Alien

The next day at school, I find myself speaking with Hana. This is the most I've gotten out of her, and I'm enjoying it as we talk about our favorite foods.

"I love shrimp," I tell Hana my favorite food as she smiles slightly. It immediately disappeared, but I saw it.

"I like cherries. They taste amazing." I nod at Hana's favorite food as Mark and Eve have their conversation.

"So Mark, what do you think of all of this?" Eve asks Mark as he looks up from his food.

"I can't believe they expect us to eat boiled chicken for lunch... it's inhumane." I laugh as Eve scowls.

"No dummy. The mall bombing stuff." Mark takes a bite of his chicken as he looks back to Eve.

"I don't know it's unsettling. I mean, I know this is going to sound bad, but I'm trying not to think about it." Mark explains. He took a bite of his chicken as Eve sighed

"Well, that's a great way to figure this out!" Eve exclaims sarcastically as Hana giggles. I interrupted at that, though.

"Mark's right, let's be realistic. Should we be searching for clues right now? I, for one, am not a detective like Nightwing, so I can't help with that stuff." I explain as everyone at the table looks at me.

"Don't think I don't want to catch that guy. I'm just saying we don't have anything to go on right now." I explain as Mark nods, but Eve and Hana share glances.

"I guess you're right, maximus. There are plenty of possibilities but nothing to point us in the right direction." She pokes at her chicken bored as I sigh.

Mark laughs. "No kidding, I wish there was a big monster we could punch." I nod as we leave the cafeteria.

"I hear you, bro. Fighting is so much easier than all that thinking stuff." Me and Mark share a look before laughing as we walk behind Eve and Hana.

"To be honest, I think that's the only part we are qualified for." I smile. Knowing the words Mark just spoke were the truth.

****

Sitting in class with a look of boredom, I sigh as my chemistry teacher yaps on and on about random things, my mind wandering to hanas face, but I quell those thoughts.

'This is what dying a virgin gets you.' Shaking my head in annoyance, I try and pay attention in class.

Speaking of the devil, the usually focused Hana turns to me from her seat next to me. " Did you spot anything maximus?"

"Nah, I haven't seen anything strange," I respond casually as Hana nods.

"What about you? See anything?" I ask, trying to keep the conversation alive as Hana shakes her head.

"Negative. Nothing out of the norm." Nodding me and Hana speak for a bit before a voice yells to us.

"You two! Maximus William Grayson and Hana Smith Speaking in class? Just because you don't get to talk often outside of class doesn't mean u can make it up here..."

"Lovebirds." I hear the teacher mutter as I lose focus. My eyes widened before I played it off. Side-eying Hana, who also looks stunned.

The whole class laughs at us as we sit there, our faces blank. Everyone is pointing to us as I groan.

"It's not like that," I explain as the teacher silences the class.

"Sorry, I was jumping to conclusions, but the fact remains that you've caused me to waste the last minutes of my class today." The teacher's voice is even as I growl in frustration.

"Sorry, sir," I say as I leave when the bell rings.

Leaving with Hana, we run into Mark and Eve, who remain silent as I speak to Hana.

"So that was uncomfortable..." I say as Mark looks at me confusedly.

"Indeed," Hana responds. The both of us opted to remain quiet like usual.

At that moment, Eve gets a call from Robot. "Hey robot, what's up?" She questions with my super hearing. I can hear a robot speaking.

"I've been using secondary operating systems to run checks on all employees of your high school. Teachers, custodians, bus drivers, everyone, and I--" A loud boom reigns out from the line as robot excuses himself.

"As I was saying. I was checking the background and employment histories of the employees in your school." A pause happens again as the robot continues.

"Cross-referencing their information with the necessary knowledge needed to construct a bomb like the one used in the mall bombings." I hear a smack as robot once again pauses.

"I thought it might be a futile effort, resulting in nothing but dead ends. Thankfully, I was wrong." I hear Rex Yelp as Robot continues.

"Surprisingly, your physics teacher, David Hiles, is a former weapons engineer. For global tech. A military research firm."

-BOOOOM-

The explosion rings through the line as I hear more explosions. "It's not definitive evidence of his guilt. But I'm 99.8 % sure that he's the one you're looking for."

"Once I'm off with you, I will call the police to see if they can get a squad car sent to his house. I'm going to give you his address so you can check the place out before he arrives there."

"Okay, bye," Eve says as she hangs up. Eve turns to Mark. "You're not going to believe this."

Mark plays dumb despite me knowing he heard the whole thing as well. "What? He asks as Eve runs Hana and I following.

"I'll tell you on the way c'mon. We've got to get changed." We all run as I look to Hana.

"Does he often call you guys on your cell phones?" I ask as Hana nods.

The four of us enter the crate. We have been using the past couple of months only to find 2 people making out passionately. They turn to us and show clear anger.

"Why don't you guys find your own spot!"

****

Flying through the air side by side, we arrive at a local neighborhood landing in front of a familiar teacher's car as Mark deepens his voice to speak.

"Hold it right there, sir." He lands in front of the three of us. The man exits his car before putting his hands on his hips.

"I didn't expect to get caught quite this early. And I certainly expected more conventional authorities when the time did come." His voice is monotone despite being caught.

"Very well, Maximus. Mark. Samantha. Hana. Come inside." My eyes widen as he uses all of our first names. How the hell?

Eve springs to question him. "How did you?" Eve asks as the guy snorts.

"Are you kidding me? Three of you aren't even wearing masks." He gestures towards me, Eve, and Hana, as Mark looks towards me smugly.

Sighing, I remember saying making masks was stupid. we followed the teacher to the garage as he led us to the 4th student.

"Fourth?" Mark questions as we enter the garage. I have my suspicions, too, as the man turns on the lights.

"Yes. I can't think of a more fitting segue into my confession..." he pauses, grabbing the door now before turning to us.

"You see. It was the constant pestering and belittling of things like what you see before you that caused my son to commit suicide. My son's suicide resulted in my divorce. My divorce led to me losing my job."

Opening the door to the room, we spot one of Mark's aquatinces.

"Derek!" He yells as the boy wakes up afraid. The bomb on his chest is active.

The teacher continues. "I'll spare you the boring details. It's not the death of my son. I'm avenging... that would be far too clichè. No... it's the destruction of my life that has me seeking revenge.

"It's the domino effect of pain and sorrow that these monsters create. Children spend too much time at the mall... attend parties... consume alcohol... and play sports when they should be studying and doing homework."

"What the hell did you do to him," Mark asks in fury as the teacher opens his shirt.

"What I did to all of them. I turned him into a bomb, an instrument with which to exact my revenge... my crusade. To end the pain and sorrow caused by these... 'popular kids'. And I think of a more appropriate way to end things."

Revealing his chest, I gasped as I spit a bomb attached to him.

"Than the death of 4 superheroes!" He yells as I blitz him. Grabbing him and dragging him through a window. Flying into the air, I mock him.

"I won't even be scratched by this explosion, and no one else will die. You wasted your life wallowing in self-pity instead of improving. Goodbye."

Flying to the Arctic, I feel the bomb detonate as a wave of warm air blows me backward. The explosion is akin to getting hit by a heated pillow as I halt my spinning.

"Afternoon ruined." I grumble before flying back."

****

Arriving back home , I mark spot Dad with a fully-grown beard. Mom sets up dinner as Dad walks into the dining room.

"I need to shave." He remarks casually as I stare at him in awe. He looks like some war veteran.

"So. Anything interesting happens to you boys today?" Mom asks as Mark responds.

"We found out one of our teachers was turning our classmates into bombs to take revenge on the kids he felt like we were the ones who led his son to commit suicide. He also turned himself into a bomb, but Max took him far away before he exploded."

Dad smiles. "I spent the last eight months enslaved by an army from an alternate dimension. Although it seems much less time has passed here. I led a rebellion against my captors and refined control of my powers. Today, a team of scientists from the rebellion found their way home."

Mom seems casual about Dad's story as she smiles. "That's nice. Who's ready for desert?"

****

My phone rings as I groan. My nap interrupted as I answered the call.

"Hello?" I ask as Dad's urgent voice emerges from the other end. "Pay attention, son... I'm not going to have time to repeat any of this."

"I need your help." At those words, I jolt putting my suit on in a hurry. My heart is pumping.

"Okay!" I yell into the phone, ignoring the sounds of Mark indulging in self pleasure across the hall as I step into my boots.

"Anyway, I just got alerted to a major baddie coming into our solar system. Headed straight for earth!." I speed up at dad's words.

"I've fought this guy before. He's not out of your league, but he's going to be the toughest guy you have fought so far. They include Mark." I nod as I finish getting my outfit on.

"I'm not concerned. What do you want me to do?" I ask as Dad hums on the other line.

"Just beat the guy up. Keep him from entering earth's atmosphere and running amok. It's not rocket science. You've got twelve minutes to get into orbit."

"I'm on an important mission with the guardians of the globe, and you don't want to hear the details. Trust me. Your brother also isn't ready for this max. He's not as good with his powers as you."

"Okay, Dad, I got you." I stretch as I stay on the phone.

"Oh, and one more thing, make sure your mother makes steaks tonight max. Gotta go!" But before dad can hang up, I ask a question.

"Dad viltrumites can survive the vacuum of space? I question as I hear Dad sigh.

"Max. I can hold my breath for 2 weeks. You should be able to hold out for an hour at least. I've got to go, you'll do fine." Dad explains as he hands up.

Exiting my room window, I bend my knees before shooting off into the sky. In a second I'm above the clouds. Taking the deepest breath possible I exit the atmosphere into the void of space.

Flying a few hundred miles from earth I float casually. Observing space. Cold and silent. Just as I expected.

Looking around vigilant I spot no one as I hum to myself. No one in sight.

As I'm about to let my gaurd down I block a punch aimed at my chin. My martial arts training kicks in as I redirect the punch downwards. Kicking away my attacker as I float backwards.

Infront of me is an orange alien. Pretty buff with a singular eye.

(A/n: in space viltrumites use telepathy to communicate so to reference telepathic conversation I will use *)

*your early* the alien says as we stare each other down.

As we make eye contact the aliens eye widens.

*you're new too!*