CHAPTER 5 — antimatter bloom
A week had passed since the sky split open over Harrow City. Three days since Aiden and Kael awakened the powers that would alter the course of their lives, and perhaps the world itself.
The world outside had begun to unravel—news reports were flooded with strange incidents, unexplained destruction, and sightings of individuals doing the impossible.
The public had no name for these new anomalies yet, but one was coming. Something inevitable.
"Metahumans," the news anchors would eventually proclaim with fear and fascination.
But none of that mattered to Kael at this moment.
He stood alone inside the abandoned industrial complex at the edge of Harrow City—wind whistling through shattered windows, metal beams groaning overhead, and dust motes dancing in the shafts of gray afternoon light.
This place had long been forgotten by society, which made it perfect for what he intended.
Testing himself.
Pushing the antimatter force swirling inside him like a caged storm.
Aiden had left that morning to return to his family's estate. Aiden needed resources, and whether he liked admitting it or not, he had plenty.
His family's mansion was practically a fortress, its lower floors perfect for conversion into an operations center. Aiden had apologized repeatedly for leaving Kael alone for a few days, but Kael simply smirked and told him not to worry.
What Kael didn't say was that solitude made the darkness in him easier to approach.
He exhaled slowly, raising his right hand. Wisps of deep blue-black antimatter shimmered around his fingers, crackling like inverted lightning.
Feels good… but unstable, he thought, narrowing his eyes. Like I'm holding the end of a collapsing star.
He stepped forward onto the dirty concrete floor, letting the energy build. Every pulse was louder, heavier. He could feel it inside his bones, humming like an engine running too hot.
"Aiden gets sunlight… I get annihilation," Kael muttered with a humorless chuckle. "Seems fair."
He flexed his fingers again.
Nothing exploded. Good.
But still—something in him whispered that he could go further.
That he should.
He looked at his hand for a long, quiet moment.
Then a dangerous idea formed.
"…What happens if I push it into myself?" he murmured aloud.
The abandoned building didn't answer. But the antimatter inside him trembled eagerly, reacting to his intention like a predator sensing blood.
Kael inhaled deeply, bracing himself.
He gathered the antimatter into his palm—it condensed thickly, swirling with impossible density—and then pressed it directly against the skin of his right hand.
His vision went white.
His hand vanished.
There was no sound, no fire, no blood. Just instant disintegration. A silent scream tore out of him as he collapsed to his knees, clutching the space where his hand had been moments earlier.
Pain unlike anything he had ever known thundered up his arm. Not burning, not cutting—consuming.
His heartbeat hammered wildly.
His breath came in ragged gasps.
"F–… f***…!" he choked out, slamming his left fist against the floor. "What… what did I just—!?"
He stared at the stump in horror.
Then, in disbelief.
Because no blood was spilling.
Instead, thick black smoke—dense, swirling antimatter vapor—began pouring out of the stump like ink spreading underwater. It rose, condensed, twisted like a living thing searching for form.
Kael watched with wide, trembling eyes as the smoke hardened. First to liquid. The dark substance dripped down like tar, but hovered unnaturally, defying gravity.
Then it began to solidify—shaping into fingers, a palm, a wrist.
A new arm.
An arm forged from antimatter itself.
Runes—intricate, ancient patterns Kael didn't recognize—shimmered to life along the entire length of the limb. They ran from his fingertips to his shoulder, glowing faintly with deep cerulean light.
"What… the hell…" he whispered.
He lifted the arm experimentally.
It didn't feel foreign.
It felt perfect.
He stood slowly, breath steadying, and looked toward a cracked concrete wall ten meters away.
He didn't even put force behind the swing.
FOOM—!!
The entire wall in front of him exploded outward, sending dust, broken chunks, and metal debris flying in every direction.
Kael froze.
"…Holy sh—"
A grin cracked across his face.
Then he began to laugh.
Not a small laugh—an uncontrollable, echoing, manic howl that filled the abandoned building with a sound halfway between triumph and madness.
For the first time since gaining his powers, he felt truly alive.
Hours passed as Kael continued testing the new arm.
He punched, kicked, swung—each action producing destruction he struggled to wrap his mind around. His strength had multiplied several times over. And the arm itself was far stronger than the rest of his body—meaning that often, when he moved too quickly or applied too much pressure—
BANG!
A metal door tore off its hinges when he tried to open it.
Kael winced, staring down at the broken door lying flat on the ground.
"…Okay. Maybe that one's on me."
Another time, he tried adjusting a loose pipe.
CRACK!
The pipe shattered, the entire segment collapsing.
Kael sighed.
"…Yeah, definitely on me."
Despite the struggles, each failure only made him more determined to master the strength now coursing through him.
I need control, he thought as he paced the ruins. If I can do this much already… what else am I capable of?
There was no fear in the thought.
Just anticipation.
It was late evening when Aiden returned to the abandoned area, calling out:
"Kael? You here?"
Kael stepped out of the shadow of a fallen pillar. Aiden ran toward him—then stopped dead as he noticed the new antimatter arm.
"…Kael… what did you do?"
Kael shrugged. "Improved myself."
Aiden stared, stunned and worried at the same time. But Kael simply grinned and motioned for him to follow.
"I have something to show you too," Aiden said, regaining his composure. "Come on. You're going to want to see this."
Their future—both bright and dark—was waiting.
Together, they left the empty ruins behind, unaware of how deeply this moment would shape the fate of everyone they'd ever known.