The silence after Kelvin finished speaking felt wrong.
Not quiet—heavy.
It pressed against their chests, thick enough that even breathing felt delayed.
Kevin was the first to break it.
"Do you guys… feel that?"
Biggie rolled his shoulders, brows furrowing. "Yeah. My body feels… lighter. Like something's off."
Bob laughed nervously. "Don't tell me you feeling it too, bru."
Kelvin's expression didn't change. "Don't panic. If it's happening to me, it's happening to all of us."
Fiona tilted her head. "Meaning?"
Kelvin exhaled slowly. "All of you feel strange, right? Like something inside you shifted."
They looked at one another.
Shock passed through the group all at once.
"Wait—really?"
Biggie snorted. "Nah man, it's the weed talking again. Man's fried."
Meiko laughed. "Took the words right out my mouth."
Everyone laughed.
Everyone except Kelvin.
"Laugh now," he said calmly. "You'll see."
John studied him. Kelvin wasn't joking. Not even a little.
"He's serious," John said.
Biggie grinned wider. "Didn't know the high transfers by proximity."
Fiona giggled. "Kelvin, just show us."
Kelvin didn't hesitate.
He picked up a heavy, face‑brick sized stone—dense, rough, solid.
Then he crushed it.
Not shattered.
Crushed.
Stone dust rained to the ground.
No recoil. No strain.
Just a closed fist opening.
Silence slammed into them harder than the sound should have.
John swallowed. "What the hell…"
Kelvin picked up another brick. This time, he raised it—aimed it at his other hand.
"Kelvin—!" Meiko lunged.
The world snapped.
Everything slowed.
Air thickened. Sound stretched.
A red aura flickered around Meiko's body.
So this is what he meant…
He moved.
Not faster.
Freer.
He intercepted Kelvin, knocked the stone aside, and punched him—clean, controlled, brutal.
Then he stepped back.
The world caught up.
Kelvin flew into the wall.
Concrete cracked.
Biggie's mouth hung open. "No ways…"
John smirked. "Cat got your tongue?"
Fiona stared at Meiko. "You're… fast?"
Meiko shook his head. "No. Everything else slows down."
Kelvin stood, dusting himself off. "Regeneration. Slow—but it's there."
John nodded. "Confirmed."
Kelvin glanced at Mbali. "Feels like my body's built thicker."
John ignored the comment. "Biggie—metal. Fiona… you already know yours."
Biggie bristled. "Say that again."
"You heard me," John smirked.
They clashed foreheads.
"Enough," Kelvin said. "Let them."
Biggie's arm stretched—silver metal forming into a bat.
John inhaled.
The wind bent toward him.
Chi flowed.
His stance settled—Ohja Seogi.
Bob stared. "Your dad didn't teach you for nothing."
Biggie swung.
John blocked—Hechyeo Santul Makki—countered with a Yop Chagi.
Biggie flew.
Smoke bombs burst.
John shielded his eyes—Mogul Makki.
The bombs popped midair.
"Smart," Fiona muttered.
Biggie pressed hard—hooks, uppercuts.
John retreated, measured.
Then stepped in.
Momtong Jireugi.
Biggie slammed into the wall Kelvin had cracked earlier.
John exhaled, power rising. "Two moves. That's all it takes."
Biggie stood—shield forming, bat reforming.
"Come at me."
John dashed—not straight.
Shield pushed.
John slipped right.
Nakka Chagi.
Weapons dropped.
He spun—knee rising—
Impact.
Biggie collapsed.
John staggered.
Then fell.
Kelvin whistled. "Top three. Down."
—
The fights kept coming.
Kelvin vs Meiko.
Bob unleashing vibration waves.
Meiko bending time again—barely.
Red energy forming, bursting, vanishing.
Kelvin ending it with precision.
Power limits revealed.
Costs paid.
Bodies exhausted.
And above them—
A girl sat on a rooftop.
Red and blue eyes gleamed.
"They'll be fun," she smiled. "A good meal."
A man stepped from the shadows, hammer resting on his shoulder.
"Did you see him?"
"Yes," she said. "Strong. Undisciplined."
"Good. I'll follow."
She vanished.
Below, unaware, the group laughed—argued—planned.
A month of training.
A secret.
They thought this was the beginning.
They were wrong.
It was the awakening.
And somewhere far beyond Johannesburg—
Kings watched.
Beasts stirred.
And the world quietly prepared to burn.