Jovian turned into a bolt of white lightning and appeared over London in the U.K. in an instant…
The moment he arrived, he saw Nolan in midair, beating the hell out of a colossal serpent—nearly a thousand meters long, with massive wings on its back.
"Dad, I'll help."
Jovian slid in beside Nolan and drove a punch into the monster's spine.
"ROAR!"
After taking Jovian's hit, the creature bellowed in pain. Its enormous body shuddered, thrashing and rolling through the air like it was genuinely suffering.
"Dad, this snake is… what, exactly?" Jovian asked, staring at it with curiosity. It was his first time seeing a winged serpent.
"This one's called Kukulkan," Nolan said, gripping the monster by the throat. "Ever since I came to Earth, I've fought it plenty of times. Usually, we rough it up, toss it into the ocean, and it leaves on its own."
Nolan swung it around once like a ragdoll—then hurled it straight into the sea.
"SPLASH!"
The impact kicked up a towering wall of water.
"That should do it," Nolan said calmly.
Then he waved Jovian over.
"Come on. Let's go home, Jovian."
"Yeah… sure." Jovian watched the serpent disappear beneath the waves and licked his lips. Honestly, letting it swim away felt like a waste—he'd spent the whole trip over learning different ways to cook snake.
Nolan raised an eyebrow.
"Jovian. It's been a while since we worked together. Race you home?"
"Whoever gets home second has to do the dishes for a month."
"You'd better be ready to scrub for a month," Jovian said with a smile.
Then he became an afterimage and shot straight into the clouds.
"Slippery little punk," Nolan muttered—though the corner of his mouth lifted.
And he launched after him.
"BOOM—!"
Jovian accelerated harder and harder, faster and faster. The sheer pressure wave of his flight carved a long, deep scar across the ocean's surface, like it was trying to split the sea in half.
One minute later…
"Looks like I'm faster, Dad."
Jovian landed neatly in the Grayson backyard.
"I let you win," Nolan said.
Nolan touched down less than a second later, right beside him.
"I didn't go all out either," Jovian shot back immediately, refusing to give up the point.
"…"
They stared at each other for exactly one second.
Then—
"Hahaha…"
They both burst out laughing at the same time.
"Come on," Nolan said, clapping Jovian on the shoulder. "Shower up, then we eat like kings."
He paused, then smirked.
"Oh—want a drink?"
"I'm not even twenty-one," Jovian said. He wasn't opposed to the idea—Debbie was the real problem.
"I asked whether you want a drink," Nolan replied. "I didn't ask whether you're twenty-one."
"And by Viltrumite rules, the moment you got powers, you became an adult Viltrumite—one who carries real responsibility."
He gave Jovian's shoulder another firm pat.
"In that case," Jovian said, nodding, "yeah. I'll have some."
As long as Nolan could smooth things over with Debbie, everything was fine.
So the two of them rotated through quick showers, turned on the TV…
…and watched the news while sipping red wine.
"Oh my God…"
"Sorry, everyone—please allow me to interrupt with breaking news…"
The beautiful anchor—who had just been explaining the meteor incident—received a message. The color drained from her face so fast it was like she'd been punched. Just reading it was enough to make her look terrified.
"Everyone, please don't panic…"
"Please stay calm and listen…"
"Just moments ago, I received confirmation that the heroes who protect us—the members of the Guardians of the Globe… Aquarus, Darkwing, War Woman, Martian Man, The Immortal, Green Ghost, and Red Rush… were attacked by an unknown enemy."
"They… they have all passed away."
"My God… I wish it were April Fools' Day, and this was just some cruel prank…"
As she spoke, tears slid down her cheeks in thin, trembling lines.
"Cheers, son."
Nolan raised his wineglass toward the screen.
"Dad," Jovian said, lightly swirling his glass, "let's drink to the Guardians of the Globe disappearing."
Their glasses clinked softly.
"Hahahaha…"
The next second, father and son both laughed again—without even meaning to sync up.
While the entire world grieved, while people everywhere mourned the heroes they loved, the strongest father-and-son pair on the planet were drinking and laughing—using alcohol to polish the edge off their happiness.
You could say it was a tragic day.
When Debbie came home, she took one look at the wineglasses and at Jovian—who looked absolutely wasted while, in reality, his body barely felt a thing—and her brows knit tight.
"Nolan," she said, arms crossed, glaring. "I need an explanation."
In her eyes, Nolan was setting a terrible example. Drinking like this at his age—what was that supposed to be?
"Debbie… just let it go today," Nolan said, pointing to the TV behind him, where the broadcast kept replaying the Guardians' deaths. He wore a face of pure grief.
"…Sigh."
Debbie glanced at the screen and let out a quiet, heavy breath.
Then she pulled both Nolan and Jovian into a hug.
"I just… I hope this world gets a break."
She truly meant it. The pain in her voice was real.
"I hope this world gets a break," Nolan and Jovian echoed.
They exchanged a quick look.
They looked like they were hurting too—one because he was acting, the other because holding back laughter was starting to physically hurt.
"Cecil just notified me," Nolan said after a moment, "that tomorrow I'll be delivering the eulogy for the Guardians of the Globe."
"People everywhere are on edge. Someone has to stand up and give them hope."
"And after the public memorial, there'll be a small private funeral—only the Guardians' friends, and a few people who knew their real identities."
"You two should come as well."
Nolan patted Debbie and Jovian on the shoulders.
"Of course," Jovian said, nodding.
A performance that good? If he didn't attend, it would be an insult to his identity as Freeborn.
"Click…"
Right as the three of them sank into their "grief" about attending the funeral, the front door opened.
Mark walked in, humming to himself, looking ridiculously cheerful.
"Huh?"
He frowned at the atmosphere in the room.
"Did I miss something?"
"No," Jovian sighed, looking at him. "You didn't miss anything, my idiot kid brother."
And the way Mark looked—practically glowing—made it obvious.
Mark was cooked.
He'd fallen in love.
And as for who he'd fallen for… Jovian didn't even need to think.
That blonde girl.