The shadow-beast landed with a heavy thud, cracking the floorboards. Before it could lunge at Max, a gray blur slammed into it.
"Not on my watch!" Raj bellowed. His skin was fully transformed into jagged granite. He tackled the Guut, sending them both crashing into the hallway wall.
Sarah slid into the room on a slick of water she had summoned from the kitchen sink. "Max, get back!" she screamed, whipping her hands forward. Two high-pressure jets of water blasted the creature, pinning it momentarily against the drywall.
Outside, Harry stood on the front lawn. He pulled a silver stake from his coat and slammed it into the earth. Hummmmmm. A translucent, hexagonal dome erupted over the property, shimmering briefly before turning invisible. To the neighbors, the house looked peaceful and quiet. To anyone inside, they were locked in a cage match.
Harry drew his glowing revolver and sprinted inside. "Suppressing fire!"
The fight was chaos. Raj was strong, but the Guut was liquid shadow. It slipped out of Raj's grip, its claws raking across his stone chest, leaving deep gouges. It dodged Sarah's water blasts with unnatural speed, bouncing off the walls like a rubber ball made of knives.
"It's too fast!" Sarah cried, ducking as a shadow-claw sheared off the top of a lamp next to her head.
Harry fired three shots—Bang! Bang! Bang!—but the creature dissolved into smoke to avoid the bullets, reforming instantly behind Raj to kick him into the television.
Aren, watching his living room turn into a war zone, couldn't take it. His eyes rolled back, and he slumped to the floor in a dead faint.
The Guut let out a hiss that sounded like escaping steam. It realized who the weak link was. It ignored Raj, ignored the bullets, and turned its eyeless face directly toward Max.
"Max, move!" Harry roared.
It was too late. The creature launched itself across the room. Max raised his arms instinctively, bracing for the pain, squeezing his eyes shut.
Wham.
The creature slammed into him. But the claws didn't tear flesh. The impact didn't break bones.
Instead, the moment the shadow-beast touched Max's skin, a strange sound filled the room—like a vacuum cleaner sucking up air. The Guut shrieked, a sound of pure terror. The inky blackness that made up its body suddenly stopped swirling. It turned gray. The deadly energy radiating from it simply... vanished.
It was no longer a monster of the void. It was just a solid, confused lump of matter, frozen in mid-air against Max's chest.
Max opened his eyes, gasping. He felt a cold sensation rushing through him, but no pain.
Harry didn't hesitate. "Now!"
He leveled his revolver at the solidified, gray creature and pulled the trigger. A beam of white light punched through its chest. The Guut didn't scream; it just crumbled into a pile of fine, gray dust at Max's feet.
Silence fell over the ruined house.
"What..." Raj wheezed, rubbing his stone chest as he reverted to human form. "What just happened?"
"Treatment first. Questions later," Harry ordered, holstering his weapon. He looked at Aren, unconscious on the floor. "He lives alone, correct?"
"Yeah," Max nodded, still shaking, staring at the pile of dust. "His parents are overseas."
"Good. We take him. He needs memory therapy and shock treatment," Harry said. He tapped a device on his wrist. "Sweepers, inbound. Sector 7."
Within seconds, a team of three agents in gray hazmat suits burst through the door. They didn't speak. They just started spraying a strange foam on the broken walls and furniture. As Max watched in amazement, the foam hardened and transformed into wood, glass, and drywall. The TV reassembled itself. The shattered window knit back together.
"Three minutes," Harry checked his watch. "House secure. Max, go home. We have Aren."
The next morning, Max walked into Shop No. 5. The bell chimed, but the shop felt emptier than usual.
Harry was behind the counter, examining a very old, very dusty book.
"Where are they?" Max asked, looking around. "Raj? Sarah?"
"Transferred," Harry said without looking up. "Northern District Training Facility. They have elemental abilities—Stone and Water. They need environments where they can break things without destroying a city block. They left at dawn."
Max felt a pang of disappointment. "Oh. So... what about me? Do I go to the Northern District?"
Harry finally looked up. He took off his spectacles and cleaned them slowly. "No, Maxwell. You do not fit into their categories. Last night... that was not an attack. That was absorption."
Harry walked around the counter, looking troubled. "The Guut touched you, and its energy was simply erased. The Void inside you didn't fight the darkness; it swallowed it. This is a power we have no curriculum for. I must train you myself, here."
Max leaned against the counter. "Okay. But Harry... I can't do this alone. You saw what happened. If Raj and Sarah hadn't been there..."
"They cannot be your crutch, Maxwell."
"I know," Max said. "But the Guuts are coming back, right? You said they're recruiting an army. We need an army too."
He took a deep breath. "My friends. Malina, Ady... and Aren, once he wakes up. They were there when I saw the first shadow. Malina even felt the cold. I think... I think they might have the Spark too."
Harry frowned. "Civilians? Absolutely not. It is too dangerous."
"Aren was attacked in his own living room!" Max argued. "They are already targets, Harry! If we leave them out there, they're sitting ducks. At least if they join, they can defend themselves. And..." Max paused. "If the King Guut is really back, don't we need all the help we can get?"
Harry went silent. He stroked his chin, staring at a ticking grandfather clock. He thought about the red dots multiplying on the map. He thought about the unique, terrifying power Max displayed. And he thought about the desperate shortage of agents.
"Three untrained teenagers," Harry muttered to himself. "I must be losing my mind."
He sighed, a long, weary sound, and looked at Max.
"Very well. Bring them in. But Maxwell... if they fail the compatibility test, or if they crack under the pressure, that is on your head."
Max grinned, a wave of relief washing over him. "They won't crack. I promise."
"We shall see," Harry said, closing the book with a heavy thud. "Bring them here tonight. And tell them to wear running shoes."
It took three hours of frantic texting, a lot of "I can't tell you over the phone," and a promise of free pizza to get everyone to Shop No. 5.
Aren was the hardest to convince, mostly because he still had a headache from the "gas leak" that had apparently destroyed his living room. But eventually, they all stood in the antique shop: Malina, looking skeptical with her arms crossed; Ady, poking at a stuffed owl; and Aren, looking pale but curious.
"So," Ady said, spinning around. "Max joins a cult in an antique shop, and now he wants us to join too. Is there a robe requirement? Do we have to chant?"
"Shut up, Ady," Max said, locking the door behind them. "Harry, they're here."
Harry emerged from the back, looking even more tired than usual. He eyed the three teenagers like a bomb disposal technician eyeing a pile of suspicious wires.
"The Spark is rare," Harry muttered to Max. "Finding one is a miracle. Finding four in one friend group is statistically impossible. But... let us see."
He led them down to the Chamber of Echoes. The reaction was immediate. Malina gasped at the floating waterfalls; Ady stopped making jokes; Aren just stared at the blue fire, his mouth hanging open.
"Okay," Ady whispered. "Cult confirmed. But a rich cult."
Harry didn't waste time on the history lesson. He went straight to the black stone table.
"Max has told you the basics. Monsters. Hidden wars. The end of the world," Harry said gravely. "If you step forward, there is no going back. If you do not have the aptitude, you walk away and forget this night ever happened. If you do... you drink."
He pressed the button. The rack of fluids rose.
"Who's first?"
Malina stepped forward without hesitation. "If Max is doing it, I'm doing it."
She walked around the table. As she passed the Red Fluid—a thick, bubbling liquid that looked like molten iron—it flared up with an aggressive, angry light.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Crimson. The Essence of the Titan. Rare."
Malina took the vial. She looked at Max, took a deep breath, and downed it.
She didn't scream. She just gasped, dropping to one knee. The veins in her arms bulged, glowing red for a split second before fading. She stood up slowly. She looked at her hands, then casually leaned against the heavy black stone table.
CRACK.
A massive spiderweb fracture appeared in the stone where she rested her hand. Malina jumped back. "I... I barely touched it!"
"Enhanced physiology," Harry noted, scribbling on his clipboard. "Superhuman strength. And... tell me, Malina, what is the square root of 5,476?"
"74," Malina blurred out instantly. She blinked. "Wait. How did I know that? I hate math."
"Hyper-cognitive processing," Harry nodded. "Brawn and brains. A dangerous combination."
Next was Ady. He walked around the table, whistling nervously. As he passed the Green Fluid—a neon, swirling mixture that looked like radioactive slime—it began to pulsate with a rhythmic, hypnotic glow.
"Veridian," Harry murmured. "The Psionic Stream."
Ady drank it and immediately grabbed his head. "Whoa. Loud. Why is it so loud?" He looked at Harry. "Why are you thinking about... kittens?"
Harry turned bright red. "Get out of my head, boy!"
"Mind manipulation," Harry explained, flustered. "Telepathy. Suggestion. Do not use it on me again, or you're fired."
Finally, it was Aren's turn.
He walked nervously. He passed the blue, the silver, the purple. Nothing happened. He was nearing the end of the circle.
"Maybe I'm normal," Aren said, sounding half-relieved, half-disappointed.
Then, he stepped in front of the Gold Fluid.
The room exploded with light. It was brighter than the sun, forcing everyone to shield their eyes. The Gold Fluid, the one Harry had warned Max about—the one that caused madness—was singing. A high, pure note resonated from the glass.
Harry dropped his clipboard. "The Golden Ichor? The Fluid of the Gods? But... that unstable isotope creates too much kinetic energy for a human frame!"
Aren didn't wait for the warning. He felt a pull, a desperate need. He grabbed the glowing gold vial and drank it.
"AREN, NO!" Harry shouted.
Aren froze. His body began to vibrate. He vibrated so fast he became a blur.
"I feel..." Aren's voice sounded like it was coming from everywhere at once. "I feel... BOUNCY!"
ZOOM.
Aren vanished.
BOING.
He ricocheted off the ceiling.
BAM.
He bounced off the far wall, his arm stretching five feet long like a rubber band to cushion the impact, then snapping back.
WHOOSH.
He was suddenly standing right in front of Harry, his hair standing on end, vibrating with golden electricity.
"That was awesome!" Aren yelled, his words coming out so fast they sounded like a chipmunk's. "Did you see that? I was over there and now I'm here and my arm did a things woosh!"
Harry took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "Light speed velocity... coupled with an elastic molecular structure to absorb the G-force impact. He's a rubber bullet moving at the speed of light."
Harry looked at the four teenagers.
Max, the Void who erased power.
Malina, the Genius Titan who crushed stone.
Ady, the Mind Reader who knew about the kittens.
And Aren, the Golden Speedster vibrating in place.
"God help me," Harry sighed, looking up at the cavern ceiling. "We're going to save the world, assuming you four don't destroy my shop first."