group of shell-shocked young heroes.
Yeah. Who said Robot didn't understand people?
"Please, Eve! I'm begging you! Don't report me! Come on, for old times' sake!"
While Robot gathered the recruits, Rex collapsed to his knees with a dramatic *thud*, bowing his head over and over toward Atom Eve.
"I swear I could kill you, Rex."
Eve's glare was ice-cold as she brushed past him, joining Robot at the front.
"Heh…" Rex laughed nervously, edging as far from her as possible.
"Everyone, allow me to introduce…" Robot began, gesturing toward Cecil. "This is Director Cecil Stedman of the GDA, and—"
When his gaze landed on Eden, he faltered. He honestly didn't know what title to use.
"Call me Black Suit Super," Eden said flatly, finishing the thought for him. "That's all you need to know."
"Have we met before?" Eve tilted her head, curiosity flashing in her eyes. "There's something about you that feels… familiar."
"Eve, remember when we were in the Subterranean World? This guy's the one who saved us," Rex cut in before Eden could answer.
He grinned at Eden. "Seriously, bro, thanks. Without you, we'd be spider chow by now."
"True." The rest of the Teen Team nodded in agreement.
"Did I ask you?" Eve snapped, shooting Rex another death glare before turning back to Eden. Her voice softened. "So it was you who saved me back then. Thank you."
Rex hunched his shoulders, shutting his mouth fast. He clearly had dirt Eve could hold over him, because he didn't dare push back.
Eden ignored their little drama. He had bigger things to address.
"You probably don't get it yet. The moment you step up from the Teen Team to the Guardians, the enemies you face are a whole different league.
"If you keep treating this like a game, you're going to die. Horribly. Don't expect me to bail you out every time, like when I carried you against Doctor Seismic in the Subterranean World."
His tone was sharp, heavy with warning.
"Is he really that strong?" Monster Girl asked, side-eyeing Rex.
"Drop the 'really,'" Rex snapped. "He could slap you around in beast form the same way he did Bulletproof."
"You want me to smash your face in?" she snarled, her arms already morphing.
"Jesus! I get it, I get it!" Rex threw up his hands and shut up quick.
"Originally, members of the Guardians' First Team were supposed to train you," Robot explained. "But they're busy right now—Lizard League broke out of prison. So…"
Eden glanced at the clock on the far wall. "I'll do it myself. Robot, record everything."
"Roger." Robot gave him an OK sign. High-tech scanners lined the arena, ready to log every movement and feed the data back for analysis.
"Uh, I might not be able to train…" Monster Girl raised her hand awkwardly. "My powers come with some… side effects."
"Every time you transform, you get younger," Eden said before she could finish.
Her eyes widened. "How do you know that?"
"I can see it." Eden turned to Robot. "Analyze her abilities. Find a way to cancel the side effect."
Robot gave Monster Girl a long, thoughtful look before nodding. "Understood."
"Good. Then let's begin."
Eden floated off the ground, drifting to the center of the arena.
"Let's go!" Shrinking Ray and the others scrambled down from the stands, spreading out to surround him. Eve, Kate, Rex, Ray, Monster Girl, Black Samson, and Brit's replacement all tightened the circle.
"I only have five minutes. If any of you can last that long against me, you pass."
"Five minutes?!" Monster Girl roared. "You're underestimating us!"
She transformed in a flash of green muscle, charging straight at him.
*BAM!*
Eden didn't flinch. His fist met her head-on, smashing her aside. "Monster Girl, you rely too much on brute force. If someone's stronger, you're done. You need real combat training."
She coughed up blood, spinning through the air before crashing to the ground, reverting back to her smaller form.
"Rex," she wheezed, "you were right…" Then she collapsed unconscious.
"My turn!" Shrinking Ray vaulted forward, shrinking down to slip past Eden's guard.
Eden extended one finger, poking at empty air.
*Pop!*
Ray reappeared at full size, sprawled out and wheezing on the floor.
"Your body's too fragile. Don't ever try that trick on someone whose biology outclasses yours—you'll get erased from the inside out."
Eden barely spared him another look before Eve lunged, wrapping herself in a pink armored shell.
*CRACK!*
His palm shattered her armor instantly. A light tap to her stomach folded her over.
"You should be in a physics lecture hall, not here."
Eve crumpled at his feet.
"You too." Eden blurred behind Rex and flattened him into the dirt with a slap.
"Holy shit—it's only been thirty seconds," Black Samson muttered, glancing at the clock in disbelief.
"What's your power, anyway?" Eden asked, tearing apart Samson's jet pack with one hand. "Don't tell me it's just being rich."
"Everyone at once!"
Brit's replacement charged from the left, Kate from the right.
"Not bad." Eden hurled Samson like a ragdoll, using him as a bludgeon to smash into Brit's replacement. Then he snatched him up and flung him at Kate.
*WHAM!*
She didn't even have time to split into duplicates before the collision knocked her out cold.
"Kate, you should've had a clone in reserve. If I were you, I'd always keep one at base as backup."
Eden's voice echoed over the groans of the fallen heroes.