I Breathe Euro

The laboratory of Future Island had never been busier. Rows of scientists worked in tandem, their faces filled with a mixture of excitement and exhaustion. Jack stood at the center, his eyes scanning the complex equations floating on the holographic screens. The goal was clear—to merge Aether and Nuclear energy to create controlled Anti-Matter. Yet, after weeks of relentless effort, failure seemed to be their only result.

Jack exhaled slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose. The problem wasn't a lack of resources or intelligence—it was the nature of the elements themselves.

Aether was powerful, but unpredictable. Nuclear energy was dangerous, yet controllable. The moment they tried to force a reaction between the two, the results became either too unstable to handle or fizzled out into nothingness.

Dr. Richter slammed a notebook onto the table, frustration evident in his voice. "We're missing something fundamental here. Aether's properties refuse to merge with nuclear material in a way that creates Anti-Matter. Instead, they neutralize each other."

Jack turned toward the containment chamber. Inside, the tenth failed reactor prototype sat motionless. Each attempt had ended the same way—the energy simply dissipated, refusing to sustain itself.

Dr. Mei ran her hands through her hair. "It's like trying to mix water and oil. Even if we force them together, they separate or cancel out. Aether is too efficient—it absorbs nuclear energy rather than fusing with it."

Jack rubbed his chin. There had to be a solution. Something was missing. The key to unlocking this new energy source was right in front of them, but they couldn't see it yet.

"Let's go over the problem again," Jack said, pulling up a simulation. "What happens right before the energy vanishes?"

Dr. Richter hesitated before responding. "The nuclear particles get absorbed into the Aether, and then… nothing. No explosion, no fusion, no reaction. Just pure silence."

Jack's mind raced. That silence… it wasn't normal. If nuclear particles were being absorbed but not reacting, where were they going?

"Run a deeper analysis on the absorption process," Jack commanded. "I want to know what happens to the particles after they disappear."

Dr. Mei nodded and began inputting the data into the system. The room filled with the sound of machines processing complex calculations.

After a few minutes, a new data stream appeared on the screen. It showed something alarming.

Dr. Mei gasped. "Jack… the nuclear energy isn't just vanishing. It's being compressed. But it's being compressed into something we can't detect."

Jack's eyes widened. "Then that means…"

Dr. Richter completed the thought, his voice barely above a whisper. "It's creating something beyond our understanding."

For the first time, they realized that their failure wasn't a failure at all. It was a warning. They were dealing with forces they weren't ready to control.

Jack sat in his private lounge on Future Island, staring out at the vast ocean. His mind was restless, caught in the endless loop of failure and possibilities. His team had spent weeks trying to merge Aether and Nuclear Energy into Anti-Matter, yet every attempt led to the same dead end.

But he knew he was close. Too close.

A soft giggle broke his train of thought.

He turned his head to see the little girl he had rescued, sitting on the luxurious white couch, playing with a glowing red marble.

Jack's eyes narrowed. That's Aether…

The girl had no idea what she was holding. To her, it was just a toy.

He watched as she effortlessly spun it between her fingers, causing tiny sparks of energy to float in the air like fireflies. What baffled him was how… calm and stable the reaction was.

Unlike in the lab, where the moment Aether and Nuclear Energy interacted, one of them disappeared, the girl's playful touch kept the energy balanced.

Jack's brain fired off theories.

What was different?

Why did the energy remain stable in her hands?

Then it hit him—Control.

They had been forcing Aether and Nuclear Energy together with brute force, trying to dominate them through sheer willpower. But this child—she didn't force anything.

She simply… played with it.

Jack's heartbeat quickened.

He stood up, walked over to her, and crouched at her level. "Can I see that?" he asked gently.

The girl blinked up at him with innocent eyes before placing the glowing red sphere into his palm. The moment he touched it, a small shockwave ran up his arm.

Jack grinned.

There was no repulsion. No neutralization.

It was stable.

It all made sense now. Aether didn't reject Nuclear Energy—it rejected forceful interaction.

He stood up suddenly, his voice filled with new determination. "I need to get back to the lab. Now."

Back in the lab, Jack stood before his team, his hands brimming with energy.

"We've been doing it wrong," he announced. "Aether doesn't respond to control—it responds to harmony. We need to let it flow with the nuclear energy rather than trying to force them together."

Dr. Richter frowned. "But how? Every time we tried that, Aether either absorbed or destroyed the nuclear particles."

Jack smirked. "Because we never gave them the right environment to coexist."

He turned to the control panel and began inputting new parameters. Instead of forcing a reaction, they would create a chamber where both energies could naturally stabilize—like how the girl played with it.

The new Quantum Containment Field was activated, and Jack personally placed one drop of Aether inside.

Then, with careful precision, he introduced a controlled amount of nuclear energy.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then…

A soft hum vibrated through the air.

The Aether pulsed, shimmering in a way they had never seen before. The nuclear energy didn't vanish—it danced with the Aether, forming a new state of existence.

Jack took a deep breath and whispered, "We did it."

On the screen, the analysis showed something unprecedented—pure, stable Anti-Matter.

Jack had just created the most powerful energy source in existence.

Jack stood before the newly stabilized Anti-Matter Core, his mind racing with possibilities.

This was beyond anything the world had ever seen.

Anti-Matter.

The most powerful and unpredictable energy source in existence—now tamed by his own hands.

But Jack wasn't satisfied with just a theoretical breakthrough. He needed to test it.

And what better way than to create a suit powered by Anti-Matter itself?

---

The Suit of the Future

Jack's private lab on Future Island was unlike any other. Advanced AI, self-replicating nanomachines, and cutting-edge fusion technology filled the vast underground chamber.

The Aether Reactor he had developed before was already leagues beyond conventional technology, but Anti-Matter was on an entirely different level.

He stood before a holographic blueprint, making calculations faster than a supercomputer.

If he did this right, this suit wouldn't just make him strong.

It would make him untouchable.

Faster than light. Stronger than physics itself.

But it had to be perfect. One mistake and it could rip him apart at the atomic level.

"Start fabrication," he commanded.

The lab's AI whirred to life, and within moments, liquid-like nanometal began forming in mid-air, assembling itself into sleek armor.

The exoskeleton gleamed in a shade of deep obsidian, infused with glowing veins of pure Anti-Matter energy that pulsed with infinite potential.

The material? Beyond titanium. Beyond vibranium. Beyond anything ever seen before.

Jack slid his hand over the gauntlet, feeling the raw power coursing through it.

But power alone wasn't enough.

The suit had to be… alive.

He programmed adaptive AI into the armor, allowing it to evolve in real time, recalibrating itself based on the forces acting upon it.

The Anti-Matter Core at its heart pulsed like a second heart, endlessly generating energy that defied known physics.

Jack smirked.

This wasn't just a suit.

It was a revolution.

---

The First Test

Jack took a deep breath and stepped into the suit.

The moment it sealed around his body, a wave of energy surged through his veins.

It wasn't just a power boost.

It was transcendence.

The weight of the world vanished. His body felt lighter than air, his muscles charged with limitless strength.

He clenched his fist—and a ripple of pure energy distorted the space around him.

Jack walked to the testing chamber, his footsteps leaving faint after-images as if time itself struggled to keep up with him.

"Engage gravity field," he commanded.

The lab's system responded, increasing the gravity to 500 times Earth's normal pull.

Jack barely felt it.

"1000 times."

Still nothing.

"5000."

He smirked.

Nothing.

He was beyond gravity now.

Beyond physics.

The Anti-Matter Suit was a success.

And now, the world would never be the same.

Jack barely had time to savor his triumph before disaster struck.

As he stood in his lab, analyzing the suit's performance data, alarms blared across Future Island.

"WARNING: UNKNOWN ENTITY DETECTED. POWER LEVEL EXCEEDS SAFE LIMITS."

Jack's eyes narrowed.

He already knew who it was.

The Level 1500 Villain was back.

And this time, he wasn't here to play games.

Outside, the skies above Future Island turned a deep shade of red. Lightning crackled unnaturally, warping the very air as the villain descended from above.

The force of his landing alone shattered the island's protective barrier, sending tremors rippling through the ground.

Jack's AI-generated defense turrets immediately locked on, unleashing a barrage of plasma and railgun fire.

It didn't even scratch him.

The villain stepped forward, his golden eyes burning with sheer arrogance.

He smirked as he raised his hand, and with a single gesture, all of Jack's automated defenses crumbled into dust.

Jack gritted his teeth.

His new suit was powerful. But was it enough?

Jack launched himself into the sky at blinding speed, the Anti-Matter Suit glowing with unreal energy.

In an instant, he crossed the distance and unleashed a devastating punch.

The air cracked.

The force of the attack could have leveled a city.

But the villain caught Jack's fist with just two fingers.

Jack's eyes widened.

Then—BOOM!

Before he could react, the villain's counterattack sent him crashing through an entire mountain on the island, reducing it to rubble.

---

Jack groaned as he tried to stand up.

Something was wrong.

The Anti-Matter Core inside his suit was unstable.

It was powerful—too powerful.

His calculations had been perfect, but reality was different. The Anti-Matter was reacting unpredictably, making the suit fluctuate between extreme power and complete instability.

His energy readings were spiking dangerously.

Jack cursed under his breath.

If he didn't fix this soon, the suit could turn into a bomb big enough to wipe Future Island off the map.

---

Retreat—For Now

The villain floated in the sky, watching Jack struggle.

He laughed.

"Is that all, Jack Williams? You built all this technology… and this is the best you can do?"

Jack clenched his fists.

He wasn't going to let this bastard win.

Not now.

Not ever.

But right now… he needed time.

"Katrina, Emma," he spoke through the communicator. "Get ready. We're falling back."

In an instant, Katrina blitzed in at light speed, grabbing Jack before the villain could finish him off.

Emma followed, using her Aether-enhanced abilities to create a massive energy barrier, covering their retreat.

The villain didn't pursue.

Instead, he smirked, watching them flee.

He wasn't in a hurry.

Because next time…

There would be no escape.