The Surge

The needle plunged into Maxwell's thigh.

His breath caught.

Then the world convulsed.

Pain lanced through his veins like liquid lightning. His heart thundered, his muscles tensed, and his vision fractured—shards of reality blinking in and out like shattered glass reflecting a dozen timelines.

He screamed, clutching the walls as the water around him boiled. The neural enhancer surged through his system, attacking every limit, every cap placed on his mind and body by biology or design. For a moment, he thought he was dying.

But then—clarity.

The world slowed.

He could feel everything.

The shift of Elijah's weight. The faint creak of boots on tile. The pulse of blood in the air. Maxwell stood, shaking but alive, eyes glowing faintly with a burning, electric hue.

Elijah stepped forward, confused by the sudden silence.

Max was no longer wheezing. No longer bleeding from the mouth.

He stood tall. Focused. Dead calm.

"Something's changed," Elijah muttered.

Max didn't respond.

He moved.

A blur. A ripple.

And then Elijah's ribs shattered as Maxwell drove a fist into his side at full speed. The wall behind Elijah cracked from the shockwave, sending chunks of tile and cement into the flooded chamber.

Elijah staggered.

Marvelo-Man didn't give him time to recover.

Another punch to the jaw—Elijah's head snapped sideways. Blood spattered onto the concrete. He reeled, off-balance for the first time in the entire fight.

"I warned you," Maxwell said, his voice low, quiet, measured.

Elijah's snarl twisted into something animal. "You think this makes you better? This isn't strength—it's desperation!"

He lunged again. Faster than before.

But not faster than Max.

This time Maxwell anticipated it. He caught Elijah's shoulder, spun with him, and used his own momentum to slam him through a wall of metal piping. Steam hissed as hot water erupted, flooding the corridor.

Max pressed his advantage.

They fought now not like men, but monsters—ripping through infrastructure, dragging each other through steel and fire. Every blow sent shockwaves through the structure. The vault began to groan around them.

Above, the city still burned.

And below, two legends collided.

Maxwell didn't feel invincible. He felt focused. Sharp. Terrified.

But this time, he wasn't losing.

He slammed Elijah into a support beam. The ground cracked beneath their feet. A chunk of ceiling fell between them, separating them briefly.

In that moment of silence, Elijah coughed blood and smiled through red teeth.

"You got better. But you're still a fool."

Maxwell stepped forward, eyes burning.

"I'd rather be a fool who cares than a monster who doesn't."