The usual hum of the city was drowned out by the chaos inside. A growing crowd had gathered at the windows, peering in with a mixture of fascination and disbelief.
Inside, the scene was surreal.
A group of furious drunks took turns attacking a man with two-toned hair, their fists, bats, and knives crashing against him, only to recoil in pain. Their weapons shattered, their knuckles split, yet the man stood there, untouched, his stance unshaken.
Whispers spread through the bar.
"Who the hell is that guy?""Did you see that?! He didn't even flinch!""Is he even human?"
Realizing brute force wasn't enough, one of the drunks growled in frustration and yanked out his phone. Moments later, the bar doors slammed open, and more men flooded in.
Debbie, now outside, pressed her hands against the window, her breath fogging the glass as she watched. A dozen new thugs, all armed, encircled William, their expressions dark with bad intentions. The air in the bar grew thick with tension.
The apparent leader, a burly man with scarred knuckles, stepped forward. His lips curled into a sneer as he cracked his neck.
"You think you can just walk in here and screw with us, huh?"
His voice carried through the bar like a challenge, and his men responded in kind, their grips tightening around their weapons. Then, without another word, he charged.
The others followed.
Bats swung. Knives slashed. Crowbars arced through the air, aiming for William's head, his ribs, his back. The force of their combined attack was enough to crumple most men, their faces twisting into satisfied grins as steel and wood connected—
Except… nothing happened.
Not to him.
The satisfaction on their faces turned to confusion.
Then horror.
Their weapons had done nothing, less than nothing. Bats splintered, knives bent at awkward angles, and crowbars rebounded with a force that sent painful vibrations up their wielders' arms. Some dropped their weapons with curses, clutching at their stinging hands.
And then—
"Are you done?!"
The voice that followed wasn't a question. It was a command. A declaration.
A raw force that crashed into the room like a shockwave.
The men froze.
William stepped forward.
The thug holding a knife to his chest widened his eyes in disbelief as the blade, previously pressed against William's skin, began to bend. Slowly, impossibly, the sharpened steel curled backward toward its wielder, as if it were being forced to kneel before something greater.
The room grew cold.
William's eyes flared, golden-red ki flames bursting to life around his irises. The very air around him trembled, responding to the sheer force of his will.
"ARE... YOU... DONE?!"
A wave of pure, primal dread crashed over the thugs. Their instincts screamed at them, run.
Some staggered back, hands shaking, the fight bleeding out of them like water through cracked glass.
A few even dropped their weapons entirely.
Debbie, watching from behind the glass, felt her pulse quicken.
William wasn't just strong.
He was terrifying.
The bar stood still.
The air, once thick with drunken bravado, now crackled with something else, fear.
William took another step forward, his presence suffocating. The wooden floor beneath him groaned, as if even the inanimate world acknowledged his strength. The sharp ki flames in his eyes danced like embers in a storm, their green and golden hue illuminating the trembling faces before him.
A bead of sweat dripped from the leader's brow. His fingers, still clutching the warped knife, twitched uselessly.
He had made a mistake. A fatal one.
The moment stretched, suffocating.
Then—
"Screw this!" one of the thugs screamed, turning on his heel and bolting for the door.
That single act of cowardice was all it took.
Panic spread like wildfire. The rest followed, shoving and stumbling over each other, desperate to escape the force of nature they had just angered. William didn't move. He didn't need to. His sheer presence was enough to scatter them like leaves in a storm.
In less than ten seconds, the bar was empty.
Only the bartender, a wide-eyed Debbie, and a few lingering patrons remained, staring at the two-toned-haired warrior in stunned silence.
William exhaled, letting the moment settle. The flickering ki in his gaze dimmed, and the suffocating aura that had filled the room dissipated.
The bartender cleared his throat nervously. "Uh… drinks are on the house?"
William smirked but said nothing.
Debbie, still by the window, let out a shaky breath and turned toward him. "So…" she started, voice softer now, "you going to tell me who the hell you are?"
William glanced at her, amusement dancing in his green eyes. "Maybe later," he said. "Right now, I—"
BOOM!
The ground shook.
The walls rattled. Bottles tumbled from their shelves, shattering across the bar floor. A deep, thunderous explosion roared through the streets outside, sending tremors rippling through the air.
Gasps erupted as people ran to the windows, their drinks forgotten. Outside, the city skyline burned with emerald, green fire.
William's expression hardened. That wasn't normal.
Another explosion. Closer this time.
The streetlights flickered. Then failed.
Panic took over the bar as people rushed toward the exits, shoving and screaming. William didn't hesitate, he moved, faster than any of them could perceive, appearing outside the bar in an instant.
His eyes scanned the horizon.
Chicago's skyline was under siege. Buildings crumbled, streets cracked, and the air was thick with smoke and the acrid scent of burning metal. A monstrous portal, swirling with sickly green energy, had opened in the sky above.
And through it, they came.
The Flaxan Invasion Begins
The first wave of Flaxan soldiers stormed through the portal, their insectoid armor gleaming under the glow of the fires spreading below. They moved with brutal efficiency, weapons humming with energy as they began their attack.
Lasers cut through buildings like butter. Civilians ran, screaming, as the alien warriors descended onto the streets. Cars exploded, their metal frames flipping through the air like paper in a storm.
A horrific war horn sounded from the portal, signaling the arrival of their war beasts—hulking creatures covered in mechanical plating, their glowing red eyes scanning for anything that moved.
William's expression didn't change.
these invaders? They weren't ready for him.
Debbie stumbled out of the bar behind him, her face pale. "W-What the hell is happening!?"
"An invasion," William answered simply. "Stay back."
Before she could respond—
A Flaxan soldier lunged from the rooftops, spear raised, aiming straight for Debbie.
William moved.
Before the alien could react, William caught its wrist mid-strike, twisting with a sickening snap. The creature let out a garbled screech before William's fist caved in its chest plate, sending it flying back into a crumbling taxi.
The city had officially turned into a battlefield.
Hundreds of Flaxans flooded the streets, their energy rifles cutting through police cruisers and abandoned storefronts.
William blurred forward, closing the distance between him and the next wave of soldiers in an instant.
BOOM!
His fist connected with the nearest alien, sending it flying through a brick wall. Without pause, he pivoted, dodging an energy blast before gripping a Flaxan by the head and slamming it into the pavement, leaving behind a crater.
More came. Too many to count.
William smiled.
Good.
One of the war beasts charged, the ground trembling beneath its weight. It roared, mechanical plating shifting as it locked onto William.
The beast lunged.
William didn't move until the last second. Then, a blur.
He reappeared beneath the creature, his hands grabbing its massive front limbs.
With a grunt, he lifted it.
The beast let out a panicked screech as William tore it off the ground, flipping it upside down and slamming it into the asphalt with enough force to leave a twenty-foot-wide crater.
A single shockwave burst outward, sending debris, and nearby Flaxans, flying like ragdolls.
The invasion force hesitated.
Their momentum broke.
They weren't prepared for this.
For him.
The Flaxan generals, still within the portal, observed with frustration. This wasn't how it was supposed to go.
The first wave was supposed to overwhelm the city. The humans were weak.
So why was one man, a single warrior, destroying them?
One of the higher-ranking Flaxans barked a command, and suddenly, the second wave came.
Hundreds more poured out of the portal.
More war beasts.
More firepower.
But William just cracked his knuckles. His ki flared again, golden-red light casting shadows along the burning streets.
This was just the beginning.
And he welcomed it.
Chicago was burning.
Smoke and fire twisted into the sky, the scent of charred metal, burning plastic, and scorched flesh thick in the air. The city streets, once packed with cars and civilians, had become a battlefield.
And at its center—
William stood alone.
Surrounded by piles of broken Flaxan bodies and craters carved into the streets, his two-toned hair swayed in the hot winds of the destruction he had wrought. His green ki aura flickered, casting an eerie glow over the bodies of hundreds of downed invaders.
Yet still, more came.
The second wave had poured through the portal in force. War beasts, heavily armored soldiers, advanced artillery, all of it designed to overwhelm the enemy.
And yet—
William smiled.
Before he could launch himself at the incoming forces, a blur of blue and red rocketed down from the sky.
"Need a hand?"
A booming voice cut through the battlefield as Immortal crashed into the street beside William, the force of his landing cracking the pavement beneath him.
"What the hell—?" Immortal muttered, taking in the sheer number of defeated Flaxans. His brows furrowed as he turned toward William. "Did you do all this… alone?"
"Yeah." William's smirk didn't waver. "You guys took your time."
Immortal narrowed his eyes. Who the hell was this guy?
Before he could ask, more figures arrived.
Green Ghost phased through a collapsing building, War Woman descended with her massive mace in hand, Black Samson and Bulletproof landed in coordinated fashion, and Rex Splode came sprinting in from the street.
The Guardians of the Globe had arrived.
And the scene before them left them speechless.
Hundreds of dead and unconscious Flaxan soldiers lay scattered across the battlefield. Their war beasts, supposedly indestructible, lay crushed and broken.
One man had done all this?
War Woman let out a low whistle. "Damn."
Bulletproof shook his head in disbelief. "I thought we were responding to an invasion, not a one-sided massacre."
Rex Splode gestured wildly at the destruction. "Okay, can someone tell me who the hell this guy is?! Because this—" he motioned at the devastation, "is some next-level, 'Superman just went nuts' kind of crap!"
William rolled his shoulders. "I don't know if you're here to fight or admire my work, but I'd rather get this over with."
Black Samson crossed his arms. "You got a plan?"
William's ki flared. "Yeah. Keep up."
And then, he moved.
The Flaxans barely had time to react before William became a green blur, reappearing directly in front of the largest war beast stomping toward the Guardians.
The creature let out a deafening roar, mechanical plating shifting as its targeting systems locked onto him.
It swung.
William caught its massive, clawed fist with one hand.
The beast tried to push forward, but William barely budged.
His fingers tightened.
And then, he crushed its entire forearm.
The mechanical plating shattered like glass, sending shrapnel and alien fluids splattering onto the ground. The beast howled in agony, but before it could react—
William's fist tore through its chest.
A moment later, the war beast collapsed, lifeless.
The Guardians exchanged glances.
Immortal grinned. "I think I like this guy."
"Less talking, more fighting!" Rex Splode shouted before launching a volley of glowing red orbs into the crowd of incoming Flaxans. The explosions ripped through their formations, sending bodies flying.
War Woman soared into the air before coming down like a comet, her mace crushing through armor and cracking the pavement beneath her blows.
Green Ghost phased through a war beast, materializing inside before tearing her way out through its back, leaving a gaping, burning hole.
Black Samson and Bulletproof worked together, plowing through squads of Flaxan soldiers while Immortal carved a path toward the war machines.
The battle turned.
The Flaxans, once overwhelming in number, found themselves being systematically crushed by a force they hadn't prepared for.
And William?
He was everywhere.
Blurring between squads, breaking armor with single punches, tossing war beasts into buildings, and tearing through entire platoons in seconds.
The Flaxan commanders, still observing from the portal, began panicking.
Their forces were being annihilated.
This wasn't a simple Earth resistance.
This was a massacre.
One of the generals barked an order in their alien tongue, slamming his fist on a holographic display. Immediately, a loud, piercing war horn sounded across the battlefield.
The remaining Flaxans froze.
Then, they ran.
Their war beasts turned back, their soldiers abandoned their weapons, and the portal above began fluctuating as the invaders scrambled to retreat back into their world.
William narrowed his eyes. "Not so fast."
Before they could escape, he shot forward, grabbing the nearest Flaxan war captain by the throat.
The alien's eyes widened in terror.
"You invaded my planet," William said, voice calm, yet dripping with barely restrained fury.
The Flaxan gargled something in his language. Pleading.
William tilted his head. "Oh, now you want mercy?"
His grip tightened.
The alien choked.
Then, with a flick of his wrist, William sent him flying through a collapsing portal.
Satisfied, he turned back toward the retreating invaders.
The Guardians regrouped beside him, watching as the last of the Flaxans disappeared into their portal.
Immortal exhaled, shaking his head. "That was insane."
War Woman nodded. "They'll think twice before pulling this stunt again."
William, still watching the sky, clenched his fists. "Not if they don't fear us enough."
Black Samson looked at him. "You really don't hold back, huh?"
William's green aura flickered, then dimmed. "No," he said simply. "Not when it matters."
The Guardians exchanged glances.
They had seen powerful warriors before.
But this guy?
This was something else entirely.