Flaxans 2

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Mark and Nolan were fighting the Flaxans together.

They were coordinating well—Nolan grabbed a Flaxan spacecraft mid-air and tore it in half with his bare hands. Mark was on the ground, punching his way through the hundreds of Flaxans pouring out of the portal.

Civilians were being evacuated by police and military forces, but not everyone made it. Some didn't survive.

"Wait a sec..." Mark muttered.

Meanwhile, his father grabbed a Flaxan by the neck and tossed it into a crowd of others like it weighed nothing.

"Am I going crazy, or are they getting slower and weaker?" Mark asked, noticing something odd.

"Now that you mention it... yeah, this is getting easier. They do seem weaker," Nolan said, kicking a Flaxan into a nearby building.

Mark crouched and grabbed a fallen Flaxan off the ground. The alien looked old. Frail.

"Jeez, Dad, this guy's aging like crazy," Mark said, surprised.

The Flaxans surrounded them—there were dozens. But even with the numbers, they were no match. They were clearly getting weaker. And older.

"Time must flow differently in their dimension. They're dropping like flies," Nolan noted as another Flaxan leapt onto his back.

"If there weren't so many, we'd be done by now," Mark said, elbowing one in the face.

Nolan kept fighting relentlessly, unfazed by the enemy count. Every punch from him took another Flaxan down.

Neither Mark nor Nolan noticed the moment someone appeared in the sky above.

His cape fluttered in the wind. He hovered in place, watching.

Mark and Nolan were focused on the ground fight when suddenly a red laser beam sliced through the Flaxans, disintegrating them on impact. The laser scorched the earth, carving cracks into the ground as it passed.

The tide of battle shifted instantly.

The Flaxans were being annihilated by the laser blasts from above. Those still fighting didn't last long. Their numbers were already dwindling—many had already died of old age. Time in their dimension moved much faster than on Earth, which explained why they were aging so rapidly.

The few Flaxans left were either being incinerated or incapacitated by the beams from the sky.

Mark and Nolan stopped fighting and looked up in shock.

Mark knew exactly who it was. And while he was relieved to see him, for the first time, he also felt fear. He knew Henry was powerful... but this?

Nolan, on the other hand, didn't look happy at all. His face was tense, serious. Not welcoming.

He didn't react to Henry's arrival. Instead, he kept fighting.

He grabbed a massive Flaxan war vehicle that resembled a human tank and hurled it back through the portal, knocking down several Flaxans on the way.

"Stay off my planet," Nolan growled after the throw.

The Flaxans were getting hit from all sides—Mark, Nolan, and Henry's lasers were tearing through them.

The last of the Flaxans were visibly aged and barely able to stand. They turned and ran back through the portal. If they didn't leave now, they were going to die here.

Nolan didn't care about their retreat. His fists were still clenched. His expression was harsh—harsher than Mark was used to seeing. He looked... terrifying.

It was unsettling for Mark to see his father like that. So different from the calm man he knew.

"Dad?" Mark asked softly. He floated over and placed a hand on Nolan's shoulder.

"They're gone. It's over."

Nolan blinked and nodded. "You're right."

The last of the Flaxans disappeared through the portal, which soon closed behind them.

Henry had already shut off his heat vision. Physically, he looked fine—but mentally, not so much. Today, he had killed hundreds of beings. They weren't human, but that didn't matter. The guilt hit him hard. He hated it. He never wanted to be that kind of person.

But there was no other way. Every second he hesitated, a human life was lost.

Now, he was on the ground, helping move debris to rescue survivors. His face was blank, distant. He wasn't even paying attention to Omni-Man anymore.

Mark noticed Henry's expression and flew toward him.

"Dad, before we go, I need to check on something," Mark said, lifting off the ground.

Henry was clearing rubble that had crushed several people. Bodies were everywhere. Some were buried. Some visible. All dead.

What made it worse—Henry could hear it all. The cries. The pain. The heartbeats slowing... and stopping.

He questioned himself. Was this the right thing to do? He had never killed before. But seeing those injured people made the guilt easier to bear. He had done it for a reason.

Mark landed beside him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay? Need a hand?" he asked gently.

Nolan watched from a distance, arms crossed. Eventually, he flew off without a word.

Nolan had investigated Henry before. He didn't know his real name or anything about his background—Henry had always hidden that well. But Nolan did know one thing...

"I'm fine…" Henry muttered, his boots soaked in blood.

"You don't look fine," Mark said.

"I'll get through it," Henry replied, lifting his head.

"I know how you feel. They killed so many people. Don't blame yourself. What you did... it made a difference," Mark said, trying to offer comfort—even though deep down, he was scared as hell of Henry.

Henry gave him a faint smile.

"Thanks, man. I'll be okay," he said, standing up straighter.

"I want to introduce you to someone. She's really important to me," Mark said, proud.

"Introduce me?" Henry echoed, glancing toward where Omni-Man had been. He froze.

There was nothing there.

Omni-Man was gone.

The realization hit Henry hard—he had been so focused on the Flaxans, on what he'd done, that he completely lost track of Nolan. That mistake made his heart race.

Mark looked too. But he didn't think much of it. "He probably flew off to help someone," he said casually.

Then he turned back to Henry—only to find him tense, visibly shaken.

Henry's eyes glowed red. Not like before. This time, it was anger.

Mark had never seen him like this.

And before he could react, Henry launched into the air with a sonic boom. The shockwave hit Mark hard, flinging him into a parked car.

The impact crushed the vehicle. Mark's body bounced several times across the ground before finally coming to a stop.

"Shit…" he groaned, clutching his back in pain.

---

Eve was heading home.

Her boyfriend had insisted she go alone. She was mad at him—worried too. He was strong, but that didn't stop her from caring.

As she walked past a TV store, something caught her eye. A news broadcast showed a portal had opened in the city. An army of green aliens was pouring through, killing civilians.

She hated how reckless her boyfriend could be—but in the end, she was the same. Neither of them could sit still in a crisis.

On the screen, she saw Omni-Man and Invincible fighting side by side.

Eve sighed, ducked into an alley, and summoned her suit using her powers. She checked to make sure no one saw, then took off into the sky.

She arrived to see Omni-Man and Invincible in the middle of battle, fully focused.

And then she saw Henry.

He looked... terrifying. She had never seen him like that before. He was vaporizing aliens with lasers from his eyes.

There wasn't time to be shocked. Civilians were in danger.

A Flaxan squad opened fire on a fleeing family. Eve darted between them and the blasts, conjuring a barrier just in time.

More Flaxans arrived.

She wrapped the family in a protective dome, then took out the attackers with ease.

She kept doing the same for other groups—keeping people safe near the frontline where Mark and Nolan were fighting. From afar, she could see Henry. He looked… upset. Something was clearly wrong.

She wanted to fly to him, but she wasn't done yet. More Flaxans remained.

Eventually, the aliens started dying of old age or getting weaker. It got easier.

She was struggling at first—but as their strength faded, she took them out without breaking a sweat.

No more enemies were nearby. No civilians left in danger.

She turned to head toward Henry—when something rushed up behind her. Fast.

She barely felt the wind shift before arms wrapped around her head.

She couldn't breathe.

Whoever it was had strong arms, crushing her neck. Panic surged through her—she couldn't move, couldn't fight. Her powers weren't working. This person was too tough.

She stopped resisting. She wanted to know who this was.

She turned her head, just enough to see his face.

Short hair. A mustache. White streaks at the temples. And a look of pure disdain—like she was nothing to him.

Eve's blood ran cold.

She knew who he was.

She couldn't believe it.

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