And just like that, just as Julianne Hunter had imagined, the four teens were suddenly talking to one another.

Before this, only Rose was willing to take her time going home, but after showing them her carbon copies, the other three couldn't help themselves.

Rose: Protonites are sooooo powerful!

Ken: Agreed. (to Max) Your species are a truly formidable race.

Rose: Uh huh.

Luke: Yep.

Tiffany: Hmph.

However, in spite of all this praise, Max himself seemed.... oddly, not braggadocious or at least proud. No, he seemed just a little nervous. As though something was off.

Max: (nervously) Yeah....

And they continued....

Rose: I mean... they have super speed, elecricity... uhh.... controlling... uhhh...

Ken: Electrokinesis.

Rose: Right! Electrokinesis, force fields and then there's carbon copies...

Ken: That he's still yet to learn. But.. yes.... Protonites are truly terrifying creatures. (thinking: That settles it. I do believe that now... Max may well be our strongest member. That is... if Tiffany allows him to join us.)

Luke: Yeah. I'll admit. I'm impressed.

At that point all of their attention fell to Max.

What was originally a somewhat nervous Max was now a completely shaken looking Max.

To properly understand how odd Max looked to the four teens, one would have to understand their perspective of him.

Stolen story; please report.

Since they'd met him, they had very quickly gotten the idea that he was, well, not easily shaken up.

This was the kid that stood up to a bully. One bigger than him and one he had no chance of beating in a regular fight. Sure, he could use his powers, but he'd never do that. And so his acts of defiance against him made no sense.

The kid that stood up to Wolfram. Aloysius Wolfram who was even stronger than his little sister, who defeated all of them before his very eyes. Sure, he was terrified at first. But, he still did it. That in and of itself was an incredible achievement.

He also decided to risk having people find out about his powers all for the sake of saving people from the spider bots in spite of knowing full well that the results of that could be catastrophic, as well as the fact that he was willing to jump headlong into that situation, knowing just how dangerous it could be.

Even more, he was going to do it all alone had they not decided to take him along with them. And even then, when things took a turn for the down right terrifying, he was the first to stand up and stand his ground and fight back.

And that wasn't even talking about how he'd beaten three out of four of them while sparring. He'd proven to be a tough opponent for all of them. Even Ken who'd won had almost lost.

Clearly, Maximillian Hunter was one tough teen. None of them would ever refute that.

So, seeing him look so perplexed was genuinely something of an enigma.

Max: (fakely) Y... yeah... protonites are really strong. Yeah....

Rose: Hmm?

All of them immediately noticed it and it left a lasting impression on them. Max... perplexed? Confused? Almost... terrified?

Rose: Max... is something....

Max: (weakly smiling) No... no.... nothing's wrong. Nothing at all.... hehehe....

He tried to play it off, but they could all see right through him.

Julianne quickly interjected, her motherly instincts kicking in.... There was no way she was going to let her son feel uncomfortable in this situation.

Her social instincts went wild. She knew exactly what to say.

Julianne: Well....

Her voice turned them all towards her again.

Julianne: ... to be completely honest with you all.... our....

Perhaps it was a dramatic pause. Perhaps because it truly hurt her to her very core.

Even the mother herself looked shaken up.

Almost as though something inside of her was welling up inside of her. Something truly horrible.

Julianne: ... well... I don't really want to say... it. But... I suppose....

She sighed heavily.

Julianne: ... I might as well say it.

She turned to the kids, giving her son one final look before continuing.

Julianne: That's because.... our home planet Neutron.....

That feeling. The feeling that something truly incredible was about to be said. That feeling simply harpooned every teen at the table.

Julianne: ... was destroyed.