To be honest, Alex hadn't expected it.
His heat vision—out of all things—had triggered a reaction in that strange stone.
From the way it responded, it was almost like his beam had activated it.
Now that it was clear this wasn't some ordinary rock, Alex wisely decided not to continue blasting it randomly.
He'd seen enough movies in his last life to know how "curiosity kills the cat". You zap the wrong thing and next thing you know, you're the cause of an alien invasion or a lab-wide explosion.
Still, having discovered such a mysterious object, there was no way Alex was just going to leave it behind.
He decided to take it back and hand it over to Hank for analysis.
---
Crack!
But just as he reached for the stone, a thin fissure appeared across its surface—brimming with radiant blue light.
Crack! Crack!
More cracks spread rapidly across the stone.
And then—
BOOM!
The entire rock exploded in a flash of blinding blue light.
And that was only the beginning.
Because the light wasn't just a flash. It moved, like it was alive.
In the blink of an eye, it rushed straight toward Alex.
---
"What the hell?!"
Alex's eyes widened in shock.
Without thinking, he kicked into nearly double supersonic speed, dashing away at impossible velocity.
But even that wasn't fast enough.
The blue light phased straight into his body, vanishing from sight.
---
Alex: "..."
His whole body tensed.
His heart skipped a beat.
Was this some kind of cursed energy?
Was he about to mutate? Explode? Get mind-controlled?
Was he going to turn into some kind of monster?
That's exactly how these things played out in the movies.
"Please no."
He swallowed hard, instantly scanning his body with every bit of sensory power he had.
And to his surprise...
He did detect something.
But it wasn't physical.
There was nothing wrong with his body. Not even a hair out of place.
Instead, what he noticed was something... different.
Something extra.
---
It was like he'd gained a new sense—a perception completely separate from the five traditional ones.
He couldn't explain it. But when he closed his eyes, he could still "see" the world around him.
The environment appeared in his mind like a blue-hued 3D scan, everything mapped out in real time.
No sight, no touch, no hearing—but still there.
It was like...
Daredevil's radar sense.
Only sharper.
Only now did he fully understand—the change wasn't a curse.
That burst of blue light had awakened a new ability within him.
And this wasn't something Homelander had.
In fact, it was a sensory power even he didn't possess.
---
"So... that whole freak-out just gave me a new power?"
Alex stared into space, half amused, half baffled.
Nothing else seemed to be wrong.
No pain. No side effects.
Just a shiny new, seemingly useless sensory upgrade.
Still, he had a gut feeling—this wasn't ordinary.
Even so, after scanning himself thoroughly again and again and finding nothing else strange, Alex decided to let it go.
"Whatever. Guess it's mine now."
But deep down, he made a mental note:
As soon as he got back, Hank was doing a full medical scan.
---
---
Alaska.
Rainforest Township, a remote little town tucked in the green wilds.
A beat-up pickup truck rumbled slowly along a dirt road, its tires kicking up patches of mud and dust.
In the bed of the truck were boxes, furniture, tables, chairs, and other daily necessities.
Inside the cab, a lean cowboy, probably in his forties, sat expressionless at the wheel, his rugged face calm, his eyes deep and unreadable.
In the passenger seat sat a teenage girl, about fifteen or sixteen. Blonde curls, youthful features, and a whole lot of attitude.
Her lips were pursed, and she looked visibly pissed.
---
"Smith," she huffed, "I just started fitting in. I finally made some friends. They even invited me to the carnival. Can't we just stay?"
"We've moved eight times in ten years! I'm sick of this. This isn't the life I want."
Her voice was full of frustration as she glared at the man beside her.
---
"Number Six, enough with the whining."
Smith didn't even glance at her. His voice was cold, almost mechanical.
"We can't stay in one place too long. If we do, the Mogadorians will find us."
"Besides, we still haven't found the Sacred Stone. Or the others."
His tone didn't soften at all.
"You have to remember—we didn't come here to enjoy life. We came here with a mission. You. Me. All of us. Or did you forget what the Mogadorians did to our home?"
---
Six's face immediately fell.
Her defiance crumbled.
She looked down, her expression heavy—haunted, even.
The memories of what had happened to their people still hurt like fresh wounds.
---
Smith glanced at her from the corner of his eye and finally realized he'd gone too far.
"I know it's a heavy burden," he said more gently.
"But you're not alone in this. There are nine of you. This mission isn't just yours."
---
"That's the problem," Six muttered, exasperated.
"We can't even find the others."
---
Smith was silent.
She had a point.
They'd spent years searching. And still—nothing.
---
"Don't worry," he said finally.
"Once we find the Sacred Stone, it'll lead us to the others."
---
"That's assuming we find the Sacred Stone."
Six shot back.
The words hit Smith like a slap.
Because that—was the real problem.
---
Sure, the Sacred Stone could guide them.
But only if they found it first.
And so far?
They had no clue where it even was.
---
"Six, listen."
Smith's voice regained its composure.
"I don't know where the Stone is. But the moment its energy is activated—I'll sense it immediately."
"So don't worry."
---
But Six didn't look convinced.
The Sacred Stone sounded powerful and legendary—but in reality, it was just a fancy-looking rock. For all they knew, it had fallen into some random ditch on Earth.
What were the odds someone would just accidentally trigger it?
Was she supposed to pray for lightning to strike it?
It was ridiculous.
They'd been looking for ten years and hadn't even caught a whisper of its presence.
---
"Smith, do you really—"
She had just started speaking when she suddenly noticed something strange.
Smith's eyes widened.
His expression twisted from calm to stunned joy.
His wolf fang pendant, hanging around his neck, began to glow softly—
Blue.
---
"What's happening? Smith, what is it?" Six asked, stunned.
---
Smith's voice was trembling—something she had never heard before.
"The Sacred Stone... someone just activated it!"
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