Alex frowned. The expressionless mask Dr Molay usually wore felt off, "Everything okay?"
Dr Molay looked up from her tablet. A flash of confusion flickered across her eyes. She stifled it quickly, "Yes. Everything's fine. Just-"
She paused for a fraction longer than normal, "-just orders from above were late today."
Alex blinked and shrugged, "Guess everyone has an off day once in a while."
Dr Molay wanted to disagree. She wanted to say that instructions from the GDA council were never late. It wasn't something that would ever happen.
She held her tongue. Alex had pointed out the delay as human error. That was the only explanation that made any sense. She suppressed the feeling of unease in her chest. The GDA worked off calculation and logic, not unsubstantiated gut feelings.
"You're on patrol duty today, Chicago. Crime's been abnormally high in the last few weeks." Dr Molay briefed Alex on his instructions.
Alex raised an eyebrow, "Aren't the Teen Team based there?"
Dr Molay opened her mouth to speak. She shut it before saying anything. Her eyes looked off to the side as she thought carefully about her words.
"Their numbers have been-" She paused again.
"-unideal."
There were enough villains and criminals to keep superheroes perceptually busy. He'd worked with the Teen Team several times since he first met them a year ago. The incohesion with which they operated hadn't changed.
Robot had kept up his promise to stay in touch. The two of them often exchanged scientific papers they'd come across in the fields of disease or anatomy.
Alex's powers were constantly enriching his understanding of what it meant to be alive. The anatomy of different species varied hugely. The underlying principles were largely the same.
He hadn't sat in his lecture hall at university in weeks. His attendance was so low it would've ordinarily had him kicked off the course months ago.
The GDA didn't need to waste their time speaking to the university attendance team. The order for him to remain on the medical course was passed down to the relevant government agency. Other than a few mistrustful looks from his professors, he'd never received any negative comments from the university.
He didn't attend lectures anymore, but he kept up his study of the human body. He could read and memorise a textbook in an hour. Although he lacked practical experience, he was already more than qualified to act as a consultant or senior surgeon.
In his intellectual exchanges with Robot, Alex had noticed clear patterns. The chrome hero had an immense and profound knowledge of stem-cell growth and unconventional life support systems. Their exchanges were slowly becoming more complex. Alex put forwards theories and discoveries of his own and Robot greedily absorbed then.
Robot had mentioned a handful of times that he was working on an important project. The chrome hero had said that the project was still in its initial stages, but that he believed Alex's assistance could be immensely useful at the right time. Alex considered Robot a good friend and naturally expressed his willingness to participate.
The Teen Team's name was more ironic than true. Their teamwork was sorely lacking.
Alex, or Omega's, grey moral code was at odds with the idealistic perspective of Atom-Eve. There were situations where not everyone could be saved. In the few hours of sleep he still needed, Alex often dreamed of the faces of the people he'd failed.
The media had reported on an argument between Omega and Atom-Eve at the scene of an emergency. The two heroes had different perspectives on saving lives.
Eve's powers allowed her to reshape matter as she pleased. In combat, Alex was confident to defeat her within thirty seconds. Their raw strength differed greatly, but he admitted without ego that her powers were much more versatile.
If a building was on fire, Eve could simply turn the fire's fuel into water. Omega was immensely strong and fast, but he still had to comply with the fundamental laws of physics. Eve's powers bordered on reality-bending.
This meant that he couldn't save everyone from a burning building. Alex still didn't think of himself as a hero. He was just a man who wanted to help.
The Teen Team operated outside of GDA control. He was different. Of course he could have disregarded GDA protocol, but those protocols existed to protect the greatest number of lives.
If a building was on fire, GDA protocol dictated that the hero begin evacuating people starting from the highest floor. The people on the lower floors had a much greater probability of getting out independently. A hero's powers were best used helping those who needed them most.
A major news outlet had recorded Atom-Eve shouting and criticising Omega for ignoring the screams of help from a family on the second floor of a burning building.
The faceless black and white mask Omega wore concealed any human emotion. But the luckily placed microphone of the reporter captured the hero's response, "Other people needed my help."
The Teen Team were far from perfect. He viewed himself in the same way. Nonetheless, despite their varying efficiency, they were a strong fighting-force and did a tremendous amount of good for the world.
He hoped that their squabbling would be put to bed sooner than later. If they lived up to their full potential, they could do much more.
Dr Molay cleared her throat. She continued the briefing, "We'll contact you for any urgent situations. The Teen Team are likely to also rush to the scene. Cooperate with them as best as possible.
Patrol in the air, I've forwarded the list of scheduled flight plans to your bracelet. Stay out of the way."
Alex nodded. He stretched and twisted his waist. A pair of large white wings swept up a fierce gust in the GDA facility.
Dr Molay looked up at the rapidly ascending hero. The uneasiness she'd tried to ignore bubbled up. She shouted out over the sound of wings flapping, "Be careful!"
Alex looked down. The mask covered his frown. He nodded in response to Dr Molay's warning. He fought villains every day. She'd never once told him to be careful before.
The buildings that looked so huge from ground level appeared tiny from up-above. Alex climbed until he was soaring through the clouds. He couldn't help but laugh as he rolled and dashed through the fluffy white masses of water vapour.
Satellites floating in orbit tracked his movement. They clocked his speed at a steady range of mach 2-2.3.
The city of Chicago was enormous. He flew just above the skyline. The astonished stares of office-workers in the high-rise buildings didn't bother him.
'I should get Taylor a souvenir.' He thought to himself.
"Two hot dogs please. Just ketchup."
The hot dog vendor stood open-mouthed. He rubbed his eyes forcefully and blinked multiple times. What he saw didn't change.
The hot dog vendor swallowed, "Y-yes! Sure!"
A pair of tongs lifted two hot dogs from a vat of warm greyish water. A dozen or so teenagers excitedly pushed one another and snapped pictures.
The crowd of teenagers shoved a member of their group forwards. The boy was the shortest among them. He looked back with panicked eyes to his friends.
The other teenagers motioned furiously with their heads. The boy gritted his teeth. He shoved down his nervousness and stumbled forwards, "Uh-excuse me! Mr Omega-could-could I get your autograph?"
The hero turned. He held a hot dog in each hand. A pair of beautiful white wings were folded neatly against his back. Beneath his mask, Alex smiled.
"Sure, you got a pen?"
The boy's eyes widened. He thrust both hands into his pockets and searched frantically. All he had was a handful of change. His expression turned from exuberance to tearfullness. He started to speak, "I-I-"
The boy's friends scrambled forwards in unison. A pen and a piece of hastily torn paper were pressed into his hands. The other teenagers also held their own pieces in trembling hands. Their voices overlapped, "Can I get one too please!"
Alex laughed. He stretched out his arm and offered a hot dog to one of the teenagers, "Could you hold this?"
A girl with adoring eyes and dyed purple hair nodded hurriedly and took it from him. She stared at the hot dog like it was some kind of holy relic.
It only took a minute for Alex to sign the dozen or so autographs. The action cost him nothing, but it meant the world to the teenagers.
The hot dog vendor stepped forwards. He gathered his courage and asked hopefully, "Could-could I get one? My son loves you."
Alex smiled, "Of course, what's his name?"
The hot dog vendor's proud smile stretched from ear to hear, "His name's Hassan. He's eleven this year."
Alex handed the piece of paper to the hot dog vendor. The grey-haired and slightly stooped man accepted it with a beaming smile. The note read 'Hassan, your dad loves you very much. Study hard and stay kind. Omega.'
The purple-haired teenager reluctantly handed back the hot dog. She looked crestfallen, as if she'd lost something precious. The teenagers watched in awe. The superhero who'd just happily signed their autographs spread his wings. Then with a gentle flap he soared into the air. The gust of wind ruffled the hot dog vendor's greying hair.
"You know you could've asked for hot dogs. An agent could've brought them to you." Dr Molay's voice sounded in Alex's ear.
He turned in the air and spiralled up around a tall building. He replied cheerfully, "Don't I get some benefits for saving the world? And it was you who told me that public safety measures higher when heroes are approachable."
The earpiece was silent for a while. Then Dr Molay's voice crackled, "Continue patrol."
Alex chuckled to himself. He flapped his wings harder and climbed rapidly to a higher altitude. The citizens below watched him dissapear into the clouds. Once he was out of public view, Alex pulled his mask up to his nose, exposing his chin and mouth. The two hot dogs swiftly ended up in his stomach.
The decision to buy a hotdog had been entirely spontaneous. There was an entire team dedicated to preparing his meals while he was on patrol. He could've requested they make a hot dog entirely out of lobster and it would've appeared steaming hot in his lunchbox.
"We're picking up energy readings off the charts! Head to Addison street now!"
Alex didn't hesitate. His wings beat like a clap of thunder. He gained altitude and cut through the clouds, sonic booms echoed out behind him. GDA satellites registered his speed at mach 3.
"Some kind of alien species are swarming in through portals! Casualties are already above a hundred! They've got strategy and laser-guns! Hurry!"
The plumes of black smoke curling into the sky called to him like a beacon. Alex gritted his teeth. The polished windows of high-rise buildings shattered as he swept past them. The situation was urgent.
Civillians ran screaming. The air was filled with smoke and terror. Anyone who ran slower was sliced apart by beams of bright red light.
Thousands of green-skinned humanoid aliens poured out from glowing orange portals. On the other side of the portals, a dusty red-coloured world could be glimsped. The aliens wore white armour and carried large guns.
The invaders grinned and called out to each other in an alien language. Their advance was steady and controlled. The unknown weapons in their hands were responsible for the beams of lethal red light. The lasers tore through flesh and bone as they were made of butter.
The pavements were slippery with blood and mangled organs. The scent of burned flesh was heady and nauseating. Severed limbs and bissected torsoes were everywhere.
The scene of destruction filled Alex with fury. The aliens called out loudly as they spotted the black blur swooping down from the skies. A barrage of laser-fire hurtled towards him. A forceful beat of his wings propelled him sideways. The laser-fire missed.
The mask concealed his emotions. He flew low across the ground, rolling out of the way of beams of red light. An alien shouted furiously and held up its weapon. Its body crumpled in an instant as the angelic figure simply flew through it.
The aliens screamed. For the first time, they began to suffer casualties. Alex charged through them mercillesly, he didn't try to rescue civillians. He could save more lives by attacking the aliens than attempting to save scattered individuals. The maths was cold but true.
Laser fire rained down on him. The beams were too numerous to dodge. A blast struck him and he was hurled at the pavement. He crashed into it and was sent bouncing across the ground. The bodies of a dozen more aliens stained his suit red as he crashed through them in the process.
The invading aliens were densely packed. Alex roared and managed to find his footing. The pavement beneath his feet cracked as he kicked off. His wings beat and propelled him faster. Organs and bits of bone scattered across his feathers. He plowed mercillessly through the aliens in droves.
"Stop!"
Alex's head whipped around to the voice. The voices on the battlefield were filled with terror and panic. This one sounded nervous, but it didn't have the same cloying terror.
The supehero wore a yellow, blue and black costume. Their body language screamed nervousness. They stood almost frozen still as beams of red light carved through fleeing civillians all around them.
A laser beam struck one of Alex's wings. The force hurled him towards the anxious-looking superhero. He span in middair. His feet plowed deep gullies in the pavement. He came to a stop next to the hero. The body shape told him that it was a male beneath the costume.
Alex shouted furiously, "Don't just stand there! Do something!"
The superhero was young. Probably inexperienced, he didn't recognise them. The battle was raging, there was no time to be nice or polite. He beat his wings and charged back to the lines of green-skinned aliens.
The aliens continued to pour out of the portals. Their numbers were being replenished just as quickly as Alex could slaughter them. The majority of civillians had evacuated the scene. Dr Molay's voice crackled in his ear and she shouted that GDA response teams were on their way to support the evacuation.
The aliens numbered in the thousands. Their weapons couldn't kill him, but they left scorch marks on his wings and costume. Alex had known the second he saw the invading army that the fight couldn't be won quickly. He had no way of closing the glowing portals. Unless he could do that, he had to face an army that seemed infinite. All he was trying to do was buy time for more people to escape.
"No!" The yellow and blue superhero roared. He flew forwards and snatched up a chunk of concrete with a piece of rebar sticking out. The young superhero wielded the destroyed piece of rubble like a club and smashed it into the face of an alien. The alien's skull cracked audibly and it was sent flying backwards.
The superhero hurriedly dropped to his knees and picked up an injured old woman. He seemed entirely unaware that he was kneeling in the middle of a battlefield. He asked the old woman concernedly, "Are you hurt?"
The interaction made Alex's anger burn hotter. While the superhero wasted valuable time with a single civillian, dozens more were being blown to shreds or torn in two by beams of red light. He channelled his anger into the battle and plowed straight through nearly fifty of the aliens before being cast down to the ground by a laser beam.
The yellow and blue superhero finally appeared to realise where he was. He grunted loudly and shot off into the air. He weaved about unsteadily as he flew. One of the aliens cried out furiously and fired its weapon. The laser beam hurtled towards the young superhero.
Bang!
The impact knocked the yellow and blue superhero out of the air. He was too poor of a flier to dodge and so unfamiliar with battle that he'd carelessly exposed his back to the enemy. The hero bounced off the ground and came to a chaotic stop inside a meter deep crater.
The young hero pushed off from the old woman's body. His hands were drenched with blood. The old woman's limbs bent unnaturally in all directions. The impact had mangled the entire left side of her body.
The young superhero began to hyperventilate, "Oh shit! Oh my god!"
The alien who's jaw had been broken by the piece of rubble spat out a mouthful of blood and pushed himself to his feet. He snarled and strode towards a huge armoured vehicle. The driver screamed as he was thrown out of his seat.
The injured alien grinned. The massive barrel of the vehicle's gun began to glow. The weapon hummed and then pulsed loudly. A beam of thick red energy roared from the tip. The young superhero's head poked out from the crater. The energy blast was headed straight towards him.
A figure dressed all in pink with the symbol of a molecule on her chest descended from the skies. Her hands and feet emmitted a steady stream of pink energy.
The energy blast bounced off a glowing pink wall. The blast richocheted into the side of a tall building. The blast destroyed the concrete and glass as if it were plasticine. The explosion sent rubble toppling to the ground below.
"I don't know who-" Atom-Eve started to speak, but a second blast from the tank's cannon forced her to hurriedly construct another barrier.
The injured alien slammed its fists on the tank's controls in frustration. It turned to a large group of its own kind and yelled, "Brax moy!"
Another figure dropped from the sky. A chrome-coloured robot riding a sophisticated flying vehicle. Robot hurriedly leapt off the vehicle and it crashed down into the tank. The explosion was deafening.
"You! Get her to a hospital! We can handle this!" Atom-Eve yelled at the yellow and blue superhero.
Alex's expression beneath his mask was murderous. He didn't know why Atom-Eve thought it would be a wise idea to remove a powerful fighter, even one who was clearly experienced, from a battle she'd only just arrived at. He had been the one holding them back. His wings were covered in scorch marks that proved it. The singed feathers didn't affect his fighting ability, it wasn't worth the energy to heal the superficial damage.
"You're Atom-Eve." The yellow and blue superhero said uncertainly. He still failed to realise that he was on a battlefield.
Atom-Eve looked at the unfamiliar superhero like he'd just stepped in shit. She shouted angrily, "What? Just go!"
The yellow and blue superhero grunted and shot off into the skies, climbing rapidly. Lasers chased after him, but none landed. The hero hadn't dodged, he'd just gotten lucky.
Robot stood behind Eve. He took advantage of her shield to block a wave of incoming attacks. His wrists whirred and two small barrels popped out. His voice had its usual synthesised quality, "Admirable intention Eve, but I am not sure that we can handle this."
Moments after he finished speaking, the sound of metal shear and screech caught his attention. Omega stood gripping the barrel of one of the aliens' huge tanks. The hero's mask was half-torn. The left side revealed a narrowed and furious eye.
Omega grunted from the extertion. His muscles strained. With a final heave the barrel was torn away from its mount. The winged hero screamed out a battle-cry and held the enormous barrel to his chest.
He shot off away from the tank. The metal underneath his feet dented and gave way. Omega flew through the rows of aliens like a rocket. The long barrel of the alien gun smashed apart the skulls and chests of the invaders. The tides of the battle began to shift towards the defenders. In a matter of seconds the single winged figure caused hundreds of casualties.
A laser beam struck Robot in the chest and sent him flying through the air. His chrome body cracked against a piece of rubble and came to an abrupt stop. Robot's eyes were damaged by the violent force and green light spilled out from the screens. The sparks coming from his ruined right arm didn't bother him, "Perhaps I spoke incorrectly."
"Mother-fuckers fuck off!" Rex-Splode yelled. The relentless onslaught of lasers forced him to duck behind buildings and overturned cars.
The explosive projectiles he threw were effective, but he wasn't nearly durable enough for the battle. If a single laser hit him he'd die instantly. Dupli-Kate's hundreds of clones that lay sprawled across the floor dead or dying extuinguished any thoughts of valiant heroism Rex might've had.
Dupli-Kate grunted and hurriedly dodged out the way of a laser. She wasn't quick enough and it sliced her apart cleanly from her shoulder down to her hip. She barely managed to duplicate in time, "They're killing me faster than I can keep up!"
The enormous alien tanks were constantly firing blasts of energy at Atom-Eve. The pink hero gritted her teeth and hastily reinforced the pink wall constructs. The energy blasts gave her no time to fight back. She was forced to defend frantically. She was getting exhausted fast.
"Me living is what matters!" Rex-Splode yelled, he stumbled out from a ruined police car just as an explosion blew it into pieces.
Robot dragged his injured body to Eve's shields. One of his legs gave way and crumpled. He was forced to half-kneel on the rubble-strewn ground, "Then I'm afraid I have bad news."
The alien who'd been injured by the unknown superhero stared at the controls of his vehicle. He seethed with fury and typed override commands into the machine's computer. The barrel began to glow with an intensity multiple times greater than previous attacks. The accumulating energy was so tremendous that the edges of the barrel began to warp and melt.
Suddenly, just as the whine of the building energy was about to reach its crescendo, the tank sputtered. The systems inside the cockpit began failing rapidly. The injured alien looked at its reflection in the glowing interface and shrieked with horror.
The vibrant green skin of the invading aliens began to pale. Their antenna wilted and drooped. They screamed with fear and stumbled back towards their portals. The injured alien brandished his fist towards its foes. It stepped into the world on the other side of the portal.
Half of the alien's body was through the portal. The half that remained on earth continued to lose its colour and the muscles visibly shrivelled with each passing second. It turned back one last time and stared resentfully at the human world.
The aliens who hadn't already shrivelled into lifeless husks staggered through the portals. The glowing orange energy pulsed. The portals vanished as if they had never existed.
"I don't know what just happened! But I think I speak for everyone here when I say that I never want it to happen ever again!" Rex-Splode shouted. An alien lying across a piece of rubble next to him groaned weakly and lifted its head at the sound of his voice. The explosive hero grunted with frustration and punched it in the face. The creature's head dropped back down and it stopped moving.
"Thank you Omega. Without your early arrival, many more would have died." Robot said. His synthesised voice could be described as grateful.
The rest of the Teen Team suddenly remembered that they weren't alone. The mysterious yellow and blue hero had flown off with an injured woman in his arms. Another hero still remained.
Omega faced the Teen Team. He might've had a few issues with their behaviour, but he was relieved that none of them were dead or injured. The damage to Robot's drone was irrelavant.
"Thanks. I'm glad you're all okay." Omega replied.
The singe marks to his wings began to fade. The burns to his chest visible from the tears in his costume also began to heal. It took less than a second for him to return to the healthy state he'd been in before the battle started. The damage to his costume and the ruined streets were the only evidence he'd just fought off an alien invasion.
'It's a good thing I'm so hard to kill.' Alex thought to himself.
The self-healing ability of his powers was phenomenal. He hadn't tested it, but he had a growing gut feeling that he could still recover even if his brain was destroyed. The phenomenal recovery also meant that until his stamina was completely exhausted, he could always fight in peak condition.
"What the hell were those things? And who the hell was that guy?" Rex-Splode quizzed.
The Teen Team turned to Robot. Alex did the same. The chrome-hero was by far the most knowledgeable individual present.
"I don't know."