“Goo…?” Max muttered subconsciously.A squirming body of thick fluid bobbed its head at Max, who was studying the strange creature with curious eyes. He reached out and poked it; the goo flinched back shyly, then slowly crept closer again.“It’s fine, you can trust me, lil’ guy,” Max said with a smile, releasing a small pulse of his energy. The goo sensed it and immediately bobbed its head once more before launching itself at Max. He flinched and raised his hands in front of him on reflex.When he opened his eyes, the goo was gone.“Where did it go…?” he muttered, glancing around. While searching for it, he noticed a soldier heading his way.The soldier had been sent to fetch him. Max had taken so long that the captain felt something was off, so a man was dispatched to check in case of any mishaps—besides, they were about to leave.Max couldn’t be bothered about the goo for now. He climbed into the vehicle the soldier had brought, and they drove off. Thanks to the ride, they arrived at

One‑Eye tilted his head, the single visible eye narrowing. “Or what?” he asked, stepping closer. His words rode on a gust of hot, foul breath that washed directly into Max’s face.Max coughed and grimaced, leaning back instinctively. “Huh, DAMN, you’re going to need some Good mouthwash,” he shot back, annoyed. “Because whatever’s dying in there is worse than the zombies.”The line landed like a spark in a powder keg. Laughter erupted, soldiers and mercenaries alike doubling over. A few slapped their armor, someone whistled, and the teasing turned on One‑Eye instead.Behind him, another merc fanned the flames, grinning wide. “Hey, One‑Eye, you gonna take that lying down,ei?” he yelled. “If some kid said that to me, I’d break his sound pipe and cripple the b**tard!”The words spread through the crowd like a chain reaction, each echo nudging One‑Eye a little further toward the edge. His grin disappeared. His breathing grew heavier. The veins in his neck pulsed.“Say that again,” One‑Eye g

They moved out not long after.Engines rumbled to a stop at the edge of the cracked lot surrounding the abandoned lab. The air here felt heavier, thick with an old, cloying rot that clung to the back of the throat. Twisted shapes shifted behind shattered windows; hunched shadows clung to crumbled walls like they’d grown there.The first order of business was cleanup.They cleared the outer mutants—stragglers and malformed scouts that lurked near the broken perimeter. Max stayed toward the rear, watching their movements carefully. None of the creatures wandered far from the central structure. They turned away from noise, resisted bait, drifted back toward the lab as if dragged on invisible chains.When the surrounding area was as secure as it could reasonably get, Captain Jane gave the next set of orders.The real fight would be at the southern entrance.A dense knot of mutants had entrenched there, forming a living barricade around the lab’s main access point. That was where they’d br

Max didn’t need a manual to name it.As if sensing him, the banshee’s gelatinous head turned. The goo inside swirled faster. Its tendril‑arms tensed.It screamed.The screech slammed into him mid‑air.The goo around his ears absorbed most of the raw sound, but the pressure wave still punched into his chest and skull. His wings trembled; his vision fuzzed at the edges.Below, the zombies were throwing themselves at max to protect the banshee.They appeared frezy as they traded their life for their master's. A zombie managed to gnaw on Max's wings, making him groan. A portion of his energy went to that part and healed another, fixed a burning sensation in his throat, making him want to puke. Something told him made him sure it was death if he did.cold sweat draped his forehead. As he lost his balanceThe banshee didn’t wait to see if he dropped.It spun on its heel, thin legs blurring, tendrils whipping behind it, and fled.“Oh, no, you don’t,” Max growled.He forced his wings steady an

Inside the cocoon, Max couldn’t hear them. Not clearly.He drifted.Memories flashed in fragments: his father’s voice, the weight of the first gauntlet on his arm, the mantis’s blades, the wasp’s piercing eyes, the banshee’s scream, the forest fire, the SUV, the lab’s skeletal doorway.Past and present folded together.Then everything went black.When sight returned, he was standing in a strange space.It looked like a cross between a gallery and a vault. The sky above was lined with massive safes, sealed tight and distant. Some of the floor platforms were empty. Others held items—faintly glowing, each with its own weight.His gaze fell on the first one.A familiar shape hovered there: a stinger attached to a bulbous core, like a mantis receptor.His gauntlet.The next platform held a formless, slowly flowing mass of sticky fluid.Goo.After that came something stranger. An item flickered between forms—a heavy hand cannon, a long sniper rifle, and a small, twisted horn. They shifted i