----
Max Dillon stared at his hands, electricity slithering beneath his skin like bioluminescent serpents.
"Mutation? You mean I'm… one of them now?" His voice trembled.
"A super," Nolan said with a calm smile. "A gift from the heavens on your birthday, wouldn't you say?"
Max swallowed hard. "But I—I look like a freak."
Nolan floated into the air, glowing faintly under the soft crackle of Max's energy. "Do I look like a freak?"
Max's eyes widened. "No! Of course not! You're... you're Superman!"
"Exactly," Nolan said, placing a firm hand on Max's shoulder unbothered by the static crawling up his arm. "And now... you're not alone."
Max blinked.
"You'll be leading a team I'm building," Nolan continued. "Something new. Something this world needs."
"A team?"
"The Guardians Initiative. You'll be its first member"
---
Minutes later, Max sat across from Nolan in a sleek glass-paneled office, staring at a contract that read like fantasy.
Six figures.
Free housing.
Full medical.
Company perks.
A badge that read Squad Commander, Guardians Initiative.
"This—this is real?" Max asked, barely able to breathe.
Nolan leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers. "Real as the lightning running through you."
Max's eyes flicked down to his glowing fingertips.
"But… why build a super-team at all?"
Nolan's gaze sharpened. "You remember the OsCorp explosion? The chaos in Midtown?"
"Yeah—Iron Man was involved, wasn't he?"
"He was," Nolan said carefully. "But it wasn't just him. HYDRA was there too."
"HYDRA?!"
Nolan nodded. "They're not gone, Max. And they're not the only ones coming for people like us."
He leaned forward.
"That's why we need our own team. Not S.H.I.E.L.D.'s. Not the Avengers'. Ours. One that answers to no one but us."
Max clenched the pen. Then signed.
"Boss," he said. "Your enemies are my enemies."
---
"Excellent," Nolan said, retrieving the contract. "There'll be some tests, of course. Full diagnostics. Power assessments. I'll design a custom training protocol for you myself."
"I'll do whatever it takes." Max's voice cracked, tears threatening to spill. "I won't let you down."
No one had ever trusted him like this before.
Certainly not his mother.
She always told him he was too stupid to be an engineer. That he'd never be anything but an invisible tech.
She wasn't wrong. Not back then.
But this this was different.
Nolan treated him with dignity. Respect.
And Max would never forget that.
"Connors," Nolan said, waving the geneticist over. "Take him for analysis. And if he declines any tests respect it."
"Got it."
"Oh—and get his workstation reassigned. He's not an electrician anymore."
Connors gave Max a polite nod and led him out.
When the door closed behind them, Norman Osborn, watching from the corner, spoke up.
"You sure he's worth all that?"
He was trying to sound casual, but Nolan caught the edge in his voice.
"Feeling displaced, Norman?"
"Not at all," Norman replied quickly. "I just think a team like this should be led by someone a little… more dependable."
Nolan didn't miss the implication.
"And by dependable, you mean someone who looks like you?"
Norman stiffened.
"Let me be clear," Nolan said, his tone cool and razor-sharp. "Max is more than qualified. His powers are nearly unmatched in an urban setting. The grid is his playground."
"He's unstable," Norman countered. "Too emotional. That kind of power in the wrong hands—"
"He's not in the wrong hands," Nolan interrupted. "He's in ours."
Norman looked away.
"He doesn't replace you, Norman. You manage the company. You innovate. You hold the sword. Max is the sword."
Norman hesitated. Then nodded.
"I understand."
"Good," Nolan said. "Let the bruisers punch the walls. We build the fortress."
Norman smirked awkwardly. "You always preferred the lab to the battlefield."
"Exactly," Nolan replied.
Even if the world only saw the flying fists and thunderclaps… he knew where the real power came from.
----
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