Anika sat in her car at the edge of the university campus, twilight pooling across the Oklahoma horizon like spilled ink. The candlelight vigil had begun.
From her vantage point in the parking lot, she spotted the two young women standing side by side, their backs turned just like in her vision. A faint green aura pulsed softly around Sabrina. Anika's gaze dropped to her watch.
6:22 PM.
"Just in time," she whispered.
Her hand reached for the door handle then her phone buzzed.
An alert flashed across the screen: "$944.22."
Anika blinked, then exhaled a soft, amused breath. "Jor'Danna."
She tapped the notification and placed a quick call.
Jor'Danna's phone buzzed on the table beside her. She glanced at the screen and smiled.
"It's Anika," she told Brevin.
She answered. "Hey, Doc."
"Everything okay?" Anika asked.
"Yeah, we're good. Just finished shopping and about to eat. Any luck on your end?"
"No real conversation yet," Anika admitted. "But I saw her. I'm at the vigil now, waiting for the right moment."
"Her?" Jor'Danna echoed, intrigued.
"Yes," Anika said, her tone more focused now. "I'll fill you in soon. Don't go crazy with my credit card." Anika laughed. "Stay alert."
"Yes ma'am," she said, and the line disconnected.
Brevin raised a brow. "What'd she say?"
"She thinks she found her," Jor'Danna replied, sliding her phone into her bag, and also not to overspend" Jor'Danna laughed.
Just then, Ozias stepped up to their table with a wide grin.
"Bon appétit!" he said cheerfully, handing them two steaming plates of jambalaya and cold mason jars of lemonade.
Brevin leaned forward, eyes lighting up. "Wow. This smells incredible."
"I'm impressed," Jor'Danna added, lifting her fork. "You weren't kidding."
Jor'Danna took her first bite and immediately closed her eyes, savoring the smoky heat and layered spices.
"Mmm," she hummed. "Okay, okay this is ridiculous. Like, spiritually healing."
Brevin was already halfway through his plate. "This is the best meal I've had since escaping that hellhole facility. Might cry."
Ozias laughed, leaning against the side of the food truck. "I don't just cook, I restore. That's Louisiana in a bowl right there."
"Seriously though," Jor'Danna said, dabbing her mouth with a napkin. "How'd you learn to cook like this?"
Ozias paused, then looked off into the distance for a beat. The humor faded from his face, but something warm lingered in his voice.
"My mama," he said. "She used to say food was love in edible form. We didn't always have much, but that kitchen? That was our sanctuary. Gumbo, jambalaya, red beans... it's how we stayed close."
Jor'Danna nodded slowly. "I feel that. My grandma used to say something similar. 'Cook with your heart or don't cook at all.'"
Brevin grunted, still eating. "Where I'm from they cooked like they were trying to punish me. This is therapy."
That made all three of them laugh really laugh for the first time in what felt like days.
Ozias glanced down at the gravel, then back up. "Y'all aren't from around here, huh?"
Jor'Danna and Brevin exchanged a look. She hesitated, but then shrugged.
"We're... passing through," she said carefully. "Long story."
Ozias tilted his head, studying them. "You two running from something?"
Jor'Danna didn't answer at first. Brevin kept his eyes on his plate.
Ozias raised his hands. "Hey, not judging. I've been on the move too. Sometimes survival is the story."
That relaxed the tension. Jor'Danna gave a small smile.
"I actually have a boxing match tonight," Ozias said, wiping his hands on a towel. "Here in Tennessee. Not far from here."
"You box?" Brevin asked, surprised.
"Yeah, since the food truck's still getting off the ground, boxing helps me cover supplies and hotel costs. Keeps me in shape too."
"How long you been fighting?" Jor'Danna asked.
"Coming up on two years now," Ozias said. "You two should come watch."
"Yeah, that actually sounds kinda fun," Brevin said. "We could use some live entertainment."
"I'm down," Jor'Danna added, already intrigued.
"Cool. It starts at 8. Small gym just outside town nothing fancy, but the fights get real."
Brevin stood and gave Ozias a handshake. "We'll be there."
Jor'Danna smiled, tucking one of Ozias's business cards into her bag. "And thanks for the food. Seriously. You might've just saved my whole week."
Ozias gave a humble grin. "Glad I could feed the soul a little."
The candlelight vigil had ended.
People drifted away in clusters, their voices hushed, candles flickering out one by one like stars being snuffed from the sky. The air was cooler now, tinged with the earthy scent of melted wax and trampled grass.
Sabrina stood still, watching the last flame burn out in front of her.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket.
She pulled it out, expecting a condolence message or a photo from the vigil, but instead it was a reminder she had a text from her mom.
Hey honey. Some of your father's colleagues stopped by. I think you and Zuri should hang at the park. You know the one we always talked about in case of a TANGO. Talk soon. ~Love, Mom.
Her heart sank. Sabrina's eyes widened. She read the message twice, then once more, her chest tightening.
TANGO.
She hadn't heard that word in years, not since her father first taught her the protocol, back when she was a teenager.
She turned slightly, scanning the crowd. Her jaw tightened.
"Zuri," she said quietly, leaning close. "You should head home. I'll text you later."
Zuri blinked. "Wait, what? You okay?"
Sabrina forced a soft smile. "Yeah. Just... need a minute alone."
Zuri hesitated, but nodded, giving her hand a gentle squeeze before walking off.
Sabrina waited until Zuri was out of sight, then turned to head toward the park.
But before she could take two full steps, a woman stepped out from the shadows.
Elegant. Serene. Long white locs shimmered under the streetlights. Her amethyst pendant glowed faintly against her chest.
Sabrina halted, eyes narrowing slightly. "Oh hey, it's you again?"
Anika raised her hands gently. "I didn't mean to startle you."
Sabrina glanced over her shoulder, anxious.
Anika said softly, "Are you alright?"
Sabrina didn't answer right away. "I..um, yeah why?"
"I just... saw the worry on your face." Anika said looking down at her lock screen.
Anika stepped closer, voice calm but pointed. "Is your father... Lieutenant Colonel Monroe?"
Sabrina froze. Her pulse skipped.
"...Yeah," she said slowly. "How do you know that?"
Anika's eyes softened, full of memory. "I used to work in military science. Years ago. Your father, he worked closely with my ex-husband."
Sabrina's brow furrowed. "Your ex—"
Before she could finish, a distant rumble of thunder rolled across the sky. The first sign of an oncoming storm.
Anika looked up, then back at her. "Sabrina... there's more I need to tell you. But not here."
Anika walked beside her, the cool night air thick with tension. The last stragglers from the vigil had wandered off, leaving the park eerily quiet.
"I'm not here to hurt you, Sabrina," she said, her voice calm but serious. "I've seen what happened at that party. The one in Norman. I saw the surveillance footage."
Sabrina's eyes snapped toward her, suddenly alert. "What?" Her body stiffened. Sabrina stood up, heart pounding. "So you are following me."
"No," Anika said quickly, rising to meet her gaze. "I'm not part of the people hunting you. I've helped others like you. Others with gifts. Special abilities connected to something ancient, something cosmic."
Sabrina's breathing slowed just enough to listen.
"I knew the moment I saw your aura... you were one of them. But I wasn't sure, not until just now."
Sabrina searched her face for any sign of deceit. There was none. Just steadiness. And a strange, almost maternal sadness in her eyes.
Then Sabrina glanced at her phone again, remembering. She opened the message from her mother and read it aloud:
"Some of your father's colleagues stopped by. I think you and Zuri should hang at the park. You know the one we always talked about in case of a TANGO."
She looked up at Anika, a chill running down her spine. "You know what that means, don't you?"
Anika went still.
"TANGO isn't just a warning," she said, voice low. "It's a fail-safe. It means they've already made a move."
Sabrina's fingers trembled as she opened her home security app. She tapped into the downstairs hallway cam.
At first, the footage was still. Warm lights. Her mom walked across the living room holding her phone.
One of them struck fast and deliberate. Her mom collapsed, blood blooming across her shirt as she crumpled to the carpet.
"No! NO!" Sabrina gasped, staggering back. Her voice cracked as she choked on a sob. "MOM!!"
Her dad charged into frame next, but the second figure moved in like a shadow, driving something into his side. Then the other figure disappeared with her dad.
Sabrina stared in horror, frozen, her breath catching in shallow bursts. She clutched the phone to her chest like it could hold her together.
"I—I can't—" she sobbed.
Anika placed a steadying hand on her shoulder.
"Sabrina, listen to me. You're not safe here anymore." Anika continued gently but firmly. "You need to come with me right now. I've helped others like you. You have a gift, and I promise you don't have to face this alone."
Sabrina looked down at her phone one last time, at the frozen image of her mother falling, her father being taken.
Anika gently guided her toward the car, one hand steady on her back.
As they reached the vehicle, thunder rolled overhead, low and hungry, but something in the air shifted.
Across the street, a hooded woman crouched low on the sidewalk, her hand pressed flat to the ground like she was listening through it. Blonde hair spilled from beneath the hood.
Her energy that made Anika feel unsettled. It was dark, chaotic, and seething.
"Get in," Anika ordered, sharper now.
They slammed the doors. The car roared to life and peeled out, tires hissing over the wet asphalt.
Sabrina looked back wide eyed at the woman. "That's her." Sabrina said, raw and afraid. "I need to warn Zuri."
"Text her. "If they're after you, she's next." Anika said.
The hooded woman slowly lifted her head, a small smile curling beneath glowing red eyes.
As Anika's car disappeared into the night, the city behind them grew distant in the rearview mirror. Sabrina sat silently, staring at the blurred lights of Oklahoma City as they sped down the highway.
Sabrina stared blankly at the screen of her phone, still shaking. Then her fingers began to move.
Sabrina: I'm okay. I got out. I love you so much.
Zuri: I love you too. Please be safe.
Sabrina: Promise me we'll see each other again.
Zuri: We will. As soon as we're both safe, we find each other. No matter what.
Sabrina blinked away tears as she sent one final message: Tell no one. Don't trust anyone. I'll find a way to reach you soon.
Outside the window, the night deepened. Thunder grumbled again in the distance, rolling across the sky like a warning whispered by the clouds.
Anika tightened her grip on the wheel.
"Storm's coming," she thought quietly to herself.
The boxing gym roared with underground energy. Walls sweating, lights flickering overhead. The crowd surged with anticipation as Ozias wrapped his fists, unaware that across the state line, the war had already begun, and soon, it was coming for him too.
The gym buzzed with raw energy. Sweat, music, and the sharp scent of chalk hanging in the air. Fluorescent lights flickered overhead, barely keeping up with the crowd that had packed into the underground venue. Men and women crowded near the ropes, shouting, placing bets, amped for the night's headliner.
Jor'Danna stepped in first, scanning the place with cautious curiosity. "This is way more intense than I expected."
Brevin followed, hands in his jacket pockets. "Feels like someone's basement got turned into a fight club."
"That's because it probably was," she muttered with a smirk.
They found seats near the front just a few feet from the edge of the ring, where the thuds of every punch would feel like they were landing inches away. The floor vibrated beneath their boots as the current fight ended and the announcer stepped up to the center with a mic.
From across the room, Ozias spotted them.
A wide grin broke across his face.
He was in a worn black hoodie, fists taped, bouncing on his heels as he waited for his name to be called. The tension in his shoulders eased just a bit when he saw them he raised a hand and gave a nod, eyes warm with gratitude.
Brevin returned the nod.
Jor'Danna gave a quick wave and smiled. "He looks focused."
"Hope that focus helps him win," Brevin said, eyeing the giant guy warming up across the ring. "Because that other dude looks like he eats bricks for breakfast."
Then the lights shifted.
A beat dropped through the speakers, heavy and guttural, and the announcer's voice cut through the noise. Announcing the opponents.
The crowd roared.
Ozias stepped into the light, hood coming down, locs tied tight. His expression was calm, grounded, but Jor'Danna noticed something flicker in his eyes. Something deeper than confidence. Like a storm that hadn't yet broken.
The bell rang, and the fight began.
Ozias moved like he was born in the ring. Feet light, hands steady, body fluid. His stance was tight, disciplined. Each jab cracked through the air like a metronome, sharp and calculated. He wasn't just strong, he was smart. He studied his opponent like a puzzle, reading every twitch of muscle, every lazy feint.
Jor'Danna leaned forward, eyes narrowing. "He's good. Real good."
Brevin nodded slowly. "His control's crazy. Barely wastes energy."
But even with Ozias's technical prowess, his opponent was a beast bigger, broader, and relentless. Every punch he threw came with the weight of a cinder block, and he could take hits like a wall.
Ozias danced around him, landing clean body shots and a slick uppercut that made the crowd howl. He didn't dominate, but he kept pace dodging, weaving, wearing the man down.
By the end of the first round, sweat dripped down Ozias's brow, but his opponent was breathing heavier. The bell rang again, and Ozias raised a fist just slightly in victory.
Round two didn't go as smooth.
The opponent came out swinging aggressive, wild, and unpredictable. Ozias tried to stay composed, but the hits started to pile up. A blow to the ribs. A hook that clipped his jaw.
He staggered for the first time.
"Damn," Brevin muttered. "He switched up."
Jor'Danna gripped the seat. "Ozias, come on..."
Ozias fought back hard, but this time, the damage showed. His guard slipped. His balance faltered. The crowd's energy tilted.
The bell rang, mercifully.
Between rounds, trainers scrambled with towels and water bottles. Ozias spat blood into a bucket and wiped his face, chest rising and falling like thunder.
Then, just before the next round, Brevin squinted toward the opposite corner.
"Wait, what's he doing?" he said.
Jor'Danna followed his gaze.
The opponent's coach handed him a different pair of gloves darker, heavier looking. The switch was quick, slick. Almost unnoticed.
Brevin's eyes widened. "Yo. Did he just change gloves mid-fight?"
Jor'Danna's stomach turned. "That's illegal, right?"
Brevin muttered, jaw tight. "It's cheating. Those might be weighted."
They both looked to Ozias now stepping back into the ring, unaware.
The third round began, and from the first punch, it was clear something was wrong. The opponent's hits sounded different. Heavier. Deeper. Ozias reeled from a jab to the side, stumbling as if he'd been hit by something more than knuckles.
"Ozias!" Jor'Danna shouted under her breath.
Brevin stood now, fists clenched. "He's getting rocked. That dude's cheating. He's using something in the gloves."
Brevins eyes slightly started glowing and his fingers started to move. Jor'Danna nudged him gently.
"Hey, not here." She whispered.
Another hit this one to the chest. Ozias buckled, coughing hard. His legs wobbled. Then came the final blow.
A brutal uppercut landed square on Ozias's ribs. His body twisted midair before he hit the mat hard, the sound of it echoing through the gym like a dropped weight.He coughed once wet and deep and blood hit the canvas.Gasps rippled through the crowd. The ref started counting, but everything else faded.
Jor'Danna stood frozen. "No... no no no..."
Everything muffled.
The crowd, the ref's voice, even the ringing in his ears all dulled to a low, underwater hum. Ozias lay on the mat, blood dripping from his mouth, his chest heaving as if the weight of the world had fallen on it.
His vision blurred, and then his mother's voice.
Soft, from a memory.
"Don't ever let them make you feel small, baby. You're meant for more."
His father's laugh, that deep belly kind that shook the house during game nights.
"A King never quits, son. Not on family. Not on himself."
Then came the image that hit hardest, his food truck, parked under a sun-faded sign that read Powell's Culture Dish. The logo he hand-drew. The spices. The late nights. His way of keeping their name alive.
"I promised," he breathed, barely audible. "I promised I'd carry them with me."
If he lost this match, the truck wouldn't make it.
No rent. No repairs. No food. No legacy.
Suddenly, a shadow loomed over him. His opponent. Towering, cocky, unbothered. He crouched low and leaned in, voice dripping with arrogance.
"Game over, boy. Stay down."
He patted Ozias's cheek twice with his gloved hand. Smug, but then the ground shook. Not much, just a tremor. Barely enough to notice.
The ref was at nine, ten never came because in that moment, Ozias's eyes flew open, glowing with a deep, seismic amber light. His body surged energy pulsing from within, his fists faintly glowing like magma beneath skin.
He didn't rise. He exploded upward.
His opponent didn't even see the first punch, a blinding uppercut that lifted him off his feet. The second punch came midair. A brutal cross that sent the man flying across the ring, smashing against the ropes with a CRACK that silenced the entire gym before the crowd erupted into chaos.
Screaming. Cheering. Disbelief.
Jor'Danna shot to her feet. "Did you..was that—?"
Brevin's mouth hung open. "His hands were glowing..."
But it wasn't over. The opponent roared, bloody and enraged, and charged again. He launched a flurry of punches vicious, fast, brutal. Ozias didn't flinch. He stood there absorbing the hits like they were nothing. Like they were being pulled into him. His chest swelled. The energy around him shifted. Every blow he took only made him stronger, his skin vibrating, the floor trembling beneath his boots.
Then, One hit.A single, devastating seismic blow. Ozias's fist collided with the opponent's chest. The sound thundered, like the cracking of the earth itself. Blood sprayed from the man's mouth, nose, and ears midair. He was launched backwards, crashing through the ropes, splintering the side of the ring, and slammed violently into the concrete wall behind it, leaving a crater. The gym went dead silent. The ref stood frozen.
Ozias just stood there breathing, fists still glowing, eyes wild with adrenaline and power.
The referee raised his hand, still stunned, and began the final count over the twitching, unconscious opponent.
"Seven... eight... nine... TEN!"
He threw his arm up.
"Winner by knockout OZIAS POWELL!"
The gym exploded in cheers, stomping feet, fists pounding on the metal bleachers. The roar was deafening, the energy chaotic. Ozias didn't wait. He ducked out of the ring, breathing hard, grabbing his duffel bag from the corner. He snatched the cash envelope from the official, shoved it into his bag, and took off toward the back exit, barely hearing the crowd or the announcer calling his name.
"Yo, wait, where's he going?" Brevin said, standing up.
Jor'Danna was already moving.
They both exchanged a quick look then ran after him, pushing through the crowd, weaving past sweaty fans and confused fighters.
"You think he knows what just happened?" Brevin asked.
"I think he felt it, but he's probably confused." Jor'Danna said, eyes scanning ahead toward the alley behind the gym. "Whatever that was... it was real."
"Ozias, wait!" Jor'Danna called out, chasing him into the alley behind the gym.
But he didn't stop.
He sprinted across cracked pavement, bag slung over his shoulder, still panting from adrenaline and panic. His fists still faintly buzzed with residual energy. He didn't want to talk. Didn't want to hear it.
"Ozias!" Brevin shouted.
He kept running. Jor'Danna's voice cracked through the air again louder, more desperate.
"We were scared too, confused and terrified when we found out what we were!"
Ozias slowed. Just for a second. His steps faltered, but then he shook his head and kept moving.
"Damn it," Brevin muttered.
His eyes flared into a glow, hands twisting with a subtle flick. The air around Ozias shimmered and then his legs locked mid-stride, his body jerked still.
"What the—?" Ozias gasped, frozen in place like his limbs were suddenly too heavy to move. Ozias turned his head slowly, chest still heaving. "What... are you doing to me?"
"Just making you listen." Brevin's voice was calm, but his eyes glowed like polished chrome. Brevin stepped forward, steady but firm. "We're not here to hurt you. We're not your enemies."
Jor'Danna stepped forward beside him.
Her pupils shifted into a glow, and suddenly three glowing duplicates of her split off, circling Ozias in a blur of light and energy.
"We're different too," she said gently. "That's why we were on the run."
Ozias stared, wide-eyed caught between awe and fear. Jor'Danna took another step, her real self now directly in front of him.
"But we found someone... someone who understands all of this. Who can help people like us."
Her voice lowered, more serious now. "I know a place where you'll be safe. Where you won't have to hide... or fight alone."
Ozias's fists slowly unclenched.
His eyes darted between them. Brevin's glowing hands, Jor'Danna's dissolving copies, and that calm fire in their gaze. Like they knew something he didn't yet.
"...So what are we then? Some kind of freaks?" he muttered.
"Not freaks," Brevin said, stepping beside him. "Starseeds."
Ozias exhaled, long and shaken. "...Okay."
Brevin dropped his hands. The shimmering around Ozias vanished. Jor'Danna's copies dissolved into thin light, and her eyes dimmed back to normal.
Ozias stood there, stunned and breathing heavily.
Then he asked, "Who's helping us?"
"A woman named Doctor Anika. She's currently in Oklahoma now helping someone who activated just like you." Jor'Danna added.
"How many are there of us?" Ozias asked.
"According to her twelve. So far it's just been Brevin and I. We just found out this morning about the other in Oklahoma, and now here we are with you." Jor'Danna said softly.
A silence hung in the alley. Ozias was still catching his breath, his fists faintly flickering with residual energy, while Brevin and Jor'Danna shared a look of cautious hope. Then the ground hummed. It started low, like an electric hum through the soles of their shoes. The streetlamp above them flickered, then burst, showering sparks into the alley like dying stars.
Brevin froze. "Oh no."
A jagged rip tore through the air behind them. Dark, crackling, and unnatural. It sounded like the sky itself had been unzipped. A swirling obsidian-black portal bloomed open, spewing thick mist that twisted unnaturally as it hit the ground.
From within the vortex, two silhouettes emerged.
First came a towering man dark brown skin, sculpted frame wrapped in tactical black gear laced with crimson veins. Shadows crawled across his body like living armor, and a glowing red eye pulsed in the center of a deep scar slashing across his left brow.
Behind him, a woman stepped through brown-skinned, athletic, and grinning, her long black hair styled into twin pigtails, bouncing with each sauntering step. She wore a twisted parody of a cheerleading uniform: black and red with jagged seams, combat boots, and fingerless gloves coated in dark residue.
They looked like they had walked out of a nightmare, and they liked it.The woman let out a loud, gleeful laugh that echoed off the alley walls.
"Well, isn't this cute." Her voice dripped with mockery. "The little cosmic club is growing."
The man smirked, voice like cracking granite. "Good to see you again, Brevin."
Brevin took a step forward, eyes hardening. His hands clenched, fingers twitching with restrained power. "Rage," he said, voice low.
Rage's glowing eye narrowed. "Still running, huh?"
Mayhem licked her bottom lip, tilting her head at Ozias. "And look what we got here. Fresh meat."
Jor'Danna instinctively stepped in front of Ozias, her jaw clenched, eyes glowing faintly and fist balled up. "Get behind us."
Ozias blinked, heart racing. "Who the hell are they?"
Brevin's voice was tight, controlled, but deadly serious. "They're Obsidian. Rage and Mayhem."
The air dropped ten degrees.
Rage rolled his neck slowly, letting the shadows slither across his chest like oil.
"You should've stayed hidden, Brevin."
Brevin's feet slowly lifted off the ground, his hands darkening into obsidian black, veins glowing with silver.
"Wait 'til you see what tricks I've learned."
Mayhem cracked her knuckles, grinning wild.
"Where's your little triplets?"
Jor'Danna stepped forward, her palms bursting into light, energy whipping around her.
"Come here and find out."
Mayhem's smile turned feral.
"With pleasure."