Firecracker wanted to give her young boyfriend a dose of harsh reality, to show him just how tough life in the adult world could be. She hoped he would come to admire her maturity, intelligence, and competence.
"According to the online records, you're only twenty-seven, but you look at least thirty now,"
Russell shook his head and said casually.
"If you lost some weight, did some training, and became more agile, it would be good for your superhero career too."
"My superhero career…?"
Firecracker Girl couldn't help but laugh. She hadn't expected a student like Russell to be giving her advice on being a superhero.
"Even if I trained myself to be more skilled than an elite female special forces operative, it wouldn't help my career in the slightest."
Her ability was to charge objects with explosive energy—basically the same as Exploding Rex.
But while Rex's powers had some real strength to them, hers… well, you could tell how strong she was just by her codename: Firecracker.
With powers like hers, unless she used her body to cozy up to someone powerful, her superhero career was already doomed to a low ceiling.
"If you slimmed down and trained to become stronger, I might consider helping you achieve your wish. Haven't you always wanted to get revenge on Starlight? Make her kneel before you, crying and begging for forgiveness?"
It was worth mentioning—Russell had already collected her template the night before.
That might count as a "defeat," technically.
After all, they'd both ended up a little banged up.
He didn't like the current version of Firecracker, and it seemed she didn't either. He also wanted to use her to test whether he could re-copy a template if a person's strength changed.
"You?"
Firecracker froze, thinking she must have misheard. Her expression turned strange.
"How could you possibly help me?"
"You'll see soon enough."
Russell knew she didn't believe him. He gave her a deep look—and in the next moment, he vanished on the spot, a strong gust of wind sweeping through the room as he left.
Sitting on the bed, Firecracker's hair flew in all directions.
When she finally realized Russell had disappeared, she blinked blankly. A delayed realization dawned on her—had she gotten drunk last night and hooked up with a superhuman… still in school?
Was he studying at Godolkin University—the only official superhero college owned by Vought?
And he seemed… really powerful—a speedster?
For a moment, Firecracker found herself daring to hope. Even though she had long since given up on revenge in despair, now it felt like a tiny ray of hope had cracked through the darkness.
Could this young man, who she'd only spent a single night with, actually help her get revenge?
She hurriedly grabbed her laptop and started searching for top students at Godolkin University.
But after a long search… nothing.
Firecracker froze.
…
After leaving Firecracker's place, Russell figured he still had some time before school started in Invincible and The Boys' shared world, so why not casually take down another superhero before class?
Seattle Skies.
Whooosh—
In the freezing high-altitude wind, a man clad in a deep blue battle suit soared like a modern-day Icarus, eyes locked on the sun in the distant void of space.
His white cape flapped loudly in the thin atmosphere. Frost clung to the silver trim on his decorative shoulder pads, glinting coldly.
In his arm, a blonde woman hung limp like a rag doll. Her once-rosy lips had turned purplish-blue, and she was trembling uncontrollably.
"Please… stop," she pleaded.
At first, the college student had been thrilled to fly through the skies with a superhero. She thought the exhilarating experience would be something to brag about for the rest of her life.
But soon, she started shivering uncontrollably—not just from fear, but also from the bitter cold.
The hero known as Miracle held her close as he flew higher and higher. In the blink of an eye, they were tens of thousands of feet above ground.
"Stop… it's too cold… I'm begging you…"
As they ascended, the blonde student's face turned pale blue. One hand clung desperately to his cape, the other clutching her throat.
She couldn't breathe.
"Even higher! Closer to the sun!"
As the fragile, beautiful life in his arms began to plead in despair, Miracle inhaled deeply, a manic light flashing in his blue eyes.
His steel-like body was immune to the subzero temperatures.
"Still not enough. Not beautiful enough yet."
He laughed like a lunatic, breaking into a sharp acceleration and blasting past the stratosphere.
Only when the woman in his arms froze solid in the dozens-below-zero cold would he gently let go—watching his latest "art piece" drift gracefully through low Earth orbit.
In the vacuum of space, their final tears would crystallize like diamonds, shimmering in the sunlight.
As he entered the mesosphere—a terrifying altitude too high for any airplane—temperatures plummeted further.
Then, suddenly, Miracle saw something in the vast expanse of sky that he didn't recognize.
"Finally found you."
He turned to look—and saw a handsome, dark-haired young man waving at him.
"Huh?"
Miracle froze.
A second later, a punch smashed into him, sending him flying. The suffocating woman in his arms was snatched away.
"You dare attack me?!"
Miracle tumbled through the air but quickly regained control. Enraged, he prepared to teach the reckless brat a lesson.
Just because you can fly doesn't mean you get to challenge the mighty Miracle!
But the man had vanished. Miracle looked left and right but saw nothing.
"Ran away?" he muttered.
Then, someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"Looking for me?"
The young man in workout clothes hovered behind him, arms crossed. Though he smiled, his eyes held no warmth.
"You've got some nerve showing your face again!"
Furious, Miracle threw a punch at the annoying young punk.
But as his fist flew forward, he suddenly realized—wait, where did that woman go?
A cold iron grip clamped down on his face like a vise. The pressure nearly cracked his skull. Through the spaces between the fingers, Miracle's eyes widened in fear as he stared at the youth's disgusted, indifferent expression.
"You like taking people for high-altitude joyrides?"
"I'll return the favor."
The cold voice echoed in his ears. Sweat began to bead on Miracle's forehead. He finally understood—this man had taken the woman and returned her to the ground, dozens of kilometers below, in just one or two seconds.
Impossible!
Which meant his flying speed must be at least hundreds of times faster than the speed of sound!
That kind of speed… that kind of power…
A dreadful premonition filled Miracle's heart.
In the next moment, the world around him blurred and twisted. Air friction from the extreme velocity turned into blazing heat, and flames licked at his body.
"It burns! My skin's on fire!"
.....
[300PS= 1Bonus chapter]
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