Invincible: The Lawbreaker

As soon as I got out of their house, I saw a massive explosion downtown.

BOOM. I heard a few seconds later. 

An attack?

"MARK!" I called out as he quickly flew out, suited up. 

"How did you suit up that fast? Well, I shouldn't complain; I don't even have a suit. C'mon, there's an attack downtown."

'Just what the hell was going on?' I thought. 

"Mark, how about you fly me there? You're clearly faster than me in travel."

Mark barely hesitated before grabbing me by the arm and shooting into the sky. The sudden acceleration nearly yanked my shoulder out of its socket, but I adapted fast, adjusting my stance midair.

The closer I got, the clearer the chaos became. Streets were in shambles—cars overturned, buildings crumbling, and people running for their lives. A horde of strange, armored soldiers stormed through the city, firing weapons that emitted green energy. This is exactly why I hate aliens. It was a freaking disaster for the folks, there were already hundreds of casualties. Fucking aliens, this is why I don't like aliens.

"Aliens?" Mark said, his voice uncertain.

"Unc! The fuck's going on downtown." I asked through my comms.

Cecil's voice crackled through my earpiece, sharp and urgent. "Some kind of alien incursion. No ID on them yet, but they're organized—military-grade tech, advanced armor. They're not just here to sightsee."

I grit my teeth, eyes scanning the battlefield. Down below, the alien soldiers moved in squads, their green energy weapons cutting through everything in their path. Tanks, police barricades—nothing was slowing them down.

"Any idea what they want?"

"No clue, but they're not here to make friends. Focus on keeping casualties low until we can get a read on them."

A fresh explosion rocked the street beneath me, flipping a bus into the air. I clenched my fists.

"Got it. I'm going in. Mark " 

These guys are fucked now.

"Hello~"

I disabled air resistance, dropping into freefall like a missile. And just before I landed, I disabled Gravity, ensuring a safe landing. They barely had time to react before I grabbed the closest one and canceled structural integrity, destroying his armor. Then, I disabled the law of durability as I grabbed his head, and with one pull, the blood splattered from his head, flowing like a waterfall.

The others hesitated, their weapons tracking me, but they were too slow.

I disabled air resistance and launched forward at an unnatural speed, closing the distance before they could even react. My hand shot out, fingers wrapping around another soldier's arm. With a thought, I negated the law of elasticity.

His limb, armor and all, snapped off like brittle wood. 

The alien screamed, clutching the bloody stump where his arm used to be. I didn't give him time to process it—I drove my fist into his chest, sending his lifeless body crashing into the ones behind him. "Ooh, that's a bit brutal, don't you think?" I asked the alien standing beside him, shocked.

Blaster fire erupted from my flank. I canceled kinetic energy, letting the glowing projectiles harmlessly drop to the ground. The Flaxans stopped firing for a split second, their helmets tilting in confusion.

That hesitation? Fatal.

I surged forward and disabled inertia on the nearest one. His entire body locked in place, unable to move even an inch. He was trapped, completely helpless.

I shattered his helmet with a punch, then re-enabled inertia—violently.

His body suddenly snapped back into motion, launching him into a nearby building like a cannonball. The impact left a red smear on the crumbling concrete. Poor guy, whatever, fuck him.

The remaining squad members finally got the message. They backed away, chattering in their alien language, weapons shaking in their hands.

Good. They should be afraid. Now, where was that when they killed like a hundred people of this planet? Idiots. 

One of them raised his rifle in a last-ditch effort.

I disabled conservation of momentum the second he pulled the trigger.

The shot barely left the barrel before it lost all movement and just… floated there. A ball of green plasma, completely frozen in the air. The alien let out a panicked screech, probably realizing that physics had just given up on him.

I walked up to him, grabbed the floating shot, and re-enabled momentum.

Right into his face.

The moment it resumed moving, the plasma blast tore through his helmet, liquefying whatever was inside. His body staggered, convulsed, and then crumpled to the ground, smoke rising from the hole where his head used to be.

The remaining Flaxans? Yeah, they started running. But they were soon caught by the others, like Mark and... Atom Eve. And the... what is that team? Teen Titans? No, it was Teen Team, yeah, those guys.

Mark landed with a heavy thud, his fists clenched, eyes darting between the aliens and the wreckage around us. Atom Eve floated beside him, a pink glow surrounding her as she raised a hand, her powers already at work repairing some of the damage to the buildings.

"What the hell are these guys?" Mark asked, his voice sharp with urgency.

"Some inter-dimensional-" I stopped as I looked at the remaining aliens rapidly... age?

The Flaxans' bodies withered in real-time, their armored suits barely holding together as their skin shriveled and cracked. Their screams turned to gurgles, then to silence, as they collapsed, lifeless husks crumbling into dust before our eyes.

"What the hell?" Mark blurted out in shock.

"I have no idea, Invincible."

Eve floated closer, her eyes locked onto the decaying bodies. "Did… did we do that?"

I shook my head. "No. This is them. Their biology isn't built for this world—our time moves too fast for them. They age at an accelerated rate the longer they stay here."

Mark's face twisted with a mix of horror and relief. "So, they just… die on their own?"

Right on cue, the massive glowing portal at the heart of the battlefield pulsed, rippling like liquid metal. More Flaxans stood on the other side, but unlike the first wave, these ones hesitated. They had to have seen what happened.

Eve narrowed her eyes. "They're still coming?"

"Not for long," I muttered, cracking my knuckles. "Time to shut the door."

I disabled friction and skid forward, aiming straight for the portal. If I could break its structure or sever its connection, we could stop this invasion before it got worse.

But just as I reached out to erase its structural integrity—

The portal snapped shut.

Gone. Completely. No lingering energy, no slow fade—just a hard cut-off, like someone had yanked the power cord.

"What the hell?" Mark said, hovering beside me. "They just left?"

"That's not a retreat," I muttered, frowning. "That's a regroup."

"Huh?" Mark asked.

"Probably."

Mark looked shaken, his fists still clenched. Eve was already floating toward the worst of the wreckage, hands glowing as she started repairs.

I rolled my shoulders and turned to Mark. "You alright?

He took a deep breath. "Yeah. Just… that was a lot. And brutal." His eyes flickered to the mess I had made of the Flaxans. "You didn't hold back at all, huh?"

I shrugged. "They didn't either. They slaughtered people without hesitation. You think I'm gonna show mercy?"

Mark hesitated, clearly still adjusting to the reality of combat. He hadn't fully crossed that line yet. But he would. Eventually.

Before either of us could say more, my earpiece crackled again.

"Kaito, report."

"Flaxans are dead. The rest retreated, but not because we scared them off," I replied. "They closed the portal themselves. Fast. Like they learned their lesson. And one more thing, they age fast in our time, so it means their clock is much faster than ours. they'll have years of preparation before they attack again, and we need all the preparation we can get, which might be like two days or so. I can take care of myself, but I can't protect everyone."

"That's… concerning but good info, Kaito." Cecil paused. "Good work, but don't get comfortable. We need to be ready."

"Yeah, yeah. And Mark needs a damn kill switch or something. Guy hesitated way too much."

"He's new to this. Unlike you, he wasn't raised by a government black ops division. Give him time." Cecil told me.

I scoffed. "Sure, whatever. Anything else, Unc?"

"GDA teams are inbound for cleanup. Get clear before they arrive—we don't need a media circus right now."

"Got it." I tapped my earpiece off and turned to Mark. "Cops and GDA are coming. We should bounce. And get ready, in the next few weeks or so, they are going to be back.

I turned to Atom Eve, "You too, Atom Eve."

Mark hesitated, looking over the destruction one last time before exhaling sharply. "Yeah. Let's go."

Eve gave me a long, unreadable look before nodding. "I'll stay a bit longer, help the cleanup crews." Her voice was calm, but I could tell she was uneasy. Probably about how I fought. Whatever.

"Suit yourself," I replied, already turning away. "Just don't let the suits drag you into their mess."

Mark grabbed my arm again, and in a blur, we shot into the sky. The cityscape blurred beneath us, the sound of sirens and panicked voices fading as we put distance between ourselves and the battlefield.

"You got a place we can land?" he asked, still gripping my arm like I was a damn duffel bag.

"Yeah, my apartment," I said. "It's close."

"Wait, you have an apartment? Since when?"

"Since I decided I didn't wanna live under government surveillance all the time," I deadpanned. "Now drop me off before you rip my damn arm off."

Mark adjusted his grip and slowed down, finally setting me down on the rooftop of my building. I dusted myself off, stretching out my shoulders as I felt my body automatically adapt to the soreness.

Mark touched down beside me, folding his arms. "So... what now?"

"Now, I take a shower, grab a drink, and hope to hell we don't have another alien invasion tomorrow," I said, rubbing my temple. "What about you?"

Mark sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't know. That was intense. I thought stopping bad guys was just about punching them until they gave up. But you…" He trailed off, looking at me like he wasn't sure what to make of me. "You didn't hold back at all."

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. And?"

"And I don't know if I can do that."

I sighed, leaning against the railing. "Look, Mark, this isn't a game. You hesitate, and people die. You saw what those things did down there. You think they gave a shit about mercy?"

"In the future, people will blame you for leaving a villain alive. When they kill people again, it is your fault." I told him, trying to get him understand the importance of seriousness in this line of work.

I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. "Look, I'm not telling you to start executing people in the streets. But if you keep hesitating, thinking everyone deserves a second chance—someone's gonna die. And eventually, that 'someone' might be you."

Mark stayed quiet, his expression unreadable. I could tell he was struggling with it. Hell, I didn't expect him to agree overnight. But sooner or later, he'd realize—this world isn't kind to heroes who hold back.

After a moment, he just let out a tired sigh. "Yeah… I need to think about all this."

"Good. Do that." I waved him off, heading toward the rooftop entrance. "Now get out of here before someone sees you hovering around like a lost puppy."

Mark gave a half-hearted chuckle. "Yeah, yeah. See you later, Kaito."

With that, he took off, vanishing into the sky. I watched him for a second before shaking my head. Kid had a long way to go.

With a yawn, I pushed open the door to my apartment. It was small but comfortable—nothing fancy, just a place to crash. I had ditched the GDA's surveillance-heavy housing a while ago, opting for something more private. They still had tabs on me, obviously, but at least I wasn't under 24/7 observation.

I peeled off my jacket, wincing as I noticed the dried blood on my sleeve. Not mine. Guess I got a little carried away back there.

Three Days Later...

The past few days had been surprisingly quiet. No alien invasions, no city-wide catastrophes—just the usual small-scale crime and the occasional idiot with a gun. It was weird. I wasn't used to downtime. I was going duo with Mark, the first time that I was regularly not solo.

And it became boring, as usual. No one interesting and nothing to do. 

Mark had been texting me more, mostly asking about hero work and whether he should "go all out" like I did. I kept telling him to figure it out himself—I wasn't his damn babysitter. But I guess he wanted guidance.

Then, earlier today, he hit me up with something different:

Mark: Hey, wanna come meet the Teen Team? You and I have been fighting together, so I figured you might as well get to know the others.

I hesitated for all of five seconds before replying.

Me: Uh...sure. Where?

That's how I ended up here, standing in an underground bunker that doubled as the Teen Team's base. It was bigger than I expected—sleek metal walls, a round table with chairs, and monitors lining one side of the room. It had a very "discount Avengers HQ" feel to it.

Mark stood beside me, still in his suit, while the rest of the team sized me up.

"Alright, guys," Mark said, clapping his hands. "This is Kaito. He helped with the alien invasion."

"Helped?" I smirked.

Mark groaned. "You're never gonna let that go, huh?"

"Not a chance."

A scoff came from my right. "Oh great, another cocky guy. Just what we needed," said the dude in red and blue armor.

Rex Splode.

I knew about him—an overconfident asshole who could make things explode by touching them. A lot of bravado and decent skills, but he is too arrogant for his own good.

"Look, man, give some respect, alright?"

Rex Splode crossed his arms, giving me a once-over. "Oh yeah? And who the hell are you supposed to be? Never seen you around before."

I rolled my eyes. "Kaito Arakawa. Lawbreaker. Maybe you've heard of me. Y'know, the guy who just wrecked an entire alien platoon three days ago."

Rex scoffed. "Oh, real funny, tough guy. We were handling another part of the invasion. Not all of us get to do one-man-army shit."

"Yeah?"

Mark let out an exhausted sigh. "Oh, great. You two are gonna get along just fine."

Atom Eve pinched the bridge of her nose. "Rex, can you not for five minutes?"

Rex threw up his hands. "Hey, I'm just saying, we don't know this guy. He could be some GDA plant or something."

I let out a dry laugh. "Trust me, if I were a GDA plant, I'd be a lot more subtle about it. But sure, if you wanna trade resumes, I've been in the game since I was eight. I've taken down threats way worse than some alien grunts. So maybe you should be asking if you belong on this team."

Rex clenched his jaw like he was about to fire back, but before he could, a robotic voice cut through the tension.

"Enough."

All eyes turned to Robot, who stood near the monitors. His mechanical voice was calm, yet commanding. "Rex, your personal opinions are irrelevant to team efficiency. Kaito has proven himself in combat. If Invincible trusts him, then he is worth evaluating as an ally."

Rex grumbled but didn't argue. He just leaned against the table, arms still crossed.

I smirked. "Thanks, Rob. At least someone here has a functioning brain."

Robot didn't react. Probably because he was a damn robot.

Eve sighed, turning to me. "So, you really don't have a team of your own?"

"Nah. Never needed one," I replied. "I work better solo."

Dupli-Kate spoke up for the first time. "Then why are you here? Mark said you were interested."

I shrugged. "Mark invited me. Figured I'd see if you guys were worth my time."

Rex groaned. "Oh, for fu—"

Mark cut in before he could start another fight. "Look, we're all on the same side here. Kaito's strong, and we could use someone like him when things get bad."

"I still don't see what your powers do, though," Dupli-Kate pointed out. "Mark said you have some kind of physics manipulation? How does that work? I mean, I did see you on TV since I was ten years old, but still, I'm a bit curious."

I smirked. "I break laws."

She frowned. "Like… what, actual laws?"

"Physics laws," I clarified. "I can disable fundamental principles of reality—friction, inertia, momentum, stuff like that. Which means if I decide gravity doesn't exist for you anymore, well… hope you enjoy floating into space."

Rex scoffed. "Bullshit." damn, I thought I was famous. My ten years of hard work, for this bullshit?

I raised an eyebrow. "You wanna test that theory?"

"Gladly."

Before he could react, I disabled his inertia.

Rex instantly froze. Completely. His arms, his mouth—everything locked in place as if he were a statue. His eyes darted around wildly, panic setting in as he realized he couldn't move a single muscle.

"See? No inertia. No movement. You're a human mannequin now."

Rex let out muffled noises, clearly trying (and failing) to cuss me out.

I slowly reinitiated the law as inertia came back. I mean, I couldn't control who was affected specifically, and everyone would be affected, but I can control the range of it, and right now, he was the closest, which made my job easier. 

"What the fuck is this?"

"Alright, enough. If we're gonna do this, we should at least run a test mission. See how we actually work together." Eve told us.

I raised an eyebrow. "No, I'm not joining Teen Team."

"No?"

BOOM, another explosion, again in downtown. 

"Flaxans again..." I muttered.

"Yeah, pack up, Mark, take me there," I told him.

He nodded as he grabbed me. WHOOSH. So, this time, I gotta make sure they don't come back. "Mark, could you please be a little gen- okay, please do not yank my goddamn arm, you're gonna rip it out someday."