Chapter 4: Copying A-Train’s Ability Template

In the blink of an eye, A-Train vanished, leaving only a faint, intermittent trail of blood leading to the bedroom. Russell naturally knew where he had gone.

"Don't come any closer! You want money? I have tons of it!"

Seeing the man from the living room—the one who had attacked him—approaching while twirling a crowbar in his hand, A-Train was filled with terror. He realized that this man wasn't normal. Fear clouded his thoughts.

"Who sent you? Shockwave? He's always coveted my title as the fastest man alive! No matter who sent you, I'll pay double!"

Russell stepped up to the bedroom doorway, blocking A-Train's only escape route, ignoring his pleas.

"Running that fast without legs reminds me of gorillas at the zoo—agile with both hands and feet, using all limbs to walk."

"You…!"

His girlfriend was tied up. He had no escape. His desperate pleas were met with mockery. A-Train flew into a rage.

Suddenly, he sprang forward. In a flash, he was in front of Russell, leaping up and driving a powerful punch straight into Russell's chest.

Boom!

The supersonic punch landed with terrifying force.

Russell was hurled like he'd been hit by a freight truck, smashing through the bedroom wall, shattering the solid wood dining table in the living room, and finally embedding deeply into the opposite wall.

Cracks spread across the wall like a spiderweb. The entire building shuddered from the impact.

Amidst the swirling dust, A-Train panted heavily. The adrenaline from his rage faded, and the excruciating pain in his legs came roaring back.

He trembled as he touched his deformed legs, wondering if this was the end of his superhero career.

"Bastard! I'll tear you to pieces!" A-Train cursed through tears of pain and hatred, staring at his broken legs in despair.

"You won't be able to," a voice suddenly replied.

A-Train turned his head in horror—to see Russell dusting himself off and stepping out of the wall, completely unharmed!

"Impossible! How are you not dead?!"

As a member of the Seven, A-Train's power was beyond question.

Only a few in the world could survive one of his serious attacks: Homelander, Queen Maeve, and the Invisible Man—whose only ability was his near-indestructible carbon-skin body.

But a fourth person? He'd never seen one.

Bang!

An overwhelming wave of fear consumed him. A-Train looked at his girlfriend, then gritted his teeth, shattered the window, and abandoned her without hesitation, escaping with his hands.

Blood sprayed from his broken legs, fanning out in the moonlight like leaking oil, leaving a trail behind him.

The world's fastest hero—who could run at 1,700 kilometers per hour—now fleeing on all fours like a Komodo dragon with its hind legs chopped off. It was grotesque… and absurdly comical.

Unlike other worlds where superheroes endure brutal battles, the heroes in The Boys' universe—including Homelander—only ever fought ordinary humans. They had never faced real combat. One good scare, and their courage collapsed.

"He ran off just like that?"

Russell brushed the dust off himself, unfazed.

Someone fleeing in fear meant the fight was over. Which meant—A-Train had lost.

[Ability template for A-Train copied and applied]

In that instant, Russell felt like a new man. Every muscle in his body pulsed with explosive power.

Compared to before, his strength and speed were like the difference between an ant and an elephant.

A-Train could pull actual train engines—his base strength was in the dozens of tons. Combined with near-sonic punching speed, if not for Invisible Man's ultra-durable skin, even an iron-bodied opponent would be crushed with one blow.

Now, everything was ready. All he needed was the right opportunity.

Russell smiled, feeling the power coursing through him.

…

Back in the Invincible universe.

The room was dark. Russell changed into pajamas and lay in bed, arms behind his head, reviewing his haul. He had been gone from this world for less than an hour—and now possessed the ability templates of both Invisible Man and A-Train.

And no one had noticed his departure.

Not even his uncle—the mighty Omni-Man.

Viltrumites possessed super strength and speed, but unlike Kryptonians, they didn't have absurdly powerful hearing or vision. Their senses were sharper than humans', but that was about it.

Importantly, when Russell copied someone's ability template, he didn't just gain the powers—he also inherited the target's full proficiency and mastery.

It was 100% replication—no training required.

"Too bad the system can only copy ability templates."

When Russell first got the system, he had immediately sparred with Mark—who hadn't yet awakened any powers. After easily defeating him, all Russell got was the template of a weak, nerdy high schooler.

Now that Mark had awakened his powers, Russell couldn't beat him anymore.

"But that doesn't matter. After tomorrow, I'll have power equal to—or even greater than—Mark's."

A few hours later, Russell forced himself to sleep. School awaited in the morning.

It was the first day after Mark awakened his powers. Time had never moved so fast for him—when you're happy, time flies.

That morning, he trained in flight under his father's guidance.

At school, he ran into Todd—the football player who'd punched him yesterday.

Mark stood still and let Todd hit him several times. He didn't even flinch. Didn't feel a thing. Todd freaked out and fled, screaming "freak!"

The astonished stares from classmates made Mark smile proudly.

But he didn't notice Russell standing nearby, watching him with a look of pity—like watching a child receive a gift from fate, blissfully unaware of the price that would come with it.

At noon, Mark donned his homemade costume and stopped a bank robbery. He even took down a small-time gang boss with stone-skin powers. Seeing the grateful and awe-struck faces of the people he helped made him even happier.

But when they asked for his hero name, he realized he hadn't thought of one and fumbled awkwardly—a bit of a letdown.

That evening, his father—the most powerful hero on Earth—took him to a specialized tailor for superheroes. Mark picked out an awesome new costume.

Late at night, lying in bed, he was full of excitement for the next day.

Because he had decided on his superhero name:

Invincible.

Tomorrow, he'd introduce himself to the world.

Meanwhile, in the bedroom next door—

Russell lay on his pillow, staring at the ceiling. For him, time had dragged all day. Because he was waiting.

Waiting was always hard.

But the day finally passed.

He knew exactly what his cousin Mark had done today—his first steps as a superhero.

With A-Train's powers, Russell was more than qualified to fight supervillains and become a celebrated hero himself. He could bask in applause and adoration—but he chose not to.

Now wasn't the time. He had to stay low-key. Avoid attention.

"All for tomorrow."

Because tomorrow was the day Omni-Man would strike the Global Guardians.

And it would also be the day Russell visited their headquarters…

to go shopping.

In the dark room, Russell's eyes—sharp as a wolf's, pitch black and gleaming—burned with undisguised ambition.

.........

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