Current Day
Max closed his eyes, preparing for the end. Max felt the Flux in the air gather again, collecting in Elias's palm. Then a new pressure filled the room. A familiar hum and crackle of Flux filled the air. Ren? Max thought, and his eyes snapped open. "Max!" Ren's voice echoed across the garage, filled with terror and anger. She stood at the ramp across the room, sword drawn. Three more Association agents followed, each carrying a standard-issue combat staff. Elias paused, turning to face the newcomers. "Ah, more of the defiled have come to me!" He smiled, and raised his hand again, now aimed at Ren. "A blessed day indeed!" Ren raised her sword, and the bright red light crackling off of it began to darken. "Uh, ma'am?" One of the agents behind her began to say, but Ren was already moving. She dashed forward, rapidly closing in on Elias. Max took in a strained breath as he realized that Elias was charging up another massive blast, like the one from earlier. There was no blocking something like that. Ren is going to die, His thoughts screamed, and his flux spiked. He was undergoing an overflow. The air thickened, a red haze settling in, and Max's burned body reeled with pain. His head swam, and he started to get up. White hot flashes of pain flared up across his body, but despite that, he felt alive, adrenaline keeping him going. Ren raised her sword, realizing too late that she couldn't defend herself against an attack of this scale, and tried to reinforce her whole body. The light in Elias's hand grew, now a pure white.
Max lunged forward, and slammed his fist into Elias's jaw. His eyes widened, shocked that Max was moving again, and Max hit him again. He tripped backwards, landing on his back, and before he had time to aim, a beam of holy fire fired from his hand, instantly punching through the ceiling. Daylight spilled into the basement floor, and liquefied concrete dripped down. A large clump of molten stone landed on Elias's leg, and he screamed in agony. The smell of cooking flesh filled the room, and Elias clutched his smoldering leg, tears of pain in his eyes. More lava poured down from the hole in the ceiling, surrounding Elias. He scrambled to his feet, ignoring the burn, and glared at Max. "You dare to turn my gift against me?" He hissed through the agonizing pain. Max said nothing, simply staring at Elias through the smoke, expressionless. "The wicked can not hide from His cleansing light for long. You will be purified in due time." Elias said, before throwing up his hands and letting off a final blast of flame, this time aimed for a pipe on the ceiling. It exploded, water spraying out, and the parking garage flooded with steam. When the fog cleared, Elias was gone. "Should we look for him, ma'am?" an agent asked, staff up. "No, he's too dangerous." Ren replied, and she started to walk towards Max. "Max? Are you okay?" She called out, and he turned his head. "I- I don't feel so good…" He said quietly, almost a whisper. And then everything faded away, and Max crumpled to the ground.
Max opened his eyes, and was greeted with a bright white light. "Is this… Heaven?" He said, looking into the blank space in front of him. Then he heard someone laugh to his right. "Nope, not even close." Then Max's vision started to return. He was staring directly at a fluorescent ceiling light. He looked to the right to see Devon, who was sitting in a chair across the room. "You were hurt pretty badly when we got you here," Devon said. "From what I heard, you were pretty damn impressive." "Where's Ren? Is she okay?" Max asked, worried. A hint of a smile crossed Devon's face. "Yeah, she's fine, thanks to your recklessness. She's been summoned by the Director." He laughed to himself. "She stayed here overnight. They practically had to drag her to the meeting." Max smiled, then winced in pain. His whole body was sore, but strangely that was all. He was sure he'd broken a bone or two, and he'd definitely been burned in that fight. He started to sit up. "Woah there, slow down. You need time to properly heal." Devon said. Max looked at his left arm, and was shocked to see it was almost fully healed. The hand was covered in scar tissue, uneven and dark, but it was otherwise fine. He felt his cheek, which had been touched by the flames as well, and felt the same rough skin. "Why am I… Okay? How long was I out?" "About a day." Devon replied. Max's eyes widened with confusion. "How is that even possible?" Devon leaned back in his chair. "Flux isn't just a tool or a weapon, y'know. It has a mind of its own, and tends to act as such under extreme stress." He crossed his arms. "That's why people often overflow when they first awaken their connection to it. It's like suddenly having a third arm your body doesn't know what to do with. And under the right circumstances, it can take over certain functions in your body." Max swallowed. "Like healing?" Devon nodded. "Accelerated regeneration. It can happen to anyone, really, but few can really control it. It's a fast, violent process, where your body can undergo weeks, months, even years of healing in seconds." His gaze held Max's. "You can't rely on it. Don't even try to. Only a few Flux users in history have managed to actually control it, and those were very unique cases with different circumstances." He sighed. "Honestly, you got lucky. It could have gone a lot worse." A long silence stretched between them, and Max looked down. "I was there because of an overflow. Some poor kid awakened. He was scared, confused." Max's hands shook in anger. "And that monster… He killed him. He- He was just a kid."
Devon's mood changed, now sombre. "That's just a part of this life, unfortunately." He said, head down. "You can't save everyone. And you'll drive yourself crazy if you try to." Max's jaw clenched. "I'm going to make that man pay for what he's done." Devon shook his head. "It may be a great motivator, but seeking revenge will just lead you down the wrong path. I've seen it change people." He stood up, pushing his chair back. "Anyways, I want you to stay here until you're cleared by the nurse. You may feel alright now, but there's no telling what your regeneration missed. I'll let Ren know that you're up." And then he left Max all alone in the room. He stared at the ceiling, thinking, until he fell asleep again.
When Max woke up again, it was already dark out. The lights were off, but the room was illuminated by the moonlight pouring in from the window. "Oh, you're awake." Ren was sitting to his right, phone on. She put it in her pocket. "You did something really stupid yesterday," She said, a hint of irritation in her voice. "You could have died back there. Why didn't you call for backup?" Max looked over at her, a smirk forming on his face. "You were pretty reckless too, y'know. You charged in there, not even knowing what you were dealing with. Very professional." He laughed, shifting to look at her. "My hero." Ren started to say something, but cut herself off. "For real though, thanks, Ren. If you hadn't arrived when you did, I'd have died there." Max said, now serious. "Of course I came," Ren said, her voice quiet. "We're…" "Family, right?" Max spoke softly, mirroring Ren's tone. "We gotta look out for each other." Ren went silent. "Yeah…" She finally said. "Family."