A/N: So it wouldn’t be blamed on me later on.
I know I’ve said this before, but those who want harem or no-harem can go vote in the Auxiliary chapter by the end of this week—the winner will be decided!
***
Jack arrived at Lakeside Mall downtown just in time to see Eve, now in her superhero costume, handing over a burly, tied-up man to the police.
“He’s all tied up. The energy cuffs will dissolve in ten minutes, so I’d get the heavy-duty cuffs on him before then,” Eve told the police officers.
“Copy that, Atom Eve. Thanks for the assist. We’ll take it from here and notify the GDA to handle the transport,” one of the police officers, clearly the leader, said as he watched his team haul the man into the police car.
Jack watched as Eve gave a nod and flew away, quickly following her.
“Hey!” Jack called out as he swiftly closed the gap between them.
“Mhm?” Eve raised an eyebrow and turned back.
Seeing it was Superboy, she broke into a smile.
“Right on cue.” She pointed at a bench situated in a lush, somewhat desolate park.
“Let’s take it down to that bench so we can talk without the wind blowing in our faces.”
Jack agreed, and the two landed.
“So… what’s up with you wanting to see me?” Eve asked as she sat down on the bench.
Jack also sat down, coughing lightly before he spoke.
“I–I want you to make a… superhero suit for me…”
By the end of his words, Jack’s face flushed slightly.
It wasn’t that he was too prideful to beg, but requesting something from someone he’d just gotten acquainted with felt a little awkward and embarrassing.
Eve looked at him up and down and let out a soft, amused chuckle.
“No need to be embarrassed. Most newly debuted heroes—like Blazing Kid, for example—also have tacky costumes,” Eve smiled, then she puffed her chest in pride.
“Fortunately for you, you have me! Just tell me the style and color you want, and I’ll whip it right up!”
Jack’s eyes lit up as he started describing the costume for her—the Superboy-Prime costume, together with his sizes.
Because of the fragility of his hood and trousers, he had been limiting his speed drastically, and even after he fought the Flaxans, he discovered that many parts had been burned.
“How fast exactly?” Eve asked.
“A little bit higher than Mach 2…” Jack said.
Eve raised an eyebrow and let out a low whistle.
“That’s fast. Good thing you came to me. Standard spandex…”
Eve rattled on, mentioning things suitable for the costume that left Jack stumped.
‘She really is smart,’ Jack thought as he watched her.
‘But then why did she always have study sessions with me and act like she doesn’t know some answers… Could it be she likes me?’
Jack immediately threw out the thought.
Unlike the former Jack, this Jack was 100% sure he’ll know if a girl liked a boy or not—even though he had never been in a relationship before—and knew Eve was just being kind; After all, it was Jack who had gathered the courage to ask her for some learning tips.
“Okay. The design and structure have been planned,” Eve smiled at Jack.
“Let’s make the costume!”
Her hand flashed with pink, and a costume appeared in her palm, just like Jack had described.
“Here. Try it out,” Eve said as she gave Jack the costume.
Jack took it and turned to her.
“I’ll be back.”
He bolted into a public bathroom close by, and a few seconds later he stepped out, this time looking different.
A deep blue bodysuit clung tightly to his body with a silver, sleek shoulder guard bearing three yellow strips on it; a red cape fluttered behind him, complemented by silver wrist guards and shoes.
(A/N: Honestly, this is as far as I can describe it. If you have a better description, please comment it.)
Eve smiled as she gave him a thumbs up.
Jack smiled, and just then the earpieces in both of their ears let out consecutive beeps, and they both tapped them at the same time.
“Attention. An unidentified hostile species has materialized exactly fifty kilometers from your coordinates,” Robot’s voice came from the earpiece.
“Rex Splode, Dupli-Kate, and myself are en route with an estimated time of 60 minutes. Until we arrive, you’re ordered to defend the city perimeter.”
As Robot’s voice fell, the two turned and looked at each other, and Jack didn’t suppress his hearing any longer—the cacophony of voices filled his ears, causing his brows to furrow, but he kept hearing.
Then I heard it—
Screams for help, people praying, and others simply pushing one another, intertwined with this noise was an unfamiliar sound, presumably from the unidentified species.
But all of a sudden, he heard cheers, causing him to turn and look in that direction.
Squinting his eyes, his X-ray vision passed through all obstacles until he saw the carnage.
Bodies scattered everywhere, just like before—but this time he wasn’t like before.
Although I felt nauseous, I suppressed the urge to vomit and finally saw why the people were cheering.
‘The Seven?’
“Let’s go. We shouldn’t delay,” Eve said, already shooting into the sky with Jack following behind her.
***
New York.
The Seven swept through the city, killing any aliens that they saw.
“Man, what the hell is this? This ain’t in my Seven contract. Ashley didn’t say anything about dealing with this garbage!” A-Train said as he came to a stop on top of a building, his entire body soaked in alien blood.
“Less whining, more killing,” Queen Maeve said as she punched the head of an alien, killing it.
“If New York falls, we lose our penthouses. I’m not relocating to Ohio because you couldn’t handle a few space bugs.”
“Haa,” A-Train sighed, but just as he was about to continue his blitz killing, a thick red laser descended from the sky, killing multiple aliens at once.
“Hey, Homeland—”
A-Train’s words got stuck in his mouth as he watched a young boy in a deep blue bodysuit descend from the sky.
Jack just gave him a glance before looking away, staring at the aliens that had brought destruction to New York.
‘DNaliens?’