A week later, Max had visited the man of the two girls and Chinese teenager everyday for a week before finally laying back now that their strength was returning, apart from them, he also visited Night finding note Ravage left for him. He was checked in with his real name, Mark Wallace and Ravage visited him in his regular identity, Michael Beathood, both served in the army before retiring in their late twenties seeking to do good in their city with crime on the rise. Max went there as himself and not as Maverick not to stir anything about him.
Water Woman and Boulder Bowler were arrested and were tried in court for their actions. Ravage and Maverick spoke as witnesses testifying to what brought about their behavior but by no means revealing what had happened to Night not to stir unrest in the city about the new threat. They stated that it was an argument that brought about the fight, the two followed left with no choice and stripped of their rights to be heroes and were sentenced to twenty years in prison.
"It's a shame Boulder Bowler and Water Woman are going to be behind bars for such a long time" Ramon lamented resting on a sofa in his living room.
His living room was big and spacious with a hundred-inch TV and decorated with figurines, sculptures and vases. His house massive sporting six bedrooms, two pools, three jacuzzies, a spa, a garage for at least seven cars and a whole lot more, it was like a mansion.
"They brought it upon themselves, they yielded themselves to jealousy, envy and pride and now they are getting what they deserve" Jessica added sitting on another sofa.
"Thankfully they're not being put in any regular prison to have their identities kept safe so their families can still visit them and they are allowed to visit their families on special days like graduations and birthdays" Max explained lying on another sofa.
"Now Ravage and I are going to have more work to do with Night still recovering from his injuries" Max added.
"Speaking of Night, any leads on that mystery attacker?" Ramon asked.
"No, Night is still gathering his strength but Ravage said that he should be able to answer some questions today"
"Still can't believe someone attacked and trashed the Den like that" Jessica said.
"Whoever it was, he must be super strong and must be well trained to fight Night head on like that" Ramon added.
"Whoever it is, we have to watch our backs closely now" Max said.
Max then looked at the time on his phone and it was ten thirty and he had planned to meet Ravage at the hospital at eleven.
"Look at the time, I better get going" Max said standing up.
"Be safe Max" Ramon said.
"Don't forget to meet us at my place to study for our exams" Jessica echoed.
Max left the house with the sun high in the sky beating down on him, he was walking down to a bus stop that he would take to town then take another bus to another stop then walk two blocks to the hospital.
After Quantum observed the fight between Max, WW and Boulder, he concluded that Maverick was their escaped subject of fourteen years ago. He was happy with his development and the fight proved that their creation was superior to most heroes, now he wanted to capture him and brain wash him into doing his bidding and began engineering a monster to do his dirty work, he called the monster Nexus. It had teeth the size of swords, claws like spears, it stood three hundred and fifty feet tall with skin tough enough to tank ICBM's like a tickle. As for speed and agility, it lacked a lot in that department but Quantum cranked up the strength to as much as its body could take, it had four prehensile tails. Quantum grew it from scratch injecting serums to stimulate rapid growth and had imbedded a chip into its brain giving him control over the creature.
"With this I should be able to capture Maverick, at least knock him down for a couple hours" Quantum said. "Then when he is finally mine, I shall scramble his brain and put him under my hypnosis so that he would be mine to command and then I shall have my revenge on you Clinton!" he yelled in his lair.
"Mark my words!" he screamed before going into demonic laughter.
He arrived right on time seeing Ravage in civilian clothes, he had a dark green T-shirt on with black horizontal stripes paired with black combat trousers and black boots. Max wore a plain white T-shirt under a sky-blue short sleeve shirt that he left unbuttoned with brown pants and black and white sneakers carrying his suit in a side bag.
"Right on time" Mike said with his arms crossed and head bowed resting his back on one of the two pillars in front of the hospital entrance.
"I can't be late for something like this" Max answered.
"Then let's go" Mike said leading the way into the hospital.
They went to the third floor where Mark was recuperating, his wife checked on him every thirty minutes and his kids came to visit every weekend. Mark and Max walked in as his wife walked out. They saw Night with his eyes wide open and looked stronger than ever. He had gone through multiple surgeries to help him recover from all the internal wounds, a bruised spine, torn stomach and so much more. He had lush medium length black hair.
"Look who's finally awake" Mike said.
"You know me, I can't sleep forever" Mark answered shaking Mike and hugging each other. "And looks like you brought the kid" he added.
"How are you doing?" Max asked.
"I'm getting better, doctor said I should be discharged in two weeks if there are no complications and all goes well" he said.
"That's good to hear" Max said happy that he would be back on his feet soon.
"Then the two of us could finally catch a breather once you're back fighting crime" Mike said.
"About that" Night said with a sad tone.
"What's wrong? Worried your wife might threaten to leave you again?" Ravage said.
"Well the thing is, I've given it a lot of thought considering my injuries and I'm not sure I would be able to return working with you guys"
"You're retiring?" Max said shocked.
"Yes" he answered with sadness.
"Come on Mark are you sure abut this or it's just Charel talking?" Ravage said.
"No this is purely my decision, I haven't told her yet" he said. "The doctor has told me to stay out of trouble and avoid anything that would stress my body out or risk reopening wounds, the damage done to me is far worst than expected. The doctors were surprised I was still alive after losing so much blood and even more shocked that I still have a chance at walking considering the damage done to my spine"
"Damn it Mark, tell me who he or she is, he deserves to pay" Mike said angrily slamming his fist into his palm.
"For that I was actually going to ask him about it" he said looking at Max.
"Me? What do I have to do with the attacker?" Max said confused.
"Well for starters do you have any sibling or cousin?" Mark asked.
"No, I'm the only child of my parents" he answered.
"I see" Night said rubbing his chin.
"What is the guy related to the kid?" Mike asked.
"I don't know but there are two things in play, its either you have a brother or you don't know about or…." He said looking at Max. "Someone has able to get a hold of your DNA some how and made a clone of you"
"What?!" Max said in shock.
"Hold on, you mean we might be dealing his family relative or his clone?!" Mike exclaimed.
"Yes" Night answered. "Hey kid, are you a biological child or adopted?" he asked.
"I'm adopted" he answered.
"What does that have to do with this?" Ravage asked.
"It has everything to do with this because maybe he has a brother that was dropped off at another orphanage or remained with his parents" He answered.
"What does he look like?" asked Max.
"He looks exactly like you bought he's blonde, fights like he's been trained by the elite of all our forces, seems to have the same strength as you and he's good with weapons"
"How do you know this?" Ravage asked.
"Because I had an encounter with him a couple years ago, he was the one that tried to assassinate the governor"
"You mean that guy could be his brother? Holy smokes" Mike said mind blown. "You have some serious things going on in your family"
"Where were you adopted from, which orphanage?" Night questioned.
"To be honest I can't remember" he answered.
"Wow, if you can't remember that, what about your real parents, remember anything about them?" Night added.
"No" he answered.
"Then they must have dropped you off when you were still very young" he concluded. "I have a task for you, ask your current parents about the details of the orphanage they got you from or if they know anything about your brother for a start. Anything they tell you would be key in cracking this case open" Night said.
"I will sir"
"What about me?" Mike asked.
"Just focus on keeping the city safe and check on the kid once in a while because he asked me to tell you where you are"
"Why is he looking for me?" said Max.
"No idea but I have bad feeling that if he finds you, something really bad is going to happen" Night said.
Then a thunderous loud roar shot to the building shaking the windows and causing some to fall, the roar caused panic in the hospital as all feared for their lives.
"That doesn't sound good" Ravage said.
Max's phone rang in his pocket, he quickly pulled it out and it was Ramon.
"Hello Ramon, what's the problem"
"There's a monster in the city" he said.
"Monster?!"
His words caught Night and Ravage's attention.
"Yes, he's three kilometers north of the hospital and he's tearing shit up, you have to stop it as fast as possible" he said with urgency in his voice.
"I'm on it" he answered.
"What is this monster you're talking about?" Night asked.
"My friend just told me there's a monster in the city terrorizing everyone"
"From the sound of that roar, that thing is big" Ravage said.
"Go you two the city needs you now" Mark said.
They nodded and raced out into the streets seeing cars speed by and people running in all directions. Nexus roared again carrying half of a skyscraper in his arms and threw it out of the city and into the sea.
"Holy shit, that thing may be as strong as you kid, or even stronger" Ravage said before it roared again.
Its roar was so loud that they had to cover their ears from where they stood.
"Don't worry I just have to lead him out of the city for a start" Max said.
"You do that, I will handle rescues" he said then darted off.
Max looked at him then looked at the monster tearing through the city, he ran in its direction which was crazy at the time, everyone was heading the other way.
"Yes, my Nexus, terrorize them, bring pain and suffering to them all!" Quantum cried in his lair monitoring the feed from Nexus and news channels.
"It's only a matter of time before he shows up and then you shall show him who is superior" he said with a wide devilish grin.
It was safe to say that he had run mad with such an attitude, it was bone chilling.