"Strike first!"
Eden didn't hesitate. He lunged at Nolan, fist slamming across the older man's jaw.
"Gh—!"
Blood sprayed. Nolan hadn't expected Eden to come in so decisively, and the impact hurled him backward into a skyscraper.
BOOM!
Concrete shrieked and steel buckled as Nolan's body tore clean through a hundred-story tower.
But years of battlefield instincts kept him steady. He stopped midair, wiped the nosebleed staining his mustache, and glared at Eden. "Kid, that's some real Viltrumite spirit. But you're about to pay for it."
Yeah. That punch had confirmed it for him—Eden wasn't Kryptonian. He was Viltrumite. A young one he'd never seen before.
"Damn, tough bastard…" Eden flexed his hand, still buzzing from the impact.
That swing had been harder than anything he'd thrown at the Seven, and all it had done was break Nolan's nose.
"Boom!"
Nolan blurred forward. One second he was yards away, the next his fist was already cutting toward Eden's face.
"Bring it!" Eden roared, meeting him head-on.
Truth was, he wanted this test. How big was the gap between him and Nolan—one of the Viltrumite elite, second only to Thragg himself?
If Eden couldn't beat Nolan here, then there was no way in hell he'd survive Battle Beast when the monster showed up next month.
Their fists collided—
BOOM!
—detonating the sky. The shockwave blasted the air into rippling waves, clearing out a vacuum pocket before shredding buildings in every direction.
Screams. Explosions. Sirens. The soundscape of a city being torn apart.
Neither of them had gained the upper hand.
Eden was younger, sure. By Viltrumite standards he wasn't even at his peak yet. But the Kryptonian blood balanced the scales—years of soaking up the sun had made him a powerhouse. On paper, he was already matching Nolan blow for blow. Maybe even edging ahead.
"Shit…"
Eden's gaze dropped to the chaos below. Whole city blocks were erupting in fire. His jaw clenched. "If I ever fight Battle Beast, it can't be in a place like this. Two superhumans brawling in a city—it's a nightmare for civilians."
He finally got why Batfleck in Man of Steel wanted to take Superman down so bad.
"Good thing this is just a sim," he muttered under his breath.
"Kid," Nolan's voice cut down from above, sharp and scolding, "when you're fighting a Viltrumite warrior, you never let your guard down."
He swooped in, both fists clasped overhead.
CRACK!
The blow smashed Eden like a meteor. His vision went black, blood bursting from his lips as he plummeted, punching through pavement until he slammed onto the subway tracks below.
"Goddamn it." Eden staggered upright, spit red into the rails, then blew out the clot in his nose. "This simulation hurts like hell."
"AAAHHH!"
Around him, subway passengers shrieked and stampeded for the exits.
Another explosion. The ceiling split as Nolan tore through the ground and dropped into the station. He hovered there, cape billowing, arms crossed.
"You care about them?" His voice dripped with contempt. "Who raised you? You're as weak as my son Mark."
Nolan's eyes narrowed. "Remember this. A true Viltrumite warrior has no room for mercy. Mercy will kill you—and it'll doom our empire."
He actually sounded like a father lecturing his son.
Eden shook his head. "Thanks for the advice. But I don't need it."
"No," Nolan said, a cruel smirk tugging at his lips. "You do. And I'll prove it to you."
Before Eden could brace, Nolan slammed into him like a freight train, driving him backward.
The headlights of an incoming subway flared. The driver's face went white—two godlike brawlers blocking the track.
CRASH!
Nolan kept crushing Eden forward, ramming him clean through the train as metal shrieked and passengers screamed.
"Look what you've done!" Eden shouted over the carnage, fury twisting his face. "I'm done holding back!"
"Oh?" Nolan raised a brow. "Even now, you don't get it?"
His voice hardened. "Humans are ants to us. Their bodies are paper compared to ours. They look like us, but that's it. They're not our kind. Your pity means nothing."
His eyes bored into Eden's. "In five hundred years, what will you have left? Nothing. Absolutely nothing."
For a moment, he saw Mark's face in the boy. That same defiance, that same foolish spark. Words he'd meant to say to his son spilled out instead.
"Think, boy!" Nolan jabbed two fingers at his temple, voice echoing through the ruined station. "Use your damn brain!"
...
BOOM!
Too bad for Nolan. What he got wasn't a teary-eyed plea of "I still have my father, I still have you. Five hundred years from now, I'll still have you."
What he got was Eden's fist.
The punch rocketed Nolan straight into the sky, blasting him out of the dark, sunless station.
Zzzzzzt!
Twin beams of burning red lanced from Eden's eyes, carving a hole clean through Nolan's abdomen.
A sneak attack.
"What—?!"
Nolan's eyes went wide. Clutching his stomach, he stared in disbelief. "Your eyes… you can fire lasers? You're not Viltrumite? What the hell are you?"
"You don't need to know."
Eden closed in, hammering another fist across his jaw.
"Gah!"
Nolan spit blood and swung back.
Zzzzzzt!
But Eden never stopped the heat vision, searing Nolan's flesh as they traded blows.
"AHHH!"
Nolan roared, burned raw, reaching to claw at Eden's eyes. But Eden caught his hands, forcing him into a deadlock. Strength against strength. Only Eden had the sun itself drip-feeding him power, and heat vision to tip the scales.
They grappled for an hour. An entire hour of bone-shattering blows, steel-crushing collisions, and laser fire scorching the battlefield.
It ended with Eden's beams finally drilling through Nolan's skull.
"…Jesus."
Eden staggered, chest heaving. Blood bubbled in his throat. He blinked hard, eyes watering from the constant strain. After an hour of uninterrupted heat vision, it felt like he'd just given himself chronic dry eye. If Nolan hadn't gone down when he did, Eden would've gone blind.
The truth? Nolan had him beat in skill, in technique, in sheer experience. Eden had only won because Nolan hadn't known about heat vision—and because, for a moment, he'd mistaken Eden for one of his own. For Mark. That hesitation had cost him.
But victory hadn't come cheap. Eden's body was wrecked, ribs screaming, muscles shredded, and a gaping hole in his abdomen held shut by his own hand. If he let go, his guts would spill out.
"Father!"
A sonic crack split the air. A figure dropped into view, blue uniform shredded, face swollen and bloody. The so-called hero Invincible—but Eden knew him better by the nickname Get-Owned Young Hero. Mark Grayson.
"…What is this, a cutscene?" Eden muttered under his breath, glaring at Mark before calling out to the system: End the simulation. Now.
[Simulation terminated.]
The world warped.
Eden opened his eyes to find himself back in bed. First instinct? He checked his abdomen. Smooth. No hole, no scar. All gone.
"Thank God." He exhaled, relief washing over him. So it really was just a sim.
But damn, it had felt real. Too real. Real enough that, for a moment, he'd thought the system had tossed him into an actual parallel universe just to screw with him.
His body was fine. But the phantom ache lingered.
Didn't matter. He had bigger problems now.
"…I need to train my hand-to-hand." He rubbed his temples, eyes narrowing.
Raw power wasn't enough. Not when his opponents could match him in speed and strength. That was when skill mattered. Just like Thanos ragdolling Hulk in Infinity War.
Eden opened his laptop, queued up a marathon of UFC fights, and spent the entire night studying technique.
Ordinary people needed years to master combat. Eden? He had Viltrumite instincts and a Kryptonian brain. Learning came faster. Much faster.
By morning, he looked like hell. Black circles, bloodshot eyes, dragging himself to school. But a quick bask in the sun restored his energy.
Even so, his mind wandered all through class. Teachers noticed. A few even pulled him aside, concerned.
"Everything alright at home? Do you need help?"
Eden thanked them politely, insisting he was fine—just stressed about college choices.
That earned him knowing smiles. "We've all been there. The confusion ends the moment you get into the school you want. College life is as good as it gets."
—
Lunch. School cafeteria.
Eden sat alone, savoring one of those rare peaceful moments where nobody bothered him.
"Hey, Eden."
And just like that, peace shattered.
"…You again?" He looked up, groaning at the sight of bright orange-red hair. "Does your boyfriend Rex know you come over here every day at lunch? Atom Eve."
"You do know my secret!" Eve dropped into the seat across from him, chin propped on her hand, smirking.
"…Seriously?" Eden deadpanned. "You guys literally cornered me about it yesterday. And you think going to the bathroom and swapping clothes makes you unrecognizable?"
Eve ignored him. "Well, I know your secret too. So I guess we're even."
"My secret?" Eden raised a brow. "Pretty sure I don't have one."
"Oh, you do." Her grin widened. "I know you've got superpowers. And I know exactly what they are."
Eden's curiosity spiked despite himself. "Yeah? Then tell me."
"Because your power is way too embarrassing to admit."
"…Embarrassing?" Eden's stomach sank. Oh, hell. These idiots are about to get the wrong idea.
"So what is it, then?" he asked carefully.
Eve's face turned pink. She lowered her voice. "What if… your laser beams come out of… somewhere else?"
"…Heh." Eden stood, shaking his head. "You guys lack brains, but sure as hell don't lack imagination."
He walked away without another word.
Which Eve, of course, took as confirmation. Her eyes lit up, smug and certain.
"Knew it."
----
Nia's Note: Did she think he shoots laser from his ass? 🤔