Varkos didn't wait for an answer.
He snapped his fingers.
From the shadows behind him, metal doors slid open in the side of a building Maxruell swore wasn't there before. It looked like a wall a second ago. Now it was a mouth.
"Underground," Varkos said. "My kind of church."
Juvy grabbed Maxruell's sleeve. "We shouldn't"
Engines screamed closer. Headlights flooded the street.
Maxruell clenched his jaw. "We don't got time to argue."
They ran.
The door slammed shut behind them, cutting off sirens and rain like someone muted the world. Red emergency lights flickered on.
The tunnel smelled like oil, iron, and old blood.
Juvy whispered, "This place feels… crowded."
"Yeah," Varkos said. "Dead folks like it down here."
They moved deeper. The walls pulsed faintly, like veins. Pipes rattled. Chains hung from the ceiling for no reason at all.
Maxruell felt the crimson crystal stir.
Not awake.
Watching.
They entered a wide chamber filled with people armed men, masked women, dealers, fighters, tech-heads with glowing screens. All of them went silent when the twins stepped in.
A man with half a metal face muttered, "So that's them."
A woman with stitched lips laughed softly.
Juvy's skin prickled. "Max… I don't like this."
Varkos spread his arms. "Family, meet the future."
No one clapped.
Varkos led them to a steel table. Bottles. Weapons. A glowing map of the city floated above it.
"Sit," he said.
Maxruell didn't.
"Talk."
Varkos shrugged. "Fair. Every gang, cult, and black project just watched you turn men into soup. That makes you hot property."
Juvy said, "We're not property."
"Everything with power is," Varkos replied. "Question is who holds the leash."
Maxruell's shadow stretched across the floor. "You think you can leash me?"
Varkos smiled. "No. I think I can aim you."
He tapped the map. Red dots bloomed across districts.
"These are gangs that already put bounties on you. This one" he pointed " sent the truck. This one runs soul cages. This one sells kids."
Juvy's hands shook. "Why are you showing us this?"
"Because I hate competition," Varkos said. "And I love chaos."
A man burst into the room. "Boss! Cult scouts near the south tunnels!"
Varkos's smile faded. "Already?"
He looked at the twins. "You see? World doesn't wait."
Juvy whispered, "Max… they're coming for us because of what we are."
He nodded. "And he's letting them."
Varkos leaned on the table. "I give you shelter. Food. Info. You give me fear. We clean the city together."
Juvy shook her head. "You mean we kill for you."
"I mean you survive," Varkos said. "Same thing down here."
The lights flickered.
A cold wind crawled through the tunnel.
Juvy gasped. "Souls… a lot of them… moving."
Maxruell felt it too.
Not human footsteps.
Something deeper.
Varkos straightened. "That's not a gang."
The metal doors at the far end groaned.
Black symbols burned across them.
Someone on the other side laughed.
Not loud.
Not human.
Juvy backed up. "Max… what is that?"
He raised his hand. Shadows bled off the walls.
"Doesn't matter."
The door exploded inward.
Bone masks. Hooded figures. Their eyes glowed sickly white. Chains of light dragged screaming shapes behind them.
A woman stepped forward, tall and thin, her smile carved too wide.
"Children," she said softly. "Come home."
Juvy's knees buckled.
"That's… them," she whispered. "The ones who want our souls."
Varkos swore. "Cult of Significance."
The woman tilted her head. "Two twins… how sinful."
Maxruell felt the crimson crystal pulse like a drumbeat.
His shadow spread across the floor like a black sea.
Juvy lifted her shaking hands, light gathering around her fingers.
The woman's smile widened.
"Let's see," she said, "which one of you breaks first."