"Ahem, actually, me too. I fly faster than Russell," Mark couldn't help chiming in.
"You?" Eve turned her head. Recalling Mark's arrival the day before, he had indeed been incredibly fast, the sonic boom from his flight shattering windows of several buildings downtown.
As the three chatted, they arrived at their destination, landing on the rooftop of a building.
Clank!
A mechanism on the rooftop opened downward, and Eve led the two of them inside the building. The entire structure had been hollowed out to serve as a base, neatly divided into various zones like a reading area, gym, and relaxation spaces.
All around were high-tech devices far beyond civilian standards.
Russell suspected they were mostly the work of Robot.
"Whoa…" Mark marveled as they walked in, impressed by how hidden the base was. "This is so cool—just like I imagined a superhero base would be!"
"Russell, you've been to the Global Guardians base. Which one do you think is better?" he asked, unable to contain his curiosity.
"About the same."
Russell shrugged.
The Global Guardians HQ was bigger, but apart from Darkwing, there weren't many tech experts. This base clearly had higher technological sophistication.
"Cool…" Mark had just been excitedly scanning the surroundings when his smile abruptly vanished. He spotted the rest of the superhero team he'd seen yesterday—and watched as Eve casually walked up and kissed Rex Splode on the lips like a close couple greeting each other.
"Pull yourself together, Mark."
Russell gave his shoulder a pat, reminding him in time. Mark's face stiffened, but he quickly forced a smile, concealing his true feelings.
"This is Dupli-Kate, Rex Splode, and Robot," Eve said with a smile, introducing them. "You met them yesterday."
"Hey, it's you—the kid who was late yesterday," Rex Splode teased.
"And you… that whirlwind cool guy!"
Russell had changed outfits, but his black mask made it easy for the Teen Team to recognize him.
Dupli-Kate greeted him seriously with a raised hand.
Russell nodded in return.
"Welcome, both of you. I'm Robot," a voice called from a second-floor platform. Robot, in the middle of calibrating a machine, turned his head. "I apologize for Rex Splode's comments. He tends to…"
"Run his mouth."
"Be rude."
Atom Eve and Dupli-Kate each added a jab.
Who jokes with guests the moment they walk in?
"Oh no, I've clearly angered everyone!" Rex Splode mockingly raised his hands in surrender, his usual cocky attitude still on full display.
Old habits die hard.
Beep beep beep!
Suddenly, the machine Robot was working on emitted a shrill noise, causing everyone to frown.
Superhumans generally have sensitive hearing.
"Hey, Robot, can you turn off that multi-ton alarm clock of yours? It's driving me nuts," Rex covered his ears and looked upstairs in frustration.
"That's not an alarm clock—it's a warning system." Robot silenced the alarm and jumped down to explain the situation to everyone.
"Warning system?"
"The Flaxans… I've deciphered the alien army's language. They call themselves the Flaxans. Yesterday…"
To ensure everyone understood, Robot quickly recapped who the Flaxans were, then glanced at Russell mid-sentence, momentarily unsure how to address him.
"Infinite. You can call me Infinite,"
Russell said, tracing a symbol in the air—an infinity sign, like a sideways 8.
Infinite—because his powers had infinite possibilities.
The name might sound a bit grandiose, but Russell figured it was still better than his uncle's "Omni-Man" or Mark's "Invincible." Compared to "Omni" and "Invincible," "Infinite" was low-key and pleasant-sounding.
"After Infinite defeated the alien army yesterday, I worked with the Global Defense Bureau to clean up the battlefield. The alien metal weapons they left behind corroded rapidly—as if decades had passed in just a day."
Robot quickly continued.
"We discovered their dimension has a much faster time rate. Their particles even spin faster than ours. That's why I designed this detector—it will instantly alert us if they try to invade again."
"So those aliens are back? What are we waiting for—let's smash them!" Rex Splode's expression turned serious.
"Finally, I can help this time."
Mark clenched his fists eagerly.
The others didn't pick up on the key point in Robot's explanation. They assumed the Flaxans would be as easy to defeat as last time. Russell shook his head slightly.
"Don't be careless. One day here equals decades for them.
To us, only a day passed. But to the Flaxans, decades have gone by—they've likely made significant technological advances and spent decades studying how to counter the enemies they encountered during their last invasion."
"Then you're in trouble, Russell." Mark's eyes widened as the realization hit him.
The others turned to look at Russell in alarm. Last time, their team had only managed to stall the enemy—he was the one who had crushed them with overwhelming power.
"Those aliens are probably bringing something specifically to deal with you."
"I'm curious to see what they've got," Russell said with a cold smirk, arms crossed as he looked toward the city center.
Rip!
..................................
In downtown Chicago, surrounded by towering skyscrapers—
A glowing orange rift suddenly appeared on the horizon, tearing across reality like a wound in space.
Like the hum of a thousand bees, the dimensional portal opened with a screeching quantum resonance, unstable energy crackling at its edges.
The first to emerge were the Flaxans' heavy-armored divisions.
Twenty main battle tanks rolled out in a wedge formation.
Buzz—
These multi-ton war machines were coated in white hexagonal composite armor. Their turrets bore brutal laser cannons, each blast of red light vaporizing approaching police cars—vehicles and passengers alike.
Infantry units advanced under the tanks' cover. Some soldiers at the center of the formation immediately began spraying a gray sludge-like substance onto the ground.
The rest wore modular combat suits, wielding laser rifles that mercilessly gunned down every living thing in sight.
"Aliens—they're back!"
Civilians had barely begun to recover from the trauma of the previous day. Many were still lighting candles and laying flowers in memory of their lost loved ones. But now, the nightmare was happening again—just one day later!
Panic swept the crowd.
The alien forces moved forward with flawless coordination. Every unit executed their role with deadly precision.
No shouting. No confusion. Just cold, calculated slaughter.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Time itself seemed to freeze.
Russell was the first to arrive at the scene. Moving at blinding speed, he evacuated civilians, rushing them several blocks away while eyeing the alien army to assess how they had changed.
It was obvious: their tanks, vehicles, and weapons had gone through several iterations. The new versions looked significantly more advanced.
"There's no way this is all they brought."
.....
[300PS= 1Bonus chapter]
If you want to read 30 advanced chapters before they get Thanos-snapped, check out my [email protected]/INTRAX (Replace @ with 'a')