Afternoon.
After William said goodbye to the hot senior, he drove Eden out of Upstate University and back across hundreds of miles to the Kent Residence.
"See you tomorrow, Eden."
At the gate, William watched Eden get out of the car. He waved, trying to mask the uncertainty in his chest.
"See you at school."
Eden paused briefly, then turned back with a small nod before heading inside.
"Did I really get it wrong? Was that guy… not Eden?"
William muttered under his breath, staring at Eden's back.
He'd been turning it over all day, but still couldn't shake the memory of that moment in the sewers—of the man in black who'd descended like a hero, ripped him out of hell itself, wearing a suit that screamed Superman but radiated a bone-deep familiarity.
"Could it have been Todd? No way… fronting as the school bully by day, superhero by night?"
He rubbed his face, groaning. "God, what the hell am I even thinking? If Todd had superpowers, that'd be a nightmare. Total disaster."
He quickly shook that thought away, threw the car into gear, and sped off.
Inside the house, Eden leaned casually against the wall, his X-Ray Vision following William's car until it disappeared down the road.
"You and I need to talk."
The raspy voice came from behind him.
Eden didn't flinch. "Cecil? Shouldn't you be busy cleaning up Sinclair's mess instead of sneaking into my house?"
Even without turning around, he knew. That voice could only belong to Cecil Stedman.
"You realize what you've done?" Cecil snapped. "Those thirty-plus Reanimen and Sinclair himself—an actual genius—were assets of the Global Defense Agency. You don't get to make unilateral moral judgments and wipe them out."
Eden turned, eyes cold. "So what, you're saying you're done working with me? Maybe I should sit down with my wonderful parents and discuss moving the whole family off Earth."
He spread his hands. "Then that 'Battle Beast' you're so worried about, along with the other alien invaders and dimensional lords lurking out there—yeah, you and your precious Guardians of the Globe can handle them yourselves."
Eden shrugged like it was nothing.
"You can't do that, Eden," Cecil said, his tone softening. Truth was, he couldn't deal with any of the enemies Eden had just rattled off. Neither could the Guardians.
"Then tell me—what exactly am I supposed to do?" Eden shot back. "Your 'genius scientist' tried to carve up my friend. Those so-called assets of yours? They were people—innocents, lobotomized and mutilated. And you want me to sit down for peace talks? Toss Sinclair in a cell and pretend you'll punish him? Please. I know how you work. You'd stage his death, then keep him running projects in your basement. Am I wrong?"
Cecil froze. Sweat beaded on his forehead. "Listen to me, Eden. There are reasons for—"
"Spare me the bullshit, Cecil!" Eden cut him off. "I'm not one of your cosplay superheroes in the Guardians. I don't have the time or patience to play along with your games."
He stepped closer, voice like steel. "If you want me on your side, then you follow my lead. Got it?"
"…Fine. We'll do it your way." Cecil's shoulders slumped, the fight draining out of him.
He already regretted striking this deal. Eden had him by the throat, and he knew it.
"Hold up, Cecil."
Cecil flinched. "What now?"
The fear that gripped him wasn't the same kind he felt around Nolan or Clark. With them, it was pure raw power. With Eden, it was worse. Power and conviction. Cecil could neither out-talk him nor out-fight him. He was trapped.
"Make sure dinner's ready."
Cecil blinked, then grabbed his comm. "Donald, get Eden's dinner."
A shimmer filled the room as Donald Ferguson appeared, setting a plate down carefully on the table.
"Your M12 steak, sir."
Eden smiled, satisfied. "Perfect."
Cecil exhaled. "If that's all, we'll leave you to it. The fallout from the Sinclair incident still needs covering up."
"Not so fast." Eden's voice stopped him cold.
"…What now?"
"Transfer ten million dollars into my account. Consider this morning's fun my first official mission." Eden didn't even look up as he carved into his steak.
"…Fine." Cecil's voice was flat. His nerves were too fried to argue anymore.
So he stood there with Donald, silent, waiting like a secretary for the next order. By the time Eden finished eating, Cecil realized with a start—he was acting like Eden's secretary.
"You two still here? Get moving. The GDA and Guardians have a mountain of crap waiting for you to sweep under the rug."
"Got it." Cecil and Donald vanished in a flicker of transport tech.
Eden leaned back, dabbing his mouth with a napkin. His smirk cut sharp.
"Cecil, if I don't knock you down every once in a while, you really forget who's holding the high cards."
Because in the end, tricks and schemes meant nothing.
Power was all that mattered.
"System—Simulation."
He lay back on the bed, eyes closing.
"Today's opponents… two Elite Viltrumites."
[Affirmative. Beginning Simulation.]
The dumb System obeyed instantly, loading the Simulation as Eden closed his eyes.
...
The next morning.
"Whew."
Eden woke up and ended his Simulation at the same time.
He'd run seven straight Simulations overnight. By the seventh, he was already suppressing two Elite Viltrumites from the very start, holding them down all the way through to the finish.
"I've gotten stronger again."
He felt the surge of power coursing through his body, satisfaction clear in his voice.
Yeah, every ounce of his strength had been carved out by brutal, kill-or-be-killed battles in the Simulations.
"System, give me some stat boosts—"
"…No, wait. I mean, Simulation."
Eden was brimming with confidence. Within a month, he'd surpass Battle Beast when the monster finally arrived on Earth—then turn that overgrown cat into a fur coat.
....
Cough, cough.
At school.
"You guys don't even know how much of a jerk Eden is!"
William was in full storyteller mode, ranting in front of his friends the moment Eden walked in.
"He locked the dorm door on me, and no matter how hard I knocked, he wouldn't open up. Next day I asked, and he straight-up said he never even heard me."
Eden's lips twitched. He didn't walk over to argue—he went straight to the System instead.
"Hey, System. Tell me something. Did William really knock on the door that night? How come I never heard it?"
[At the time, you were inside a Simulation. The System automatically blocked all external stimuli.]
"Oh. Makes sense."
Eden nodded thoughtfully, then frowned. "But William said his key wouldn't work either. I didn't lock the door, right?"
[Correct. While you are Simulating, the System generates a protective barrier around you. It cannot be broken into or spied on.]
[William was stopped by that barrier. The key itself was fine.]
Eden raised an eyebrow. "So the barrier's unbreakable?"
If that was true, then he'd just found the ultimate cheat: whenever he hit something he couldn't beat, he could just trigger a Simulation on the spot. Train safely under the shield until he was strong enough to win.
[Not unbreakable.]
[If the barrier is destroyed, the System will immediately wake you up—or forcibly evacuate you.]
"Figures."
Eden let out a sigh, disappointed. So much for his brilliant "fight-while-Simulating" strategy. Shame.
While he was talking with the System, Atom Eve had somehow drifted over to William's side. She was hanging off his every word, eating up his tales about "Upstate University"—which honestly sounded more like disaster reports than college anecdotes.
"Great. Trouble."
Eden's gut twisted at the sight of them together. William and Eve in the same orbit? That only spelled disaster.
"William. Let's go. Next class is gym."
He kept his tone casual, but it was a clean extraction.
William hopped up, grinning at the group. "Catch you guys later! Next time I'll tell you about when I got kidnapped by a mad scientist. Coolest thing that's ever happened to me, swear to God."
Once William was at his side, Eden leaned in and muttered, "Stop getting so close to Eve."
"Why?" William blinked, genuinely confused.
"Because if you don't want your crush finding out you've been… less than pure on campus—" Eden slid his phone out, showing off a photo of William entertaining a gaggle of girls.
"I'm sorry, bro! I was wrong, okay?!"
William went pale. One look at the photo and he folded instantly, admitting guilt like his life depended on it.
"That's better."
Eden smirked, saving the photo anyway. Insurance.
"You're brutal, man."
William groaned, helpless.
"Interesting."
Eve, left behind, stared after them with narrowed eyes. Her voice was low, thoughtful. "I'm getting closer to the truth."
Robot had ordered the team to back off Eden, but Eve never did half-measures. She wanted answers.
Eden, on the other hand, couldn't care less. As long as she didn't push so far that she ruined his daytime routine, he wasn't wasting energy on her.
Three days later.
Thursday morning.
One day before Eden was scheduled to lead the Mars mission.
"…Weird. Eve skipped class?"
During first period, he casually swept the campus with his X-Ray Vision. No sign of her. For someone who played model student, ditching was out of character.
"Not my problem."
He shrugged it off after a half-second of thought. No Nolan in the shadows, no Cecil spooks on his tail? Good enough. Back to "studying"—aka pulling up fight videos online. With his super-brain, all he had to do was watch. Every move got absorbed, optimized, perfected.
Beep beep beep—
His phone buzzed.
"…Huh?"
Nobody called him during school hours.
He glanced at the screen. Cecil.
Eden raised a hand, asked for a sick pass, then answered at his own pace.
"Eden. We've got a problem."
Cecil's voice was tense, rattled.
"Then say it. I'm busy."
"It's Doctor Seismic."
Eden blinked. "The guy Dad slapped into the Earth's core?"
"He survived," Cecil rushed out. "And he's enslaved the Subterraneans. The entire underground world is mobilizing for revenge."
"And?" Eden cut in. "Why call me? I'm a high schooler. Shouldn't you be speed-dialing the Guardians or, I dunno, my parents?"
"If your parents or the Guardians were available, you think I'd be calling you?" Cecil's voice cracked with exhaustion.
Eden frowned. "…What do you mean?"
"Your mother's off-world, fighting aliens. Your father's in another dimension, hunting down a would-be conqueror. As for the Guardians?" Cecil hesitated. "Five minutes ago, Doctor Seismic captured them."
Eden froze. "…Seriously?"
"Right now, the only ones left are you and the Teen Team."
"…You've gotta be kidding me."
"Without my parents, the Guardians are no better than trash."
"And just now, the Teen Team rushed in before you."
Cecil's voice cut back in, grim.
"…And Doctor Seismic captured them too."
Eden fell silent for a beat.
Then he burst out laughing.
"Hah! The Global Trash Squad and the Teenage Trash Squad—wiped out in one go."
"Face it, Cecil. Earth's already screwed."