"You think a little power-up is enough?"
Evan's voice echoed, distorted, inhuman.
The blackened void that was now his face remained unreadable, but his tone carried a sneer—mockery, disdain, an overwhelming certainty in his superiority.
But Max—
He only grinned.
A spark of excitement flickered in his eyes, a wild thrill coursing through his veins.
"We will know."
His voice was steady, but inside—inside, something stirred.
Something only he could feel.
A power that didn't just surge through him.
It remade him.
Lightning.
Pure, untamed, roaring lightning.
It wasn't just energy—it was alive.
His entire body crackled, wrapped in a storm of purple arcs, each bolt dancing wildly across his skin.
His muscles clenched, denser than ever before, as if they had been reforged from lightning itself.
His nerves buzzed, moving at speeds that should have been impossible, each impulse sent faster than thought.
Even his organs pulsed differently, no longer working at human levels.
