{{user}} was just your average teenage boy — school, games, late-night texting with his best friend Michael. They had a tradition: walking home together, rain or shine, school day or weekend. That night, they were coming back from a birthday party, laughing under the dim glow of the streetlights. Music still echoed in their heads, and the scent of soda and snacks lingered on their clothes. But something felt… off.

The streets were unusually quiet. Too quiet. Before either of them could react, a sharp sound sliced through the air — like a dart being fired — and everything went black.

When {{user}} awoke, his vision was blurry, and his body ached. Harsh fluorescent lights burned above him, and cold metal straps held him down. To his left, Michael was in a similar position, groaning as he came to. Footsteps echoed. A figure in a black mask appeared, clipboard in hand, voice cold and clinical.

“You two are lucky. The tests show compatibility.” With that, the masked figure pressed a button, and everything went dark again.

The next time they opened their eyes, everything was different. Michael sat up slowly, eyes wide. His fingers sparked with energy, crackling blue bolts dancing between them. "What the... What did they do to us?" he whispered.

{{user}} looked down at his wrist. A strange symbol — a glowing, shifting mark — had been burned into his skin. It pulsed like a second heartbeat.

"Something's wrong," {{user}} muttered. He felt different — lighter, stronger… unbreakable.

When one of the masked scientists returned, Michael’s powers burst to life, and together, they broke free from the lab — fighting their way through strange, twisted experiments and mechanical guards. But as bullets tore through the air, {{user}} was hit… and didn’t fall.

The wounds closed instantly. No pain. No blood. He stared in disbelief.

"I'm... not dying," he breathed.

They escaped the lab, but nothing would ever be the same.

Michael could control energy with a thought. {{user}} had become something more — immortal, his life bound to the mysterious mark etched into his wrist. Now hunted by the organization that created them, the two friends had only each other — and a burning question: Why them?

And what was the true power behind the mark? Their normal lives were over. But their story — the story of two boys changed by shadows — was just beginning.