Somewhere far from Universe-8
"Sir! We've found an unusually high energy spike in one of the unexplored universes'
The man in the shadows speaks with cold authority "And what's so special about this one?"
'it's …almost identical to your energy signature which is what we have been looking for. What do you want me to do about it?" He asks as the blood moons light reflect on his eye patch as he steps forward
"Perfect. It's about time , I've been needing a recharge! Send two people to go scout it." The man says shrouded in darkness as you see a crimson red glow piercing through the dark.
He raises his hand , summoning a device—black and red , glowing with a sinister hum. The energy is warped , like Shift's power but corrupted ; murky brown and blood red.
"Take this" he says, letting it float forward with telekinesis. "It'll allow them to teleport once the coordinates are locked in"
"Understood sir, consider it done" he says as he bows before walking away
He clenches his fist and slams it into the arm of his chair , cracking it, breaking a piece off in excitement.
The pieces are finally starting to fall into place…"
One week later — Kat's Funeral.
It was a beautiful service. The sweet scent of lilac flowers floating in the air through the wind. Officers from Kat's department line the grounds. Saluting in silence. Kaleb stands frozen, hesitant to even touch the casket. His eyes drift. Pain is visible to hide.
The family and friends help carry her to rest.. There's no drama— just grief.
An old family friend approaches—an older woman and her daughter.
The mothers hug. Kaleb's mother looks like she's about to break.
"Isabella , I'm so sorry for your loss," the woman says softly
Her daughter steps forward , familiar. With a mystical cube looking pendant. Gold in colour with different coloured gems around it. Red , Yellow , Blue and Green.
"Hey, Kaleb. Been a while. I wish it was under better circumstances. I'm here if you need anything—don't be a stranger."
Thank you, Lynae. I appreciate it," Kaleb says , hugging her briefly before stepping away.
Later, Kaleb is speaking to an old friend O'Neil.
'It's been a while , sorry for your loss bro! How are you holding up?" O'Neil asks
"Getting there. Thanks. Did you just get back to Kalos?" Shift replies
"Yeah we heard about what happened to your aunt. My mum rushed us over."
Suddenly the ground shakes violently. Screams, panic. People struggle to keep their balance.
Jamie sprints over and grabs Kaleb.
Points at his watch. An AI assistant created by a rare metal. He named it 'Sage' and they can communicate telepathically.
"My watch—'Sage' is saying that was a 6.8 magnitude earthquake and there's a bigger one coming next one" Jamie explains
Kaleb's eyes sharpen. "Why today? Where is it coming from?
Jamie glances at his watch. "It's coming from the high street , that's gonna be populated, we need to get there fast!
"We?" Kaleb raises an eyebrow. "You mean it's finally field ready?"
Jamie grins. "Yep! You'll see. I'll meet you there"
Kaleb—Shift teleports in through a portal and lands mid-air, standing on a hardlight platform formed from his powers.
Below him; Rocknaught , tearing through the street again, fists pounding on the floor in a craze, buildings crumbling.
"Come on out! Shiv or whatever your name is! Come out now" the brute roars as he continues slamming the ground.
"Oh brother…not this guy again" Shift mutters.
He calls down, "Hey, It's Shift! Also did you not learn your lesson the last time? Or did you just want another rocket punch?"
Rocknaught grins, "I did. That's why I'm here—for you."
He points at Shift before he slams his hands back on the ground again and it begins to shake the ground. Sending particles of the earth flying in the air. The earth trembles , ripping buildings apart. Screams fill the air.
"You can't save everyone, Shift" Rocknaught bellows.
"Not when you're this outnumbered!"
"I don't have time for this!" Shift growled , annoyed
Dozens of portals bloom beneath civilians, teleporting them to safety.
Rocknaught pauses. "Wait—since when could he do all that?"
Shift glares. His grief, still raw , fuels his anger.
He burst forwards , launching off his platform with pure power and speed right towards Rocknaught .
"Ha you're too predictable! You fool" Rocknaught shouts excitedly
He raises his huge hand made of rock right at Shift's face as he shoots out condensed rocks at fast pace. However Shift gets a faint feeling in the space around his body he couldn't explain but instinctively knew to get out of there!
He teleports himself without the portal as the rocks and giant hand miss their mark Shift reappears behind Rocknaught.
"Surely you didn't think I was just going to run straight to you now"
Shift says
He charges up his hand in his power. Pure, raw power. No constructs.
"Don't say I never gave you a chance" Shift says with a cold tone throwing the punch…
Suddenly , through Shift's earpiece you hear.
"OVERFORM COMING IN HOTTTTT!!" Jamie yells down the comm.
A black tech suit. Surrounded by crackling blue lightning, rockets down the street. Jamie—Overform—slams into Rocknaught alongside Shift , their combined strike shattering his stone armor and knocking him out cold.
Well…that's one way to make an entrance I guess" Shift says
Jamie pants. "Still getting used to being at such a high speed! I don't know how you do it"
"Can you cuff him?" Shift asks
"Already on it." Jamie speaks to Sage. Restraints fly from his suit, binding the unconscious villain with power dampening rings.
"You're good to go. I'll handle things here bro" Overform says
"Thanks I appreciate it that bro" they first bump and part ways
At home , Kaleb walks in
"Mum? Mum, are you back yet?" Kaleb asks looking around
She rushes to him "Kaleb! Where have you been! I've been worried sick as you disappeared in the panic I thought you were hurt!"
"No mum i'm sorry I was with Jamie and we ran to get some cover by the time we came out everyone was gone" Kaleb explains
"It's okay son. I was just worried about you! Now that you're back you can keep O'Neil company he has probably been bored in the living room by himself. Take him up in your room"
As Kaleb approaches the living room he notices O'Neil jump a little. Odd but ignores it thinking he just caught him off guard.
"Yo bro , you wanna go to my room and play some games?" Kaleb asks
"Yeah man for sure!." O'Neil replies while getting up from the sofa.
They're in Kaleb's room , they have pizza and are playing video games talking about the old times!
It turns out that O'Neil is one of his childhood friends that use to play heroes and villains with.
"You remember how me and you was always at the front and all Jamie and the others were struggling to keep up aha 'like wait for us'
O'neil asks as he jokes around
"Yeah I remember , Jamie's not like that now though, he would be leading the charge" Kaleb says, grabbing his drink.
Then—
"Do you still like Lynae?" O'Neil Asks casually
Kaleb spits out his drink. "Bro , come on man! Not when I'm drinking" Kaleb says while wiping the drink off himself
O'Neil laughs.
"To answer your question, I don't know! Today was the first time we've spoken in 3 years" Kaleb noticed there was no reply and saw that O'Neil had zoned out. Strange.
First the flinching and now the zoning out.
Suddenly O'Neil's phone goes off. A text message. His face and aura darkens again.
"Kaleb i gotta go , if my mum asks where I went tell her I wasn't feeling well and went home to the hotel" O'Neil says
"Sure. You good?"
No answer. O'Neil is already walking out.
Kaleb continues playing the game alone until his phone starts ringing and it's Jamie
"Yoo what's up bro" Kaleb answers
"Yoo I thought I'd call to tell you that Sage has picked up a weird energy signature so I don't know if you want to check it out" Jamie says
"Is there anything from the police scanner about it?"Kaleb asks
"No , it's pretty much radio silence" Jamie replies
"Then I'm probably gonna take an early night. I'm pretty exhausted from the funeral and the fight with 'Rocky'. If anything changes let me know"
Jamie pauses then answers "Alright bro I'll see you tomorrow"
They end the call and Kaleb goes to sleep.
The next day
Kaleb meets up with Jamie at The Sanctuary and starts catching up on what happened yesterday events. Jamie expresses that his suit isn't fully ready yet it's still missing something.
"I'm working on a concept that uses Sage's ability to scan and adapt properties to the suit" Jamie explains
"Oh that sounds pretty cool..from what I could understand anyways" Kaleb replies as he scratches his head
"I was doing some research while listening in on the scanner out of curiosity" he says while melding metal onto his suit
Jamie adds "There was a police report this morning from a weapons tech company…it seems that one of their prototypes has been taken and guess what's the weird part…"
"Are you serious? What is the weird part?" Kaleb asks
"It was exactly where the energy signature I told you about last night" Jamie explains
"Damn!! Maybe I should have gone yesterday" Kaleb says annoyed
"The next time you see the energy signature pop up again let me know also what's the time? I'm meant to meet up with my mum , O'Neil and his mum at 4" he adds
Jamie looks at the time on his watch and sees 3:55pm
"Well you best start going, seeing as you got 5 minutes!" Jamie replies and as Kaleb begins to rush out Jamie stops him.
"But I need to tell you this part , before the signature appeared at the site it briefly appeared near your house"
Shift looks visually confused.
"What? Seriously? That's weird…I gotta go though !, we will figure it out later bro" Shift says as he opens a portal and starts to walk through.
"Alright see ya later bro , I'll keep you updated." Jamie says
Kaleb meets up with his mum and the others and they begin their plans. They go to a History museum. They walk around for a while admiring all the different cultures and take pictures creating memories. Then they go to the cafeteria to eat and time flies by fast as it is suddenly dark outside.
O'Neil gets another message on his mobile phone and his energy changes once again , Kaleb notices…
"What is with him and his phone?" Shift thinks to himself concerned.
O'Neil asks " I'm not feeling so well right now, can i excuse myself for a little bit?"
"Of course son, but don't take too long" his mother replies.
Kaleb, thinking back to last night, notices that this is the second time he disappears and asks if he can also be excused.
"Seems that food done something to me too! I also need to go" he says as he is already running away waving.
"This boy! Still moving at his own speed" Isabella says as both her and O'Neils mum laugh together.
Kaleb is walking fast trying to keep up but knows to keep his distance and be quiet.
He is following him through the museum filled with other people; they're approaching the toilets…
Kaleb notices he walked straight past the toilet towards the back exit.
"That was weird right? He walked straight past it" Shift whispers to himself.
Before silently following out the exit and catching a glimpse of him in an alleyway with overfilled bins and trash everywhere.
O'Neil raises his hand. an object appears. Resembling a mask appears in his hand , he puts it on then he disappears within the shadows.
Kaleb standing there with various thoughts running through his head. Denial , betrayal and more…
Kaleb suddenly his phone vibrates, scaring him as he jumps , he checks who is calling.
It's Jamie. Still in shock he answers.
"Kaleb! Sage has just confirmed that the energy signature just went off again! And found out its properties are most likely some sort of darkness energy" Jamie says through the phone.
There's no answer…
"Hello! Kaleb, are you there! Did you hear what I said?" Jamie continues.
"Tell me where!" Kaleb demands
"Seeing as O'nell just disappeared in some sort of darkness. I need to see for myself" Kaleb says, snapping out of his head.
"What? You think—wait. Are you saying he has powers too?" Jamie asks, confused.