"Oh my God, Eden."
"We actually ran into an alien invasion?"
"What do we do now?"
"Are we going to die here?"
William and Eden were crouched beneath the counter, trembling. William peeked out, eyes wide with panic as laser fire tore through the street outside.
"First, we hide," Eden whispered, yanking him back down. "Second, we wait for the superheroes to handle it."
He didn't want to see William's head vaporized by a Frank's Sa soldier's energy gun.
"The superheroes will save us, right?" William asked, voice quivering.
"Probably," Eden replied flatly, pulling out his phone to check the news. His brow furrowed almost immediately. "This isn't good."
On the screen, updates flashed:
Omni-Man and the Global Guardians are in Australia dealing with Dr. Earthquake.
Superman is in France battling an alien creature.
Eden's heart sank. "Great. Both my dad and mom are overseas right now."
William's voice cracked beside him. "So… no one's coming to save us?"
"Are Superman and Omni-Man the only heroes left on Earth?" Eden muttered in frustration.
Before William could reply, a confident voice shouted from outside:
"Don't be afraid, everyone! We're here to save you!"
The Teen Team had arrived, flying in on an orange-red hovercraft. At the front stood Atom Eve—whom Eden had met earlier that morning—and Explosion Rex, the loudmouthed hero who had just yelled. He was talented and powerful, destined to be a major hero someday, but for now he was still just a cocky punk with powers. Also, Eve's current boyfriend.
Eden wasn't particularly impressed. In truth, he wasn't interested in Eve, Rex, or the entire Teen Team. He just hoped they would defeat the aliens quickly so life could go back to normal.
"Eve! Save me!" William shouted when he spotted her.
Eden, using his X-ray vision to observe the battlefield, suddenly froze. The situation was far worse than it looked.
At first, Explosion Rex was unstoppable—like a fiery god descending from the sky—blasting apart several Frank's Sa soldiers. But seconds later, he was struck by a barrage of laser fire and dove behind rubble, coughing.
Kent—one of the cloning heroes—was doing worse. His duplicates were being shredded one after another by alien lasers, littering the ground with blood and flesh.
Robot held out longer, but even he was being overwhelmed by the aliens' sheer numbers.
And Atom Eve, the strongest of them all, was pinned down behind a glowing pink energy barrier, struggling to shield the others from the relentless onslaught.
"Seriously?" Eden muttered. The supposed "Teen Team" was scrambling for their lives. Instead of rescuing civilians, they now needed rescuing themselves.
He had two choices.
First: jump in and help these so-called heroes defeat the invaders.
Second: stay hidden, watch the massacre, and let his system fill up his Villain Value.
"Congratulations, host, for witnessing the Frank's Sa invasion of Earth—a perfect villainous act. Villain Charm Value +10!"
He could already imagine that smug system voice ringing in his head.
Eden sighed. "No thanks. I'll choose a third option."
His eyes glowed crimson.
"Buzz!"
Twin beams of searing heat vision erupted from his gaze, slicing through the alien ranks like blades of light. In an instant, thousands of Frank's Sa soldiers on the left flank were cut cleanly in half.
"What the hell just happened?" Rex gasped, staring at the corpses.
"I don't know!" Eve replied breathlessly, holding her barrier.
Robot's synthetic eyes flickered. "Whatever it was, we should seize this opportunity to counterattack. Kent—replicate at maximum capacity. Overwhelm them with numbers. Eve, protect Rex. Rex, we need heavy firepower!"
"Got it!" Rex shouted.
With more than half their enemies vaporized, the Teen Team regained their footing. Under Robot's quick command, they launched a coordinated counterattack, gradually pushing back the aliens on the right.
Laser beams and explosions filled the streets. The Frank's Sa soldiers faltered, terrified of the mysterious red light that had annihilated their comrades. Then, something strange began happening—their bodies started aging rapidly. Panic spread through their ranks. They dropped their weapons and bolted for the shimmering portal that connected their world to Earth.
Eden watched from afar, checking his phone again. "About an hour and a half before my parents return from Australia. That should be enough."
He looked at the retreating aliens. His jaw tightened.
If he let them escape, they'd regroup, return, and attack again. The casualties would multiply. And sooner or later, his own powers would be exposed anyway.
From the suddenness of this invasion, Eden realized one thing: on this dangerous planet, hiding wouldn't save him. Danger couldn't be avoided—it could only be faced.
Decision made, he vanished.
To the naked eye, he was a blur of motion as he shot through the portal after the fleeing aliens.
"Ha! We did it!" Rex cheered, panting heavily. "The Teen Team beat the aliens!"
William, still shaken, turned toward the street, eyes wide with relief. "Eden, did you see that? We're safe!"
He turned—
"Eden?"
The spot beside him was empty.
The walls of the Strawberry Parfait Shop were scorched, sliced cleanly as if by laser fire. William's face went pale. "No… no!"
He stumbled out of the shop into the ruined street, tears streaming as he looked at the destruction around him. "This isn't real! Eden, where are you?!"
Meanwhile, the Teen Team gathered among the wreckage.
"Ugh, I never want to see those bugs again," Rex groaned, clutching his stomach. He bent over and vomited.
"At least we beat them," Kent said proudly, crossing his arms.
"To be precise," Robot corrected, "they retreated on their own."
Rex scowled. "Fine. But we did suppress them!"
Robot shook his head. "No. What drove them off was that sudden red beam. It looked like a laser weapon of some kind."
Eve frowned, thoughtful. "But whose weapon was it?"
At that moment, William came running toward them, face pale, voice desperate. "Excuse me! Have any of you seen my friend—Eden?!"
"Eden?" Eve blinked. "Which Eden?"
"Eden Kent," he replied quickly, not realizing who she was. "He was with me when the aliens attacked."
Eve's expression froze. "Wait. Eden Kent? He was here?"
"He was right next to me," William said, voice trembling. "But after the fight ended, he disappeared! I shouldn't have dragged him out for strawberry parfait today—it's all my fault!"
Robot silently turned away from the others and walked to the half-destroyed café. He examined the melted walls, eyes glowing faintly as he scanned the damage. "Interesting…" he murmured, lost in thought.
Far away, on the Frank's Sa homeworld.
"Heh."
Eden hovered in the crimson sky, looking down at the alien army beneath him. The landscape was barren and red, the air heavy with the stench of metal and ozone. The Frank's Sa soldiers—green-skinned, insectoid, buzzing with energy—rushed into formation, their weapons humming.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
A torrent of laser fire erupted, painting the air with streaks of light.
Eden didn't flinch. The beams tore through his clothes, leaving faint scorch marks, but his skin remained unscathed. He looked down, expression calm, eyes glowing faintly red.
The aliens hesitated. Their most powerful weapons couldn't even scratch him.
"Don't you understand yet?" Eden's voice was quiet, but it carried through the battlefield like thunder.
"Earth is not here for you to invade."
He smiled faintly, eyes narrowing. The red glow intensified.
"Now it's my turn."
The air trembled as his heat vision erupted again—twin beams of light cutting through the alien ranks, disintegrating everything in their path. The Frank's Sa screamed in terror, scrambling to flee, but there was nowhere to run. Their warships exploded midair. Their energy cannons melted like wax.
Eden floated higher, surrounded by fire and ruin, like a crimson god descending upon judgment.
From below, the surviving Frank's Sa soldiers looked up, trembling. They had thought they were the conquerors—but now they understood they were prey.
"You brought war to my home," Eden said softly, his voice echoing across the burning plains. "Now face the consequences."
His heat vision blazed again. The ground split open. Lava burst forth. The planet itself seemed to shudder beneath his wrath.
The Frank's Sa homeworld, once filled with their buzzing fleets, began to collapse under the fury of one enraged son of Superman.
Back on Earth, the Teen Team was still trying to make sense of what had happened.
"Robot," Eve asked quietly, "do you think that red light was… him?"
Robot didn't answer. His sensors flickered as he reviewed the data. "Energy signature detected," he said finally. "Similar to Kryptonian thermal radiation."
Eve's eyes widened. "Kryptonian? As in Superman?"
"Possibly," Robot replied, his tone unreadable. "But Superman is currently in France. Whoever this was… he's not listed in the Global Guardian registry."
William, sitting nearby with his head in his hands, whispered, "Eden… please come back…"
Eve looked toward the sky, uncertainty clouding her expression. "Who are you really, Eden Kent?"
On the other side of the galaxy, Eden stood amid silence. The planet beneath him was burning, its armies annihilated, its surface cracked and molten.
He took a slow breath, the heat of his own destruction washing over him. His cape—torn and blackened—fluttered in the searing wind.
"This is what happens when you threaten my home," he said quietly.
There was no pride in his voice—only cold certainty.
The system's voice chimed faintly in his mind:
"Congratulations, host. You have repelled an extraterrestrial invasion and eradicated a hostile civilization. Villain Charm Value +500."
Eden exhaled. "Villain, huh?"
He looked up at the stars, where Earth shimmered faintly in the distance. "If protecting my world makes me a villain… then so be it."
With that, he turned and shot back toward the blue planet, leaving behind a world of ashes.
End of Chapter