"Ugh…" Tanya groaned as she pinched her nose to try and get the sleep from the corner of her eyes, as her phone was ringing on her bedside table. She glanced at it and saw the caller ID showing Cecil. She frowned as she gently picked up the device and answered the call. "Yes? I thought today was my day off." she said with annoyance.

"Not anymore, we have a situation. I can't say much over the phone. Meet me at the Guardians base." Cecil said. His tone was of business, and the line cut once he was done. Tanya frowned but stepped out of her bed and stretched her muscles. She quickly opened her wardrobe and saw only one outfit. She sighed in frustration, "Anya…"

She showered quickly before she put on the crop top and sweatpants, she grabbed the jacket that was hanging from her door and snuck out, trying not to wake Anya. She placed on a pair of boots, opened the door and stepped out into the early morning. She took a breath of the air before rocketing off towards the base in Utah.

This is a flight she did not enjoy as much as the others. If Cecil was calling her personal phone it was truly a problem. Tanya felt the sound barrier shatter behind her, she was pushing her max speed as she reached the mountains and the Guardian's base. She slowed and flew in the rather obvious steel hatch for Darkwing's jet and landed carefully. Marching past security staff and medic teams her scowl deepened.

She arrived to a gruesome sight. Tanya looked at the brutalized corpses of the Guardians of the Globe. She walked up to the sight of a mangled War Woman and her scowl deepend even more as she glanced down at War Woman. "Those stocks are going to plummet," she muttered.

She casted a glance over to Aquarius. "Need to get an update on Atlantean Culture, hope this doesn't come back to bite us in the ass," she said.

"Indeed kid," she heard behind her as she turned her head to see Cecil and Donald. She reached out to shake both of their hands. "Got a real fucking mess here."

Tanya saw The Martian pass by her as a deformed mess, then Green Ghost. "I never wanted to do that photo shoot but… fuck this is not how that should be cancelled," she said. She watched the Immortal's headless corpse pass by on a stretcher and she paused for a moment to silently respect the man.

"WE HAVE A LIVE ONE HERE!" a voice shouted and it drew the attention of Tanya and Cecil, Donald was busy directing the removal of War Woman. Tanya and Cecil walked up to the shouting medic to find Nolan hanging on, but barely.

"Nolan…" Tanya said as she watched the medics try to stabilise Nolan and they lift him to get the helipad to get him to the necessary care, she snapped her head to Cecil "I want the heads of whoever did this," she said as her face turned to a hateful glare.

As the medics cleared out and the bodies now moved from the base she noticed her breath was visible. Her frown deepened and she turned to Cecil. "Everyone clear out" he said "NOW PEOPLE!" he shouted."Donald, Tanya stay with me."

A demonic red man stepped out from a pillar wearing a large overcoat and a fedora. He wandered with a notepad in his hand, muttering, "Guardians all dead it seems…. Hmm, but the biggest question is who…" His white eyes locked onto Tanya. "You, you just arrived here but your hands are already drowned in an ocean of blood. Interesting."

"What do you want, Damien?" Cecil questioned.

"Answers. Same as you." Damien replied.

"Donald, get Debbie and Mark. They will want to visit Nolan, Tanya meet me back at base." Cecil ordered as he flashed in a blue light.

Donald sighed, "He should know that it costs five million dollars every time he uses it. I'll get Mark and Debbie. You should head there now. I'll have a suit ready for you when you get there. Looks like we are going to be pulling the long shift." Donald said.

Tanya stood in the shadows of Nolan's medical room watching the slow rise and fall of his chest, just a small comfort. She heard the door open as Debbie ran in, "Oh my god Nolan."

"Dad!" Mark was just behind Debbie as Tanya watched from the corner of the room staying silent, "He's going to be okay right?"

"We hope so—" Donald started but was cut off when Tanya stepped forward. "Tanya," he acknowledged her. "Our doctors are doing their best, but we don't get a lot of Viltrumites in here and your sister and father don't get injured enough to warrant this kind of treatment."

"Who did this?" Mark questioned.

"We have no idea, not yet anyway," Cecil said as he stepped from the doorway, and walked towards Mark, "But we will find out and when we do, your sister is going to make them look a hell of a lot worse than your dad right over there." Cecil extended a hand, "Cecil Stedman, Director of the GDA," he said as Mark shook his hand. "Deborah, I'm so sorry—"

"Cecil you have got a lot of nerve—" Debbie began.

"Someone killed the Guardians of the Globe last night," Tanya cut in, her tone was sharp and eerily calm, but she gripped the bottom of the bed frame, and it creaked. "Every one of them, butchered like animals. Cecil's men tried to get them back but dad was the only survivor."

"How is that even possible?" Mark asked.

"We don't know yet. We also don't know why your dad was at Guardians HQ, our working theory was whoever killed the Guardians lured him there and tried to wipe them out all at once," Cecil said.

"Why?" Mark asked.

"Because every damn criminal wants dad and the Guardians dead," Tanya growled out.

"And we are keeping this all hush-hush for now but it will get out, I thought you would want to know before then." Cecil said.

"Cold towels and ice water, I want no arguments Cecil… I don't care how well trained your doctors are, I've patched up both Tanya and Nolan for twenty years. I am not leaving." Debbie glared at Cecil until he gave a nod.

"O-of course Debbie" Donald said, and Debbie sat at the side of the bed with Nolan.

A small beep drew Tanya and Cecil's attention to Donald who put his hand to his ear. "Sir, there is some kind of attack happening downtown it seems. Numerous contacts, heavy weapons, and multiple casualties."

"Now? For christ's sake, Tanya I want you there ASAP," Cecil said before walking out of the room with Donald. Tanya started to follow before giving a soft look to Debbie and Mark before leaving too.

Tanya walked down the halls, and into the hanger bay. She rocketed out into the hanger and into the skies where she saw smoke rising from the city nearby. Arriving on scene, she observed the attack happening as police tried to contain what seems to be an invading military force. "Reporting contact, hostile presence coming out from the portal. Mass casualty incident confirmed." Tanya tapped her comms.

"Copy that. Engage hostiles. Lethal force is authorized." came the reply from the base.

Tanya gave a single glance to a very vibrant suit that was clearly Mark before she sped down to the attack. She smashed into a hostile armoured vehicle; she punched her fist through the glass cockpit where she ripped out half of the creature inside, its intestines now decorating the exterior of the armoured vehicle. The invader tried to grab her before she snapped its neck with a twitch of her thumb.

She then hopped down into the infantry squads who noticed her presence and she moved. Tanya was a torrent of death as limbs were torn from their bodies, organs liquified by shattering blows, and screams of the dying echoing as she tore through the enemy.

"NO!" Tanya heard Mark yell and she saw him throw a piece of concrete at one of the invaders to protect a civilian. She felt a blow land on her chest as she saw one of the aliens clutch a broken fist in agony, she turned and glared at the creature before uppercutting, its head ballooning for a second before it burst, sending brain matter and blood all over its terrified allies. She looked over back to Mark to find him in a crater covered in blood.

She watched a shot ring out from one of the tanks heading directly towards Mark. Tanya began moving to intercept but a pink translucent wall covered him and a redheaded girl flew down in a pink suit protecting Mark.

Tanya then turned her attention to the tank group that made the shot. She flew over, the shockwave hitting the forces behind the tank and scattering them. She ripped the cockpit open, throwing it at the scattered forces before glaring at her target. Grabbing the pilot with a firm grip, it writhed in panic before she grabbed its shoulder and ripped the creature in two, before violently smashing the two halves into each other.

A whistling sound drew her attention to a vehicle slamming into one of the invading tanks.

She was ready to assist but she heard her comms, "Let them handle the stragglers, focus on clearing the reinforcements as they come out of the portal so we can get this contained." Cecil said over the comms.

"Roger."

"They don't seem to end!" Rex yelled as he threw a couple of his explosive coins towards the invaders.

"Rex, shut up and keep fighting!" Eve shouted as she waved her hand and a shield came to cover her. Shots ricochet of the pink barrier.

The combat increased in intensity before it stopped, they started to rapidly shrivel as if they aged to death in a matter of seconds… then the Teen Team saw it, the tide of crimson and viscera and within it was a form of a woman cast in crimson…

"What the hell is that?" Rex shouted before he looked closer, he whistled. "Damn that's something," he said before smirking. His eyes had a lustful gleam, as he glanced at the rest of his team, he saw Kate suddenly become two and then four then to eight, her body was tense and she was on edge.

"They seem to be retreating to their own dimension—" he said before his voice clipped as if he turned off a microphone and his copper coloured body began to pantomime dry heaving.

Eve looked at the woman with a mix between interest and confusion "Wait… the hell?" she floated ever so slightly closer "Invictus?" she said in utter bewilderment "Robot don't tell me this is the same woman who's been trying to hire me for the past couple of months."

The Teen Team stared while Invictus tore through tanks like a hot knife through butter. Invictus seemed to have noticed something as she paused for a moment to inspect the half of a corpse in her hands, the other half being torn off some distance away. It looked old and wrinkled upon closer inspection, and she made a sound before her fist tightened and crushed its neck.

"Uhh… lady they are all away now!" Rex said as he cautiously walked closer. Invictus turned her head towards them before she stiffened, an audible sigh passed the bloody woman's lips before she rocketed into the sky, the blood blowing off her suit in seconds as she broke the sound barrier.

"Are we gonna talk about that?" Rex asked no one in particular as he pointed to the rapidly congealing pool of blood where Invictus was standing.

"No Rex. We are not." Robot said in a clipped tone as he began to walk towards one of the destroyed tanks. Rex turned to face Eve and she just shook her head.

Tanya arrived in the care facility under the pentagon, she pulled her hood down and walked down the corridor. She followed a bloody trail until she reached the door where Nolan was resting. "Tanya," Debbie said as Tanya turned her head to find her adoptive mother standing there.

"What's going on?" Debbie asked "Is Mark okay?"

Tanya opened the door to find Mark sitting there, his suit damaged and the boy peppered with bruises and mild lacerations. She walked in and let Debbie stand beside her.

"Oh Mark," Debbie said as she walked to her son she pulled him in close for a hug.

"I don't know how he and Tanya do it… I froze out there," Mark said.

"It doesn't get easier Mark," Tanya said as she walked up to her younger brother, "but never forget why you do this." She joined the hug. It lasted for a moment before Tanya pulled away and she stood fully "I need to go, in case the invaders come back."

Mark looked up but before he could speak Tanya put a hand on his shoulder. "It's fine Mark, you focus on school tomorrow. Any problems, you come to me okay?" she said softly before she walked away.

She travelled down the corridor to the operations center she stepped in and the room stilled. "Get back to work people," Cecil barked from the center of the room. Tanya walked over and shook his and Donald's hands. "Good work kid, I have a clean up team there and Robot is helping." He paused while he looked at her for a moment, "You scared the hell out of the kids Tanya."

"They need to get used to it," Tanya said. "This is not a clean line of work."

She looked at the scenes of destruction playing out on the monitors "What are they?" she asked.

"We don't know yet." Donald said, "We are still trying to figure that out…"

"And the rapid aging?" Tanya asked.

"We are not sure yet. But we're going to need you on call," Cecil said.

"Fine. Get me a coffee," Tanya said as she sat at one of the empty desks.

"Already ordered ma'am," Donald stepped over with a fresh hot coffee. Tanya gently took it from his hand so as not to spill it and took a sip.

She gave a hum of appreciation. "Thank you, Donald."

Tanya rode over to Mark's school on her bike because Debbie had asked her to pick him up. She put the bike in park and lifted her helmet and shook her head a bit to loosen her hair and freeing her braid.

She looked and saw him on the rooftop with a red haired girl. Gaining a wicked smirk, she snuck around to a side of the building where there were no windows and gently hovered upwards, not making a sound.

She listened to Mark speaking to the girl and confirmed her suspicions about the situation. Tanya gently placed her feet on the ground but light enough not to make a sound, and snuck up behind them. "Boo!" she said with a smile.

"AH SHIT!" Both of the teens shouted as they jumped.

Tanya laughed at them as they scrambled to their feet. "Rule number one of being a hero Mark, always be aware of your surroundings," she said with humour, she crossed her arms and watched him sputter in amusement.

"What the hell Tanya!" he said before he paused "Why are you here?" he asked.

"Debbie asked me to pick you up," she said.

"Mark, going to introduce me?" The redhead said as she looked at the two of them.

"Ah sorry. Samantha, this is my sister Tanya," Mark said as he gestured to Tanya. "Tanya this is my friend Samantha Wilkins."

"Sister?" Samantha said before looking at the two of them. "You look nothing alike, I mean she's blonde."

"Different mother," Tanya dismissed. "Friend mark? Really that's the best you're coming up with for the girl that saved your ass?"

"How did you know?" Samantha said, "And more importantly how do you know about me?" Her hands flared a pink light, but Tanya didn't budge from her relaxed posture, her hands remaining folded across her chest. "Please Eve, I work for the GDA," she said and that got the girl to calm down. "Plus I was there, even if I didn't work for the government, I'm not stupid." Tanya finished as she watched the younger girl sputter.

"You… you're Invictus," Eve said as she took a step back.

"Yes I am. But I am also not what you're thinking," Tanya said as she lifted a bag before tossing it to Mark, "Get your gear on, we have to get home before Debbie kills us," she said.

"What?" Mark sputtered, "I can fly now though."

"Invincible can fly, yes, Mark Grayson can't," she retorted.

"You kids did good Robot," Cecil said as he looked at his phone, walking towards the pile of corpses.

"Thank you Cecil, It's an honour to assist the Global Defence Agency… though the use of your terms kids might be considered condescending." Robot said.

"But a Victory? No," Cecil said as he turned to face Robot. "Do you know how many people died here yesterday?" he lectured, "Eighty-four, hell that number would have been much higher if Invictus wasn't here."

"Hell, whoever those assholes are, we are lucky they ran away because even Invictus gets tired."

"The Flaxans," Robot said and Cecil gave him a questioning look. "They call themselves The Flaxans. I managed to reverse engineer their language from recordings from the battle."

"Any ideas why they ran and we can't say it was because of Invictus, as much I would like to say it was." Cecil asked as he heard a creaking behind him and turned to look.

"I have six ideas but I believe that narrows it down to one." Robot said as they both watched a wrecked tank crash back down. It was rusted and corroded and creaking like an old shipwreck. Inside was half a mummified Flaxan. Robot walked over and crouched beside the wreckage and picked up a piece of it from the ground. "Oxidised and corroded, for an alloy like this that should take years."

"Time runs faster wherever they come from, they were running away because they were dying—" Cecil said but was cut off.

"Dying of old age," Robot said.

"Huh, well if they come back I'll just evacuate the area and wait for the cancer to kill them." Cecil turned to look at Robot. "I want a report later, give me a report on your thoughts on the new kid too," Cecil said before he walked off and disappeared into a flash of blue light.

"From one shitshow onto the next I guess," he said as he walked into the Guardians HQ again.

End

So for those wondering I had to get my PC repaired and thats why it took so long for me to get this chapter out.