"Oh my God, buddy, are you a terrorist or something? Suicide vest, really?"
Axel smirked at the final hijacker charging toward him with explosives strapped across his body.
Then he raised a hand.
Boom!
The bombs detonated instantly.
A blazing wave of fire erupted through the cabin, hot enough to reduce ordinary people to ash before they could even react.
And yet, strangely enough, the passengers still had time to scream.
"AHHHH!"
"It exploded!"
"We're dead!"
"Mommy!"
"I never even bought life insurance!"
The passengers stared in horror as the explosion slowly expanded before their eyes.
The flames bloomed outward like a giant flower, swallowing the cabin inch by inch.
At first, everyone thought death had slowed their perception.
Maybe this was what dying felt like.
But after several seconds stretched into nearly half a minute, people began realizing something was wrong.
No explosion should move this slowly.
A trembling flight attendant cautiously reached toward the burning mass.
Before her fingers could touch it, Axel slapped her hand away.
"Are you insane?"
He stared at her like she'd lost her mind.
"You touch this thing and your hand's gone. Then what? You planning to spend the rest of your life struggling to do basic things with one arm?"
The flight attendant froze.
She genuinely had no idea whether Axel was insulting her or worrying about her.
Before she could answer, Axel casually clenched his fist.
The massive explosion immediately compressed inward.
The flames shrank smaller and smaller until the entire detonation, along with the hijacker's remains, condensed into a glowing sphere no larger than a rubber ball resting in Axel's palm.
Holding the miniature explosion, Axel walked down the swaying aisle while the plane drifted dangerously off course.
Passengers stared at him like they were hallucinating.
Axel reached the cabin door, opened it slightly, and tossed the glowing ball outside.
Then he shut the door again.
"Buddies, enjoy the fireworks."
A second later, a deafening explosion erupted outside the aircraft.
Boom!!!
The clouds lit up with fire as the compressed bomb detonated in the sky.
The plane shook violently.
Passengers screamed again, but this time they also looked outside in stunned amazement.
Near the window closest to Axel, a little girl suddenly broke free from her mother's arms and pressed herself against the glass.
Her eyes sparkled.
Then she turned around and lunged at Axel.
"Superhero!"
She wrapped herself around his waist and kissed his chest enthusiastically.
Axel blinked in surprise before laughing.
"Well, aren't you adorable?"
The girl's mother hurried over, embarrassed beyond belief.
"I'm so sorry, she's just excited, I..."
"Haha, relax."
Axel crouched slightly and patted the girl's head.
"I like kids with personality."
The mother sighed in relief.
Then Axel looked at her and grinned.
"I kissed the daughter, so it'd be unfair not to kiss the mother too."
The woman froze.
"W-What?!"
Before she could react, Axel leaned down and kissed her directly.
Her eyes widened in shock.
The passengers nearby stared blankly for a moment before awkward applause broke out through the cabin.
Some people genuinely didn't know how they were supposed to react anymore.
The woman herself looked completely overwhelmed as Axel finally pulled away after several long seconds.
He smirked and lightly pinched her cheek.
"Yeah, definitely worth saving."
The poor woman sat there speechless while her face turned bright red.
At that exact moment, one of the flight attendants rushed over in panic.
"Hero, the plane's out of control!"
She grabbed Axel's arm tightly.
"The captain's dead, the co-pilot's dead, nobody's flying the aircraft!"
Axel casually wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"First of all, don't call me hero."
He pointed at himself proudly.
"I'm the future leader of The Seven. My codename is Ancestor."
The flight attendant blinked nervously.
"Then... Mr. Ancestor..."
"No 'Mr.' needed. Ancestor is enough."
She hesitated before asking quietly:
"So... what's your real name?"
Axel stared at her.
"Are we flirting right now, or are you trying to save the plane?"
The flight attendant nearly choked from embarrassment.
Then reality hit her again.
The plane was still falling.
Her grip on Axel tightened immediately.
"Ancestor, please! Can you fly a plane or not?!"
At this point, she honestly didn't want to die anymore.
Not after seeing him.
Axel raised both hands dramatically above his head like a performer on stage.
"Relax, buddies!"
He grinned at the terrified passengers.
"With me here, nobody's dying today."
Then he pointed at himself proudly.
"But before that, let's make sure you all remember my name."
He clapped loudly.
"I say Ancestor, you say awesome!"
Nobody answered.
Most of the men onboard looked like they wanted to strangle him.
The women, meanwhile, were somehow still cooperating.
Even the young mother stood up with her daughter and awkwardly clapped along.
Axel laughed the entire way into the cockpit.
Once inside, he glanced over the controls.
Then he suddenly shoved the cockpit door back open and leaned out toward the cabin.
"Buddies, I've got good news and bad news!"
The passengers stared at him desperately.
"The good news is, the plane itself isn't damaged."
A few people nearly cried in relief.
Then Axel continued.
"And the bad news is..."
He pointed at the controls behind him.
"I can't fly a damn plane!"
Silence.
Absolute silence filled the cabin.
Then chaos exploded.
"WHAT?!"
"We're dead!"
"Damn you, Ancestor!"
"You psychopath!"
One passenger nearly burst into tears.
"I said Ancestor, you say awesome? Awesome my ass!"