"You always told me to hide this, Dad."A young boy's cold voice shattered the mechanical hum inside the giant laboratory. David Vexley slid down the steel wall his back had just slammed into. His body slumped downward slowly, leaving a thick smear of blood trailing against the freezing metal surface. His broken ribs groaned with sickening pain every time he forced air into his lungs.David coughed violently. Fresh blood spilled from his mouth once more, staining his already tattered and dusty security guard uniform. He lifted his face with immense effort. His eyes stared straight at his son in utter disbelief. The physical agony in his chest was absolutely nothing compared to the pain currently slicing through his sanity.In the center of the room, illuminated by the neon green glow radiating from thousands of mutant plant tubes, Arthur was no longer sitting in the medical chair. The seven-year-old boy stepped forward. His feet did not touch the concrete floor.

"Dad! Dad, wake up!"The heavy thud of David's body hitting the steel floor of the laboratory shattered the suffocating silence. The echo of the impact completely broke Arthur's concentration. The electric blue aura surrounding his small body extinguished entirely. He was no longer hovering; his feet touched the floor again, trembling.The seven-year-old boy ran down the platform steps. He approached his father's motionless body. David's security uniform was soaked in blood. The man's face was turning a horrifying shade of blue, with the marks of strangulation clearly imprinted on his neck from Arthur's telekinetic force."Dad, please open your eyes," Arthur sobbed in panic. He dropped to his knees beside David. His tiny hands shook his father's limp shoulder.There was no response. David's chest barely moved.Arthur's crying exploded, echoing throughout the glass room. The illusion of grandeur that had been built inside his head for the past few w

"Cover your noses, right now!" David shouted.His voice was nearly drowned out by the loud hissing from the ventilation pipes in the laboratory ceiling. Neon green gas sprayed out at terrifying speed. The toxic smoke rolled in, blanketing the concrete floor already wet with chemicals, and slowly rose to swallow the clean air. The foul stench of sulfur and dead flesh instantly burned their nasal cavities.Elena coughed violently. Her eyes reddened, tears flowing uncontrollably. "Dave, it hurts to breathe.""Don't speak, Elena. Keep your mouth shut," David replied in panic.The former King of the World knew his magic had died. There was no energy shield he could summon to hold back this poison. He had to think like a mortal human facing death.David pulled on the remains of his security guard shirt, tearing the dirty fabric with one rough yank. He looked toward the puddle of water from the mutant plant tubes that had just shattered due to Arthur's te

"Your hand is turning black, Dave. Your skin is dying." Elena's voice sounded muffled from behind the gas mask covering half her face. The woman crawled forward on the dusty floorboards, ignoring her exhaustion to get a closer look at her husband's right hand. David quickly pulled his hand back and hid it behind his back. "It's just dried mud and residual oil, Elena. Keep your distance. Do not touch my skin even the slightest bit." "You are lying to me again," Elena sobbed stifledly. She hugged Arthur, who was sleeping restlessly on her lap. "I saw the veins in your neck bulging and turning a dark color. Those spores are eating your body from the inside. You are dying, aren't you?" David did not answer. He leaned his head against the dilapidated wooden door of the shack. Dawn was slowly breaking out there. Pale morning sunlight pierced through the cracks in the wooden walls, revealing a horrifying sc

"What are you saying, Dad? It's me, Dad." Arthur's voice broke the silence, echoing softly off the damp, mossy cave walls. The seven-year-old boy stepped forward with trembling hands, trying to reach his father's arm. The echo of David's previous question still hung in the cold air. The innocent question from a man who had just torn through a concrete wall with his bare hands. David's brown eyes stared at Elena unblinking. There was no fog of confusion there, only a very pure emptiness. The space in his brain that stored memories of Elena's smile, their sacred vows at the altar, and every touch of their love had been burned to ash. It had all become the absolute price for five seconds of power. Elena froze on the rocky ground. Her hands, still holding David's shoulders, felt numb. This man had just willingly crawled in the mud, let his face be crushed by dirty police boots, and stabbed his own spine with a rusty nail to