They didn't get back to the tunnels clean.
Halfway through the return route, the truck jerked hard and skidded sideways. Tires screamed. The engine coughed like it got stabbed.
"Ambush!" a guard yelled.
Headlights burst on from both ends of the street.
Gangs poured out of vans and bikes faces painted, guns glowing with blue tech, blades humming with heat.
Juvy whispered, "They're not cult…"
Maxruell felt it.
Greed.
Fear.
Hunger.
One man shouted, "That's them! Don't let 'em breathe!"
Bullets tore through the truck.
Maxruell jumped out first.
The shadows slammed into the pavement like a living wave.
Two shooters were dragged under screaming. Another fired point-blank.
The bullet bent sideways and drilled into a streetlight instead.
Juvy stepped out behind him.
The air trembled.
Water burst from fire hydrants, whipping into frozen whips. Wind slammed bikers into walls. Crystal spikes burst from the asphalt and pinned men like insects.
"Fall back!" someone screamed.
Too late.
A gang leader charged with a massive axe, eyes glowing red. "I want the boy's stone!"
Maxruell looked at him.
The man's shadow peeled off the ground and wrapped around his throat.
Blood poured from his mouth as he lifted into the air, kicking.
Snap.
He hit the ground wrong.
Maxruell staggered.
Another memory slid away.
He couldn't remember their school's name.
Juvy grabbed him. "Max, you're shaking!"
"I'm fine."
He wasn't.
More engines roared.
From rooftops, snipers appeared.
Juvy gasped. "So many…"
Maxruell felt something inside him stretch.
Let me out.
"No," he whispered.
The shadows exploded upward, forming towering black shapes that swatted bullets out of the air and dragged snipers off roofs like dolls.
Juvy screamed as a shot grazed her arm.
Blood shimmered into crystal before it could fall.
She snapped.
The sky lit up with color.
Lightning tore down between buildings. Wind howled through the street. Metal bent. Glass shattered.
The gangs broke.
They ran in every direction, dropping guns and screaming prayers.
Silence fell heavy.
Sirens wailed again, real ones this time.
Black vehicles rolled in from both ends.
Not police.
No logos.
One speaker boomed, "Targets located. Engage with extreme prejudice."
Juvy whispered, "Max… those aren't gangs…"
He looked at the armored figures stepping out.
Government kill teams.
Different fear.
Same guns.
Varkos's voice crackled in Maxruell's earpiece. "Twins, move. Tunnels, now."
Smoke grenades burst.
The street vanished in white fog.
Maxruell grabbed Juvy and ran.
Bullets punched into the mist. One tore through Maxruell's side.
He didn't feel it.
The shadow plugged the hole.
They hit the sewer entrance and dropped inside just as explosions rocked the street above.
They ran until their lungs burned.
When they finally stopped, Juvy slid down the wall, shaking.
"They… they sent soldiers…"
Maxruell leaned against the tunnel, blood soaking through his shirt.
"We're not just hunted," he said. "We're classified."
Juvy looked at his wound. "Max… you're bleeding."
He stared at the dark blood.
Another memory slipped.
He forgot what their bedroom looked like.
"I don't think I can stop," he whispered.
She grabbed his face. "You don't get to leave me alone in this."
For a moment, the shadows went still.
Above them, news screens flashed:
ANOMALY SIGHTING – CITY DISTRICT 9
CIVILIAN EVACUATION ORDERED
In a dark church far away, Mother Cain knelt before a wall of bones.
"The city has chosen fear," she said softly.
"Now it will choose worship."
And deep beneath the tunnels, something old shifted again.
The underworld was listening.