Sentinel - Chapter 10 (Patreon)

Chapter 10

“What the hell do you mean you can't come?!”

Sentinel winced at the acid in Cecil's tone, “I'm sorry Cecil, but it looks like my teleportation does have a range limit. We've already turned around and are heading back as fast as we can.”

“A lot of fucking good that does me! I thought your eye let you teleport anywhere!”

Sentinel sighed, “I did too. It worked perfectly fine even at a distance as vast as from the asteroid station to any place on Earth! I tried Cecil. I tried so hard I literally burned out my eyes despite them being 'eternal' by pouring too much energy into them! If my regeneration hadn't fixed it, the three of us would be permanently stuck in the Kamui dimension.”

And hadn't that been a terrifying thirty seconds? Even worse, he was lying to Cecil. His regeneration hadn't fixed his eyes, his new Code of Immortality had by replacing his eyes with a new pair. He wasn't about to say that over an open line.

“GOD DAMMIT!” Cecil let out a deep sigh, “Fine. Just. Get here as fast as you can. We're doing our best but Omni-Man is practically ignoring us.”

Sentinel stared at Cecil over the HoloNet, “Tell Rudy to use the Adam Smasher.”

“The... Adam Smasher? Seriously?!”

Sentinel scowled, “You want to try to stop Omni-Man or nitpick my terrible naming sense?”

Cecil scowled, “Fine. Just get back here.”

The line cut off instantly. Adam pulled down his mask and slumped with a sigh, “Fuck.”

Kate placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed, “It's alright. You did everything you could. You literally destroyed your eyes to try and get there. We just have to hope the others can hold out until we get back there.”

Eve stopped her pacing to look at them, “I still don't get it. Cecil said Omni-Man killed the old Guardians of the Globe, but why? And why wait almost an entire year before doing whatever he's doing now? It doesn't make any sense.”

Before anyone could say anything in reply, a chime signaled an incoming communication. Adam quickly opened it to see an image of Rudy's face, “Adam, the Adam Smasher is on its way. Are you sure we should do this?”

Adam sighed, “Is there any other options?”

Rudy looked deep in thought before he shook his head, “No. Invincible is strong. Omni-Man is stronger, more experienced, and clearly more ruthless.”

While Rudy spoke more images appeared on screen showing what was currently happening. Omni-Man was fighting men that had clearly been turned into cyborgs using the technology Adam had given the GDA. They were putting up something of a fight against Omni-Man, their hardened steel fists actually managing to hit with enough force to draw blood. Add to that their clear teamwork and experience in combat and they seemed to be doing alright.

Until Omni-Man started ripping them to shreds.

All three young heroes watch in abject horror as Omni-Man lifted one of the soldiers over his head and literally ripped the man in half at the waist. The man's screams were horrific and would give them all nightmares for years. Even after being exposed to the darkness of being a hero they all felt sick at the sight of the man's organs spilling out while Omni-Man was literally showered in the soldiers blood.

“Jesus fucking Christ.”

Kate and Adam both nodded in agreement with Eve's statement.

After finishing of the cyborg soldiers, Omni-Man took off once again. While he flew, Adam looked at Rudy, “ETA for the Adam Smasher?”

Rudy, looking as green as they did, answered, “Five minutes.”

Silence filled the ship leaving only the background hum of the hyperdrive for the next couple of minutes. They all watched as Omni-Man flew in the direction of Invincible, his goal was clearly to find his son. But, before he could, a blast slammed into him and brought him to a stop. The shooter? Cecil.

They couldn't hear what Cecil was saying, but whatever it was seemed to be getting to Omni-Man. Cecil would say something and Omni-Man would attack. The only thing keeping Cecil alive was his personal teleporter. In the end, Cecil had to retreat, but he did what was necessary.

“Drop in three... two... one... NOW!” Rudy's counted down.

They watched, enthralled, as a giant tube came crashing down from the atmosphere. Omni-Man stopped and stared as it slammed into the ground with enough kinetic force to create a massive crater. The massive drop pod hissed loudly as pressurized seals released and it began to open. Rudy's voice issued through the machine, “I suggest you stand down and surrender, Omni-Man.”

Omni-Man glared at the drop pod, “Get out of my way, Robot.”

The drop pod began to unfold, pieces of shielding falling off with loud clangs and hisses. From within the visage of a large robot began to emerge, “I cannot do that Omni-Man. You murdered the Guardians of the Globe. There's no telling what you will do if you are left free.”

Omni-Man scowled, “So be it.”

From the drop pod emerged a robot topping out at fifteen feet clad in armor made of beskar with an under armor layer of cortosis. While the head of the large robot looked like one Rudy would design with it's skull-like appearance, the rest of the machine looked like an armored body builder on steroids. Impossibly strong hydraulic muscles lifted multi-ton limbs and moved the tree trunk legs.

At its core the robot was powered by the same generator powering the Phantom's hyperdrive giving the machine more energy than most cities had at their disposal. It didn't stop there, another ten arc reactors were fitted into the robot as backup power or to power individual weapons.

Omni-Man and Robot moved at the same time. A shockwave burst from behind Omni-Man and propelled him forward. The ground beneath Robot burst into fragments when the massive machine moved faster than anyone could have imagined. The two combatants met in the middle distance, their fists slamming together.

Explosive force erupted from the impact shattering the ground and sending fragments flying. Omni-Man's fist was dwarfed by Robot's but seemed to have just as much force behind it. A loud whine filled the air, the fist clashing with Omni-Man suddenly snapped open revealing a thick glass-like opening in the palm that was glowing with golden light. The whine suddenly stopped and was replaced with a loud electric snap as the golden beam of the repulser blasted Omni-Man.

Omni-Man was blasted back with a loud grunt. Robot gave him no quarter. The giant machine was instantly on the ex-hero, its left fist driving down and slamming into Omni-Man from above. The blow slammed Omni-Man in to the ground and buried him several feet into it.

Robot didn't stop there. The large machine dropped down one knee and began raining down blows non-stop driving Omni-Man further and further into the ground. The sound was deafening and the destruction was devastating.

Robot stopped throwing punches and stood tall while pointing both palms at the hole he'd pounded Omni-Man into. The repulsers whined loudly then discharged into the ground. He kept charging and discharging them over and over. Slot on the thick shoulders of the machine snapped open with a hiss. Several small missile heads slid out and were launched into the air where the emitted a sharp whistling sound.

Omni-Man appeared again, his arms crossed in front of himself to guard against the continuing repulser blasts. Blood leaked from his lips and a bruise was already forming on his cheek. Just as he pulled one arm back in an attempt to attack, the missiles launched by Robot returned. All six approached from different angles and detonated in a spectacular display of precision.

White light blossomed in a perfect twenty meter sphere from each Thermal Detonator warhead. The same explosives that had dealt so much damage to the Flaxans had just been used against the most powerful man on Earth.

When the light of the explosions cleared, everything within their radius was gone. Everything, except Omni-Man.

He hadn't survived unscathed. His costume was little more than rags and his body was covered in bleeding wounds, but he was alive and very, very pissed off. With a silent roar, Omni-Man blasted through the air and slammed into Robot with explosive force. Omni-Man found any place where he could grip and began ripping.

Robot did his best to fight back, trying to grab the violent alien and rip him away, but he couldn't. Omni-Man dismantled Robot piece by piece. Hovering over the ruined remains, Omni-Man looked down at the decapitated head of Robot with contempt. He hovered there for a few seconds, then blasted off, back on course for his original plan.

“I'm sorry. It appears our creation simply wasn't strong enough.”

Adam slowly nodded at Rudy's blunt assessment, “You're right. We'll do even better next time.”

“Agreed.”

Rudy tapped them into the feeds he was watching allowing them to see what was happening, for a while. Cecil unleashed a kaiju in an attempt to stop Omni-Man. It looked to be working, until Invincible showed up and rescued him. After the kaiju was defeated, they lost all sight of the two. It wasn't until Invincible hit Chicago like a meteor that they once again had a way to know what was happening.

They wished they didn't. The brutality of Omni-Man seemed to know no bounds as he used his own son as a weapon against the people in the city. Then, they vanished once more. Rudy's solemn voice came over the HoloNet, “I'm going to join the rest of the Guardians for Search and Rescue in Chicago.” He paused and looked at Adam, “Get home soon.”

All communications cut off at that point. All they could do was watch the news and hope for more information on what was happening.

-----Line Break-----

[Feat Achieved! Survive Invincible Season 1 by any means. +1 SPECIAL OFFER]

[SPECIAL OFFER! Select any number of Abilities, Traits, Skills, and Items. You will permanently lose access to all selections. In exchange you will be granted a single Ability, Trait, Skill, or Item. What you receive will vary based on the number and rarity of what you choose to give up.

WARNING! The exchange is permanent. There will be no refunds. There will be no re-rolls.

WARNING! If your total number of abilities drops below the necessary threshold, you will lose access to Ability Slots.

Would you like to take advantage of this offer?]

Adam was jerked out of his daze by the sudden alert. It was a little over six hours since Omni-Man had, apparently, beaten the hell out of Invincible, then just... left. No explanation, no nothing, just, gone. He'd wanted some time alone, so he'd come to the cockpit and been staring out into hyperspace trying to will the ship to fly faster.

Unfortunately, his will was useless and they were still over a day and a half away from Earth.

He focused on his system and frowned as he read it over. The implications he could derive from the words 'Survive Invincible Season 1' had the potential to drive him mad with wondering if his life was just some form of entertainment. Except, he'd long accepted that was a possibility. If he could get technology from Star Wars and make it real, why couldn't his whole universe just be entertainment for another universe like Star Wars was entertainment for his?

He considered the offer pretty seriously. He had a lot of abilities that he didn't use very often and one or two that were useless to him, that he would never use, or that had seriously vile implications if he ever did use them.

After considering it for a bit, he'd come up with a list of everything he was willing to give up. The question was... should he? He'd be trading a lot of abilities away for just a single random something in exchange. Although, he believed he would get something decent given the number of things he wanted to get rid of just to trim his list of abilities down.

After going over it for a while, he finally nodded and made his choice, “Yes, I'll take the offer.”

[Please state the names of all Abilities, Traits, Skills, and Items, you wish to give up.]

“Edict, High Speed Regeneration, Minotaur, Super, Radiation Absorption, Fishman Form, Explosive Sweat, White Tiger Form, Stone Skin, Root, Sticky Icky, Nascent Esper, Hunger.”

[11 Abilities, 2 Traits, 0 Skills, 0 Items selected. Is this your final selection?]

“Yes.”

[Calculating...]

[ROLLING!]

[Kryptonian, Divine Trait, Race(DC) - You are a Kryptonian, enough said. Your physical and energy reserves increase the more sunlight you take, in addition, you have heat vision, ice breath, high-speed flight, no need to breathe, tactile telekinesis, X-ray vision, and probably more. Under the yellow sun you are basically a living god.]

Adam read the description of his new trait and felt his eyebrows rising. He didn't feel any different... but then again, he wasn't under a yellow sun, he was under artificial lighting and the glow of hyperspace. Even so, he felt the trade was worth it, even if he was back down to just three ability slots.

Not that it looked like he would need many given the sheer list of abilities being a Kryptonian gave him! Given he already enjoyed bathing in the rays of the sun in space, Kryptonian seemed like the perfect race for him. Especially since his reflection didn't looked to have changed. It would have been a bit awkward to suddenly become a lizard man.

He didn't even want to imagine trying to explain that to Kate!

[Invincible Season 1 Officially Complete! Familiars are now available within the Gacha.]

Much like when he'd first gotten the gacha almost a year ago, he just suddenly knew what this update meant. It meant that now, along with all the other things he could roll, he could now roll living beings. They could be anything from a simple animal all the way to god-like beings or even actual gods. Any familiar he rolled would be completely loyal and obedient to him, but would still act as it otherwise would.

In other words, if he rolled an evil familiar who wanted to take over the world, then the familiar would do everything in its power to do so, while not harming Adam himself. Such beings would require him to lay down dozens, if not hundreds, of orders to keep them in line. Which wouldn't stop them from looking for a loophole in his orders. Loyal didn't mean they were slaves to his will.

He... did not like the familiar system at all. Even if it wasn't strictly slavery... it was still slavery by another name. Not to mention he could, potentially, summon evil gods from alternate dimensions! His only option for something like that would be to keep it locked in his new familiar space for all eternity!

Adam would have been much happier if this new option hadn't been opened to him at all.

He quietly waited and, after a few minutes of silence, concluded that the gacha was at least nice enough to NOT give him a free roll for a familiar. The last thing he wanted to have to do was explain THAT to Kate. Especially if the familiar turned out to be an attractive woman.

He'd worry about it more the first time he rolled a familiar sometime in the future.

-----Line Break-----

Kate sat across from Adam on their bed on the Phantom with her legs crossed, “So, let me see if I have this straight, you power gave you the option to give up a bunch of your stuff in exchange for a single thing in return. You gave up a bunch of abilities you don't use and in exchange, your now some sort of alien god?”

Adam wiggled his hand back and forth, “Kinda sorta but not really? Basically, from what I can gather, I'm like a Viltrumite+.”

Kate snorted, “Like what, all the same great powers, none of the sugar?”

Adam chuckled, “More like, I get all that a Viltrumite has. The speed, strength, durability, and so on. Then, on top of all of that I get things like laser eyes, x-ray vision, ice breath, and tactile telekinesis. Possibly more, the description is fairly vague.”

She hummed in thought, looking him over and seeing no real outward difference, “So, do you feel any different?”

He shook his head, “Not at all. I don't think I will until I get out under the sun back home.”

That made sense to Kate. She took a moment to look her wonderful boyfriend over and finally came to a decision. After seeing what Omni-Man had done and knowing that Adam was now, essentially, an immortal god-like being, she felt there was no reason for her to hold back on her own desires.

“Since you're sharing, there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about for a long time.”

Adam focused on Kate and paid close attention, “Sure, go for it.”

After taking a deep breath, she began, “I love you, you know that.” After Adam nodded, she continued, “But, I also love someone else.” Adam frowned slightly but didn't immediately jump down her throat prompting her to continue, “I love Eve, too. I have for a while now. I only realized I did, ironically, on our first date. I wasn't about to end my relationship with you over that, because even back then I liked you a lot. I definitely don't regret my choice. Seeing that happened on Earth, with Omni-Man, I realized something could happen at any moment and I didn't want to waste any more time.”

She took his hands in her own and looked directly into his eyes, “I want the three of us, me, you, and Eve, to all date each other.”

Adam blinked. That had NOT been where he thought the conversation was going. He'd been expecting Kate to ask for permission to date Eve and him at the same time, not to go for a throuple. He considered it and, honestly, he would have to be a moron to say no. However, he was himself so he had to ask, “Do you think Eve would even be interested?”

Kate chuckled, “I think she would be. Rex and some of the other Guardians might think Eve has a crush on Mark, but they're just friends and go to school together. Whenever you and Mark are in the same room, she only has eyes for you. I see her watching you sometimes, and she always has this small wistful smile when she does.” Kate sighed, “I'm more worried about if she'd be willing to date me than I am about her willingness to date you.”

Adam, somehow, found himself in the position of wrapping his girlfriend in his arms and holding her gently while comforting her over another woman, “If Eve is even remotely bisexual then I'm sure she would be happy to date you.”

Kate snorted while hugging him, “Thanks, you know, for not being mad.”

Adam let out a soft sigh while shrugging his shoulders, “What's there to be mad about? My hot girlfriend wants not only her own hot girlfriend, but to share said hot girlfriend with me? I would have to be dead or deeply brain dead to get upset or say no to that.”

They sat in silence for a bit, just enjoying the company, when Adam eventually broke it, “So, when did you want to talk to Eve?”

Kate tightened her arms around him, “Now? No. Never. Never's better.”

Adam snorted and playfully nudged her, “You know, you're older than me. Aren't you supposed to be the more mature one?”

“I don't feel like being the mature one right now.”

Rolling his eyes, Adam let out a put upon sigh, that he didn't really mean, and exclaimed, “Fiiiiine. I'll be the one to do it.”

Tapping into the copy of her power he had in Power Mimicry, he made a clone of himself who left their shared bedroom to invite Eve over for a visit.

They sat together in silence until the door opened and Eve walked in with the Adam clone behind her. The clone quickly merged back with Adam who smiled at Eve, “Hey Eve, thanks for coming.”

Eve, long used to Kate's clones and what they could do, nodded, “Sure, you said you and Kate wanted to talk to me?”

“That's right.” He gestured to one of the chairs in the room, “Take a seat.”

As she sat down, Eve commented, “A serious talk then.”

“I suppose. Though I guess it's less of a talk and more of a question.” He and Kate adjusted positions so they were sitting side by side facing Eve. He wrapped his arm around Kate's waist while he addressed Eve, “I was wondering if you'd be interested in going out on a date with me.”

Needless to say, Eve was shocked by the question. Shocked enough that her jaw dropped and she stared between a slightly smirking Adam and a clearly not offended Kate. It took her a moment to gather her wits, “But... You're dating Kate still, right?” She sounded very confused.

Adam nodded genially, “I am. We discussed it and Kate has no problem with you and I dating each other. In fact...” He looked at Kate and waited until she gave a little nod before he continued, “Kate would like to take you out on a date as well.”

Kate watched Eve closely, terrified of seeing a look of disgust or contempt on Eve's face. Thankfully, she only saw the expected surprise and some confusion. Adam let Eve work through her thoughts in silence, not pushing her or demanding anything, just letting her think.

Finally, Eve pointed at each of them in turn, “So... both of you want to date me?” Her voice had a tone of incredulity.

Adam nodded, “If you're interested. No pressure. But, we both like you and we're both willing so I didn't see an issue with asking.”

Eve looked lost in thought for another minute or so before she came back with her answer, “I...” She looked at Kate who gave her an encouraging nod, “Would like to go out with you, Adam.” Her gaze focused on Kate, “I honestly don't know if I like girls. I've never thought about it before. But, you've been my best friend since way back when I first joined Teen Team. The first friend that didn't think I was a freak or that was scared of my powers. So, we can try.”

Kate immediately leaped from Adam's embrace and dove into Eve where she proceeded to hug the stuffing out of her, “That's awesome! We're going to have to much fun together!”

Eve's face immediately flushed, “I don't think I'm ready for anything like that yet!”

Kate paused and looked up into Eve's eyes, her lips curling into a mischievous smile, “Oho? That's not what I meant at alllllll. My my, what a dirty mind you have.”

Eve's blush immediately doubled in depth turning her face cherry red, “That's! I didn't!” She let out a deeply frustrated sound, “It's your fault! The soundproofing in here sucks!”

Adam arched an eyebrow at that blatant lie. While he hadn't gone to the level of soundproofing a music studio might have to capture perfect sound, he'd done enough that for someone without super hearing to hear anything, they would have had to be pretty close to the door.

Or be a mistress of matter and have the ability to change the properties of the door without destroying it or showing any outward changes. Had Eve been listening to Kate and him having sex at night? What a naughty little voyeur.

It was also kind of hot.

He watched Eve and Kate squabble and tease each other. At least there was one positive thing he had to look forward to on his way home.

…

He had no idea how he was going to explain this to his mother.

-----Line Break-----

Cecil pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh of frustration. After lowering his hand he stared at Adam across the top of his expansive, and expensive, desk. He'd just finished reading the full debrief that Adam had written and turned in as soon as he'd arrived back in the solar system. There was only one appropriate question he could ask, “What is all this bullshit?”

He threw down the written report and stared at Adam intensely, “You were just supposed to go on vacation with your girlfriends, check out an alien planet that might be useful for future colonization, and come home. Granted, Omni-Man losing his FUCKING MIND and wrecking the shit out of his son wasn't something that could be predicted put an early end to that.”

He grabbed the sheaf of papers and shook them like they owed him money, “But somehow you still ended up becoming a literally immortal ubermench Viltrumite?! How?! How the fuck did that happen?!”

Adam grimaced, “It, just did.”

Cecil scowled at the far from helpful answer, “We're going to need you to go through testing all over again now.” He tossed the bundle of paper down on his desk again, “Thank god you still look human at least.” His eyes narrowed, “Now, explain this Geass bullshit to me more clearly.”

Part of him wanted to hide his ability to just give a super power to anyone, but Kate and Eve's usage of their Geass would have been fairly obvious and raised questions. He crossed his arms over his chest and felt a little defensive as he answered, “It's pretty simple. If I want to give someone a Geass power, then they get one. But I have ZERO control over what the power can do and I can't take it back. Though I can always locate someone I give a Geass to, so I could hunt down any rogues. The power is supposed to be based on the person in question so there might be some pattern to the powers, but it would take a lot of testing to figure out. Something I'm not comfortable with.”

Cecil grunted, “Relax, kid. I'm not going to ask you to hand out super powers like candy. Still, it would be, nice, if you could see your way to giving it to at least some of your fellow heroes.”

Adam nodded slowly, “I was planning to. The stronger they are, the safer the rest of the world is.”

“True enough. Now, since you were smart enough to keep your healing ability, would you mind going to the medical wing and slapping Mark back to health?”

“Sure.” Adam's eyes turned red and black.

“Ah ah ah! No teleporting. I don't need you scaring the shit out of the guards.”

Adam let out a put upon sigh, “Fiiiine. I'll take the slow ass elevator and walk.”

“Good. After that, take the time to step out into the sun and see what happens. But! I expect you here early tomorrow. We need to test your new limits AND I want some updated cybernetics and armor for my men. That Adam Smasher of yours was impressive as hell, even if Omni-Man ripped it to shreds. I've also got a list of honorably discharged soldiers who are looking forward to getting new limbs and joining the GDA's new cybernetic task force.”

“No problem. I've got quite a few upgrades.” He paused to consider it, then nodded, “Plus armored suits that could be a real help.”

Cecil hid his surprise well and just nodded as if he expected no less from Adam, “Good. I'll be looking forward to it.”

Cecil watched Adam leave, then stood and made his way to one of the many white rooms in the building. He stood outside of a room and looked through the window at where Donald Ferguson was being rebuilt, yet again. The poor man had died in the line of duty almost forty times, and he refused to quit or give up. Hell, there was probably no one on Earth Cecil respected as much as he respected Donald.

The last body Donald died in had been built before Adam had started to shit out high spec technology from alternate realities. The current one had specs that would turn his second in command into a true superhuman. The Chlorophyte armor plating alone would make Donald immune to all but the most advanced and powerful weapons that the world could throw at him.

The question currently bothering Cecil was whether or not he should inform Donald of what he had become. It was Donald who asked for his memories to be erased as part of the protocol for bringing him back. But... this time? Well, he could rebuild Donald, bring him online, and ask the man himself. It would definitely be traumatic, but worst case scenario, he'd erase the man's memories and have him move on, never knowing the power at his fingertips.

-----Line Break-----

After getting the room number Mark was in, Adam made his way to it while thinking about his conversation with Cecil. He'd lied to the man, by omission, for the first time since their relationship began. He just couldn't tell him about their whole universe being fictional somewhere out there in the multiverse. Nor could he tell Cecil that Mark was apparently the main character that their whole universe circled around.

He didn't even want to think about it himself because it brought forth a horrifying thought that could easily become existential dread.

Did he exist in the original 'canon' version of Invincible? Somehow, he doubted it.

He shook the thought off and focused elsewhere, finding Mark's room. Once he arrived, he knocked on the door and waited a moment.

“Come in.”

Adam opened the door and took in the scene. Debbie Grayson, Marks mother, was sitting in a chair next to Mark's bed. She looked drained with dark circles under her eyes. When she saw him, she gave him as much of a smile as she could muster, “Adam, it's good to see you again.”

Adam stepped into the room while closing the door behind himself, “You too, though I wish it was under better circumstances.”

Hope seemed to spark in her eyes, “I take it you're here to heal Mark?”

Adam nodded and walked up to where Mark was either asleep or unconscious, no telling which, “Yeah. Cecil asked me to slap him back to good health.”

Debbie let out a somewhat choked laugh at that, “I'll never get over how weird your healing ability is.”

Adam snorted, “You and me both.” He cracked his knuckles and selected Omni-Man's power from Power Mimicry.

While he was pretty strong in his base form, he was still weaker than Omni-Man. That might change once he drank in enough sunlight, but for now it was his strongest physical boost. He cocked his fist back and then drove it down, slamming it into Mark's chest with a massive amount of speed and force, yet the impact was more of a gentle 'whump' sound.

Mark's eyes shot open as his body visibly healed. Mark looked around and paused when he spotted Adam. Adam gave him a cheeky wave, then punched Mark in the stomach. More of his wounds visibly healed. A couple more quick blows and Mark's wounds all healed. Omni-Man's strength was no joke when it came to healing with Physical Therapy. Especially since Adam didn't have to hold back, at all.

Mark sat up and flexed his arm and legs, shattering the casts around them. He looked at Adam and tried to muster a smile, but he was clearly upset and depressed over what had happened as all he managed was a mumbled, “Thanks.”

Adam pat Mark on the shoulder, “When you feel up to talking, call me. There's something I want to talk to you about. Until then, I'll let you two have your peace.”

He left the room at a brisk pace, not wanting to stick around any longer than necessary.

Besides, he was looking forward to finally getting outside and under the sun to see what would happen. It took a little while, but he finally stepped out through the medical wing doors and walked right out into the suns bright rays. The moment he did, he could feel it. Obviously he could always feel the sun, even as a human, but it felt very different now. He imagined what he was feeling was what plants might feel performing photosynthesis. His body was drinking in the light and growing stronger by the moment. Faster, even, than when he was feeding off of the most radioactive elements he could generate.

It was... intoxicating. The sunlight landing on him was soaking into his cells filling them with energy and making him stronger with every moment that passed. He closed his eyes and, with a minor flex of his will, began to float into the air. Flight wasn't new to him, but flight without using an ability to achieve it was!

He continued to hover in the air just basking in the feeling of the sunlight, but a noise started to slowly build in the background. At first it was like quiet static, a soft hum of background noise like he would expect to hear in a crowded mall. Except, it kept growing louder in volume. It continued to grow louder, becoming louder until it became a roar like a waterfall slamming into rocks.

His hands slammed onto his ears when the sound became overwhelming. It was a jumble of noise that he finally realized was the sounds of the world around him cranked up to fifteen. He could hear everything all at once from the scratching of an ants foot on dirt to the sound of a car horn honking miles away. It was overwhelming! It... it hurt!

He curled into a ball in the air, gritting his teeth and fighting the pounding pain of so much sound assaulting his eardrums all at once. He breathed heavily, on the verge of hyperventilating, as he tried desperately to either gain control over his hearing or filter out what he was hearing. He had to! He couldn't live with so much noise pounding against his head for the rest of his life!

The grass beneath him began to wave back and forth despite the lack of wind. Dirt began to lift off of the ground in a slow swirl beneath him. The next second his entire body shot into the air with the sound of a cannon going off. There was one place no sound would be able to reach him!

Adam flew straight up as fast as he could, the sounds still growing louder despite him getting further away from their sources. It wasn't until he finally, mercifully, exited the atmosphere that sound finally disappeared. His whole body relaxed in the absence of the overwhelming noise he'd been experiencing.

He uncurled as he relaxed and opened his eyes to look around. He immediately hissed in pain and closed his eyes once again. Just as his ears had been massively enhanced, so too had his eyes. Even in space, the world had been blindingly bright to him and burned to look at directly.

Then he realized that heading into space might not have been the brightest of ideas. It had been around noon when he'd left the GDA and flying straight up meant flying almost directly toward the sun. Now, in space, the sun had no atmosphere to go through before reaching him. The energy entering his cells and making his everything stronger was now completely unfiltered.

If he'd thought the energy gain on Earth was impressive, it had to be hundreds of times faster in space. Oh, it felt amazing, even better than when he would sleep in space before. The feeling was almost addictive. It was also terrifying. If his senses were already in overdrive before, how much stronger, hence worse, were they getting now?

He didn't want to know but without the pain of sounds hammering into his head, he could think clearly and knew exactly where to go. Behind his closed eye lids his eyes transformed into their Mangekyo form allowing him to enter the Kamui dimension. A place that was fairly dark and definitely silent!

Adam let out a deep sigh and winced at how loud the sound was to his ears. Opening his eyes, fortunately, didn't hurt in the darkness of the Kamui dimension, just as he'd hoped. It did, however, show how much his vision had improved. In the past he, and anyone he brought into it, had always been able to see in the dimension, though it was dark. Now? Now he could see in it as if it were daytime. He could also see for what had to be dozens of miles. He couldn't tell exactly, but it was definitely a significant distance.

'Okay, training, I need to get a handle on my hearing and vision before I go deaf and blind. I'm no use to anyone if I can't see or hear them. Okay, start small and hope Esper works quickly.'

The first thing he created was a small electronic noise maker. He grit his teeth throughout the creation process. Using Eve's power had always made noise, but now it was like thunder that pounded against his eardrums. Fortunately, he could close his eyes so the light wasn't an issue. When he was finished he was holding a small plastic key chain with several buttons on it. Each button would play a different mildly annoying electronic noise at high volume.

He pushed the first button and hissed in pain as the electronic sound drilled into his ears. He closed his eyes to focus fully on just his hearing to try and get control over it faster. He pushed the next button and his whole body shuddered in pain from it. This... This was going to take a while.

-----Line Break-----

Adam sighed in relief while turning off the massive stereo system he'd conjured and turned up to full volume. The heavy metal cut off and left him in silence within the Kamui dimension. It had taken him hours upon hours, but he'd finally managed to get his hearing under control.

Well, that wasn't quite accurate. He couldn't actually control his hearing, he would always hear everything within his hearing range, which was massive. What he'd learned to do was parse what he was hearing, to compartmentalize it so it was no longer debilitating. It was like learning to ignore tinnitus, the buzz would always be there but not always at the forefront of the mind.

His vision had turned out to be the much easier one to control of the pair since he had actual control over it. He hadn't figured out his x-ray or heat vision yet, but he had learned that he had microscopic vision that he could control. Seeing bacteria on his hand had been trippy as hell and almost turned him into a germiphobe!

He was curious what the other vision modes might be like, but they would have to wait until he could figure them out.

With his training done, for now, he left the Kamui dimension, though he stepped out into space rather than back on Earth. This way, he could slowly get used to the unending sounds of Earth slowly while descending through the atmosphere.

He took his sweet time getting closer to the ground. Just after entering the atmosphere, the noise came rushing back. He slowed to a crawl, letting his mind process and discard the noise, pushing it to the background so he could focus on the things he actually wanted to hear.

It took him over an hour to land on the roof of the old Teen Team base. He stood there, breathing slowly and carefully, letting the sounds of the city flow through him. After a few minutes, the sound dropped to a dull hum in the background of his mind.

He slowly opened his eyes and looked around, his vastly improved eyesight and telescopic/microscopic vision letting him see thing that would have been otherwise impossible to see. It was pretty awesome, in his opinion.

Now adapted, at least to a rudimentary level, he jumped off of the tower and shot into the air with a whoop! Super let him fly pretty fast, being Kryptonian let him fly even faster. The best part was that his perception was vastly improved as well, to the point that the world seemed to be moving in ultra slow motion. He could already see how it would come in handy in his work as a hero. It would give him all the time he needed to fully scope out a situation, formulate a plan of action, and then begin that plan before anyone even noticed he was there.

With nothing pressing to do, he just flew through the air and relaxed, enjoying the way things had changed for him over the last year. He paused his flight when his phone began ringing. Seeing it was from his new girlfriend, Eve, had him grinning like an idiot. He quickly accepted the call, “Hey Eve.”

“Oh good, it finally went through. Where have you been?”

“You tried calling earlier? Sorry. I was in the Kamui dimension trying to get used to my new hearing.”

“Wait.. what? What new hearing?”

“From being turned into a Kryptonian. As soon as I stepped outside after my debrief with Cecil and healing Mark, I began to absorb sunlight. I could feel it making me stronger, but it also egan to amplify my senses. In minutes I was hearing everything within miles of me. It was way too much so I retreated to the Kamui dimension and spent the last few hours getting a grip on it.”

“That... sounds pretty bad. Are you sure you're alright?”

“It's... well tenuous control over it at best. It's going to take time for me to really have control over it. But you didn't call to hear me complain, what's up?”

“I... I just got into a huge fight with my parents. I lied to them about what I was going to be doing for the week we were supposed to be in space. When I came back early... well it all came out and fell apart after I found out my dad lost his job because of what happened in Chicago. I tried to help, even made gold, which I hate doing, so he could sell it. That just made him madder and made the fight worse.”

He listened silently while she let out a deep sigh and continued, “I, I need a place to stay, at least until I graduate and can get a job... or something.”

Adam hummed in thought, an idea sparking in his mind that he could look into later, “Well, you're welcome to use my apartment for a private place if you don't want to use your room in the Guardians HQ. I honestly spend so little time there that I've been thinking of giving it up anyway.”

“Are you sure that would be alright?”

“It's fine. I'll text you the address and meet you there. I'll even cook you lunch.”

Eve giggled, “It's closer to dinner time.”

“Alright, I'll cook you dinner then! I'll pick up some stuff on the way home.”

Eve let out a moan over the phone, “God, that would be amazing. I'd date you just to keep eating your food.”

Adam felt slightly nervous as he asked, “But that's not the only reason you're dating me, right?”

“Not at all!” Eve quickly reassured him, “It's just a heavenly bonus. Kate's been bragging about how you always cook at her for so long that its one of the things I always associate with you. Aside from that, you're also a great hero and an amazing humanitarian for all the stuff you've put out there for anyone to use.”

“Thanks. Alright, I'll text you the address to my place. Just let yourself in when you get there. I'll drop by the store to pick up some stuff and we'll enjoy a nice dinner together, just the two of us.”

Eve let out a soft sigh, “That sounds nice. See you soon.”

After hanging up, he texted Eve his address and then tapped into his Route ability to get a direct line to his favorite grocery store. He was going to make the best burger and fries Eve had ever eaten.

-----Line Break-----

Sentinel hovered in the air watching Invincible do the same across from him. It had been two weeks since he'd returned to Earth and healed Invincible, but he other man had only decided to contact him earlier that day. Not that Sentinel minded, Invincible had some serious shit to work through and that took time.

He studied the other hero closely and noticed the sag in his shoulders and the defeated air that seemed to hand around him. He was definitely still hurting from the battle with Omni-Man and the trauma that had instilled in him. Sentinel wasn't sure he could do much about that but he could at least try to help a little.

Invincible broke the silence, “So, why did you want to meet out here in the middle of nowhere?”

They were currently hovering over the Sahara desert where no one lived. A lack of people and things to break was necessary for what Sentinel had in mind.

He crossed his arms over his chest while he answered Invincible, “I brought us here for two reasons. Reason one is why this place in particular.”

“And why is that?”

“So we can punch the hell out of each other without harming innocent people.”

Invincible jerked in surprise, “What?! Why would I fight you!?”

Sentinel hovered closer to him, “Because I think that you have a lot of anger you need to let out.”

“What?! Why would you...”

“Because I've been in a similar spot before.” Sentinel cut Invincible off, “Not the exact same, but I can imagine. My father, he was a hero, and he died saving people.”

“Fuck man, I... I didn't know.”

Sentinel shrugged, “Neither did I until after I got my power. But that's not the point. The point is, I was angry. I was filled with rage and furious with the whole world for the loss of my father.” His gaze focused on the lenses of Invincible's costume, “If I was that mad at my father leaving me, I can't even begin to imagine how mad you are after what yours did to you.”

Invincible clenched his fists tightly, “It's not the same.”

Sentinel nodded, “I know. But I think letting loose and releasing that rage will help you a lot.” His grin grew, “And if it helps you, I need for us to fight for another reason.”

“What reason?”

“I'm not human anymore.”

“What the hell?!”

Sentinel nodded, “It's true. My power, it changed my race into something called a Kryptonian, and alien race that gains its powers from sunlight. It's a lot like a Viltrumite, but with a few more abilities tacked on. Right now, me and you are the two strongest heroes on the planet. It's up to us to protect it. For us to do that, we both need to know just how strong we are. So, I want you to hit me as hard as you can.”

Seeing the shocked look on Invincible's face, he pushed on, “Listen to what I am saying. As HARD as you can. Not some arbitrary percentage as hard, but with every last ounce of your strength.”

“B-But I could kill you!”

Sentinel chuckled, “No, you can't. You can hurt me, but I'll heal. There is no chance, at all, of you killing me. So. HIT. ME. HARD.”

Invincible hesitated for a few more moments before he let out a yell and launched himself at Sentinel with his fist cocked back. Sentinel just sat there and wait as Invincible closed the distance and drove his fist right into Sentinel's cheek. There was a blast of air and the blow was strong enough to turn Sentinel's head slightly, but it did nothing else.

Sentinel sighed and slowly turned his head, pushing Invincible's fist back as he did, “Seriously? I said to hit me as hard as you can, not to punch me like a little bitch.”

Sentinel knew he was pushing Invincible's buttons and not really acting like himself. But if he had to be a bit of a jerk to get Invincible to stop holding back, to let go and use his rage so he stopped holding it inside, then he would be a jerk. He cocked his own fist back and, without warning, slamming it right into Invincible's jaw with enough force to send the other teen flipping through the air.

Sentinel shouted after him, “Stop holding back like a pussy and fucking HIT ME.”

He had to fight not to smile when he saw Invincible spit a glob of blood to the side and turn to glare at him. Sentinel had to fight not to smile at the anger Invincible was showing. This time when Invincible flew in with a yell, he held back significantly less, his fist hammered into Sentinel's cheek with enough force that the impact sounded like thunder and sent Sentinel skidding back through the air a few feet.

Sentinel wiped his cheek with the back of his hand and grinned broadly, “Better!”

The air behind Sentinel exploded as he accelerated from zero to 'holy shit' in a fraction of a second. His fist drove into Invincible's stomach with enough force to bend him over and send spittle flying from his mouth, “Now, fight me like you mean it!”

-----Line Break-----

Cecil stared at the massive wall of monitors with a frown. On the screen he was watching Sentinel and Invincible, the two strongest heroes on Earth, beating the living hell out of each other. Invincible was clearly going all out, every punch accompanied by a scream. He wasn't really fighting, he was venting, and Sentinel was letting him.

Honestly, he approved. The last thing he needed was a super powered traumatized teenager flying around. Getting past the anger stage would be very helpful and make the world a lot safer.

His gaze moved to the other overpowered teen, Sentinel. He was getting worried about the kid. Sentinel might not know it, but his sudden race change had undermined every contingency that he had been planning in case the kid went bad. Not that he honestly believed the kid would, but... It was his job to be prepared.

How did you prepare for an alien race that got stronger in sunlight, had all the same powers of a Viltrumite, and then had even more powers on top of it? What little testing them had been able to do showed Sentinel's stats to be off the charts. Before the kid was powerful, but could have still been handled in a couple of ways. Now? Now those methods were moot.

Why? Because the kid was fucking immortal!

Sure The Immortal was 'immortal' until his head got ripped off. Not so immortal now was he?! Although... He looked to a smaller screen off to the side where The immortal's body was sitting. The Immortal might not be as dead as he seemed.

It was embarrassing to admit, but some kids had managed to sneak into the private cemetery and dig up The Immortal's body. They'd just happened to choose to do so when the GDA was too busy dealing with Omni-Man to even notice. It was only when one of the teenage idiots decided to live stream and brag about having The Immortal's head. Which hadn't decayed at all despite having been dead for nearly a year.

Now, wasn't that interesting?

Obviously, he'd tried to bring The Immortal back right after Omni-Man had killed him. It was only after weeks of failure that he'd given up on the possibility. However, the complete lack of degradation to The Immortal's corpse led him to believe there was still hope to bring him back.

That hope was currently having a no holds barred fight with Invincible. His hope was that Sentinel's Physical Therapy ability would be able to fix The Immortal and bring him back. He dearly hoped it would work. The current Guardians were strong, and getting stronger with Sentinel's help, but their teamwork was still horrendous and they needed a LOT of polish before they could hold a candle to the old Guardians.

Bringing The Immortal back and putting him in charge would be a good first step to returning the Guardians to their glory of old.

Now he just had to wait for two stupid teens to stop punching each other so he could get Sentinel into the GDA and punching The Immortal back to life...

What had his life become that the previous thought made sense?

-----Line Break-----

Invincible floated in the air, his face was covered in bruises, blood leaked from his nose and mouth, and he was breathing heavily. Despite feeling like one giant bruise from the beating he'd just gotten from Sentinel, he felt... better. Not good, sometimes he felt like he would never feel good again, but he felt better.

He looked over at his sparring partner and smirked. He wasn't the only one bruised and bleeding. Sentinel had one hell of a bruise over his left eye and he could see the wetness on the mask covering the lower half of his face that he knew was blood. Sentinel was breathing just as heavily too and it felt good.

Invincible floated over to where Sentinel was waiting with his hands up for the next round. Invincible casually raised his hands, “I'm done, for now. And... Thanks. You were right, I did need this.”

Sentinel lowered his hands with a grunt, “Glad I could help. We should do this regularly to keep ourselves sharp and to keep track of our upper limits. It's always good to know what your maximum is.” He let out a sigh and stretched while activating Physical Therapy, “Alright, hold still so I can heal you.”

Invincible nodded and held still, despite the instinct to dodge the fist barreling right toward his face. The blow didn't hurt, it never did when Sentinel was healing. He just felt a bit of pressure and then a flood of relief as his injuries faded. Another blow cleared the last of them and left him feeling as good as new. That was one hell of a benefit to enjoy while training with Sentinel.

Once Invincible was healed, Sentinel crossed his arms over his chest and smiled, “Alright, now for the second reason I wanted to get together. I didn't want to bring it up when you were still so pissed off.”

That made Invincible wary, but he listened as Sentinel continued, “I'd like to ask you for a sample of your blood.”

Invincible tilted his head in confusion, “My blood? Why?”

“I got a tinker ability related to biology. I want to study your blood to learn more about Viltrumites. I also plan to study my own blood to learn more about Kryptonians. There's a lot of possibilities if I can understand your biology. I might even be able to learn how to make you stronger, faster, or how to make other people half-Viltrumite too. It would shock the hell out of any Viltrumite's that might come looking for your father if there were suddenly a dozen half-Viltrumites there to greet a beat them.”

Sentinel had intended to turn himself into a Viltrumite before he'd become a Kryptonian. Hell, if there was any benefit to it, he still might make himself Half-Viltrumite. It would depend on if the benefits were worth it or not.

Invincible studied Sentinel, “You... really think you could make other people into Viltrumites?”

Sentinel gave an affirmative nod, “Pretty sure. I won't know for certain until I can get a good look at your genetics, but it should be possible.”

“So... you could make someone... say my mom, into a Viltrumite that will live for thousands of years?”

“If she has no objections to it, yeah.”

The next moment Invincible was right next to Adam with his arm held out, “Take as much as you need.”

Sentinel swapped Physical Therapy for Tinker – Bio(III) then tapped into Atom Eve's transmutation to create the equipment he would need to take a proper blood sample. Though he swapped the standard steel needle for the much stronger Beskar equivalent. Steel wouldn't pierce Invincible's skin. Between his new knowledge of biology and the enhanced vision of his Sharingan eyes, he quickly found a vein and inserted the needle. It took some effort still, but it pierced Invincible's skin in the end.

He collected four full vials of blood before he stopped, “This should be more than enough to get started. Thanks, Invincible.”

“Just, promise that if you can do it I'll be the first to know. My mom... she... I want her to be safe, you know?”

Sentinel gripped one of Invincible's shoulders and gave it a firm squeeze, “I understand. I want the same for my mother and sister.” He let go, “So, do you want a lift back to civilization?”

Invincible thought for a bit, then shook his head, “No. I think I'll take a nice leisurely flight to get home.”

“You do you. And, hey, if you ever need to vent, you've got my number.”

Invincible slowly relaxed his shoulders and let out a sigh, “Yeah, thanks man. I mean it.”

With his piece said, Invincible took off in the general direction of his home. Sentinel's eyes expanded into their Mangekyo form and he was swallowed up in a swirl of space that deposited him on his space station. He looked at the four vials of blood in his hands and grinned, “Time to get to work on improving the heroes of the world.”

AN

9.8k words, a little short, but! The next part I have in mind would be at least a few thousand words, so this is where I had to stop.

For those who might be concerned about the race change. It was better than the first thing I rolled, All Fiction.

I do plan to level Kryptonion out a bit to keep it in line, at least somewhat. For starters, I'm putting the strength of Kryptonion on the level of stronger Viltrumites. So if Adam were to meet Thragg right now, Thragg would kick the shit out of Adam in a pure strength fight. (Discounting Adam's other BS abilities.) Thragg is the better-trained melee fighter.

Anyway, Let me know what you think!