Invitation

"Hey... Eve..."

Mark walked up to Eve, his expression hesitant as he prepared to say something.

"You're... I think I remember you. You're the younger brother of Jupiter, the captain of the football team, right!?"

Eve's eyes lit up as she looked at Mark.

"Ah, uh, yeah..."

Mark opened his mouth slightly. He was actually quite famous at school too—as Jupiter's younger brother, he really stood out...

"Oh my god, you're Jupiter's brother! Can you ask him for his phone number for me?"

A girl with golden hair and a sparkling tongue stud beside Eve perked up excitedly upon hearing Mark's words.

"Ah, uh..."

Mark was momentarily awkward. He didn't know what to say. He really wanted to tell this girl that he was here to see Eve...

"Can you!?"

The girl's eyes gleamed as she looked at Mark with hopeful anticipation.

"Of course you can."

But before Mark could say more, Jupiter, who had walked up beside him, spoke to the girl first.

"Jupiter..."

The golden-haired girl stared at the tall, imposing Jupiter with stars in her eyes, as if she were looking at a celebrity.

"Here's my number. Write it down..."

Jupiter pulled out his phone, flashing a sunny smile at the girl before him.

"Okay..."

The golden-haired girl felt her heart melt on the spot. For a girl her age, a campus celebrity like Jupiter perfectly embodied every impression of a prince charming.

"I'll get in touch with you later..."

Jupiter chatted with the golden-haired girl for a bit longer before saying goodbye.

"Man... you're even good at handling girls..."

Mark watched Jupiter effortlessly deal with the golden-haired girl, his face twisting into a bitter grimace.

"You can do it too, once you've interacted with girls more."

Jupiter patted Mark on the shoulder, continuing to encourage him.

"Excuse me, did you two need something from me?"

"If not, I'll be going now. I have a class soon."

Eve, holding her textbooks, looked at the brothers Mark and Jupiter with a puzzled expression. She was still completely in the dark about why these two had come to find her.

"Actually..."

Mark recomposed himself.

"Thanks for saving my brother yesterday."

Unfortunately, Jupiter beat him to the punch again.

"Saving your brother..."

Eve tightened her grip on her books, wondering if her identity had been exposed.

"I mean yesterday. I was the one in the tight suit flying in the sky."

Mark said awkwardly, recalling the events of the day before. Honestly, being saved by a girl had been the most embarrassing moment of his life—bar none.

"You're that new hero..."

Eve pieced together Mark's words and finally realized that he was the newly debuted superhero.

"Then you!?"

After learning Mark's identity, Eve seemed to think of something. She covered her mouth, staring at Jupiter in disbelief.

"Oh my god, you're the Mini Omni-Man who saved all of us!? Our Viltrumite Youth Group has been talking about you all day. Robot speculated that you have power on par with Omni-Man—is that true!?"

Eve felt her brain struggling to keep up. She couldn't believe that besides herself, her school also housed two superheroes—and the craziest part was that they were brothers.

"Heh..."

"Comparing me to Omni-Man—that's a bit of an exaggeration."

Jupiter smiled faintly. He was a low-key person. Saying he was on par with Omni-Man was too arrogant, even though he was actually stronger than Omni-Man, his father Nolan.

"I think Robot exaggerated too. You're strong, sure, but you've still got some distance to cover before you reach Omni-Man."

Eve chuckled lightly at that. She also thought Robot's analysis was unreliable. After all, this was Omni-Man—the strongest person on Earth. How could someone like that just suddenly have a rival appear out of nowhere!?

"Haha..."

Jupiter knew Eve had misunderstood him, but he didn't explain. Telling her he was a naturally born Virtumian powerhouse whose strength grew by the second, and that perhaps the only ones stronger in the entire universe were War Beast and the Viltrumite Regent—that would make him look like an idiot. Words like those were better coming from someone else's mouth.

"Hey! Can I get in on this conversation or what!?"

Mark raised an eyebrow at Jupiter and Eve, who were chatting away happily. He felt like he was being ignored again.

"This is my brother Mark. His hero name is..."

Jupiter looked at Mark, his gaze seemingly asking what kind of alias Mark had given himself.

"Invincible Young Hero!"

Mark glanced left and right, and after confirming no one else was around, he uttered his title.

"..."

After saying it, Mark suddenly felt pretty stupid.

"Actually, that alias isn't bad. I believe in you, Mark. One day, you'll definitely become an invincible existence."

Jupiter instinctively praised Mark.

"Don't flatter me. If you keep this up, I won't even know myself anymore."

But Mark still knew his own limits. He waved his hand—if Jupiter kept building him up like this, it would turn into a backhanded compliment.

"Heh..."

Jupiter let out a soft chuckle and said nothing.

"I'm Atom Eve. My teammates call me Eve."

Eve introduced her hero alias.

"Your teammates? The Viltrumite Youth Group?"

When Jupiter heard Eve mention "teammates," he knew she was referring to the Youth Group.

"That's right. We're the fourth most popular team."

At the mention of the Youth Group, Eve perked up and introduced herself with obvious pride.

"I know you guys. You're a bit stronger than the Power Team, right?"

Jupiter had indeed been keeping an eye on the Youth Group's activities.

"The Power Team? We're way stronger than them. They're the worst—last year, they got thrashed by Lizardman!"

Eve's expression soured at the mention of the Power Team. They were basically a joke.

"I think I remember watching the livestream with Mark back then. That was the first time I saw superheroes look so helpless."

Jupiter nodded slightly. He seemed to recall it—he'd been stunned, never imagining superheroes could be chased down the street by a supervillain.

"Tell me about it..."

Eve agreed wholeheartedly. The Power Team was just messing around. Feeling excited, she was about to continue giving Jupiter a crash course on superhero knowledge.

"Ding-dong~"

But then the school bell rang...

"I have to get to class..."

Hearing the bell, Eve instinctively checked her watch and realized it was getting late.

"When school's out, would you two like to come with me and visit the Youth Group headquarters?"

Eve extended an invitation to Mark and Jupiter.

She said it was a tour of the Youth Group headquarters, but it was really a roundabout way of inviting them to join.

"Visit the Youth Group headquarters after school? I'm fine with that!"

"Mark, what do you think?"

Jupiter looked at Mark.

"Of course I'm in!"

Mark, who had been watching Jupiter and Eve chat the whole time, finally got his turn to speak. He nodded immediately, deciding to accept Eve's invitation.

"Then we'll see you after school!"

After getting both their responses, Eve waved her hand, stretched her long legs, and headed toward the school building.