"I think you should head out soon, Creepy," Aletta advised. "The girls and our guests will be back shortly, and the party will continue."

  "Oh, yeah, of course," Mom chuckled. "I don’t want to steal the spotlight from them."

  "And before I forget," Aletta said, turning to Hana, "what are your plans for that sleepover tonight? The one where you invited our girls. There won’t be any boys there... right?"

  "There will be a few," Hana replied with a shrug. "I invited boys and girls alike. But it’s not the kind of gathering you’re imagining."

  "Don’t be so prudish, sis," Alexa snorted. "Besides, my daughters always carry condoms and birth control pills. They could share with your girls too."

  "That’s not funny," Aletta snapped.

  "As I said, it’s just a normal party," Hana repeated. "My mother will be painting in her gallery. It’s in the same building as our house."

  Aletta visibly relaxed.

  "Yeah, you really shouldn’t worry," Mom added with a grin. "I’m not afraid of Max hooking up with anyone there." She finished with a giggle.

  "Hm. I want proof," Aletta said. "Call your mother. I want to talk to her."

  "Calm down your tits, sis," Alexa smirked. "And even if they do have some fun, we’d be the hottest gilfs in Budapest."

  She clearly said it just to annoy her sister, and it worked.

  With no other option, Hana called her mother to prove that we were, in fact, not planning an orgy.

  "I’ll wait for you guys at the car," I said as I stepped outside. I needed some fresh air and space to think.

  My thoughts were a mess, mostly circling around Mom.

  My goal of defeating her hadn’t changed. If anything, it felt even more important now. Beating her wouldn’t just be a personal victory; it would be the biggest achievement of my career. Not as a normal fighter. Not even as a paranormal one. Just... as a fighter.

  Of course, there's a chance that there are others more powerful than her, but to me, she is the biggest obstacle I have ever wanted to overcome.

  That said, her powers scared me. A lot.

  Still, my brain had already switched into planning mode. How would I fight her? What things could I exploit? What tricks could I learn for that purpose?

  There was so much left for me to master. Maybe I should ask my new friends to teach me some of their techniques. Perhaps I should ask the twins how to summon Tulpas. Hell, if I could summon the Avengers, the Justice League, and the Gotei 13 at once, I might stand a chance.

  Lost in my thoughts, I barely noticed that someone was already waiting by the car, leaning casually against it.

  It was a blonde woman in sporty clothes, as she’d just paused during her daily jog. But she didn’t look tired at all. If anything, she looked like she’d been waiting.

  "Can I help you?" she asked as I approached, one eyebrow arching in suspicion. "What do you want?"

  "I just came to wait by our car," I said, tapping the hood and leaning down to check the front. "Yep. That’s our license plate. Definitely our car. So I don’t see why I shouldn’t be here."

  Truth be told, I did it mostly to make sure I wasn’t embarrassing myself and that it actually was our car.

  "Oh... my bad," she said awkwardly. "I recognized the car. It used to belong to an old friend of mine. I thought she might be here."

  I was one hundred percent sure she meant Mom. I’d seen photos of her with that car long before I was even born.

  I took a closer look at the woman. She was paranormal without a doubt. More importantly, she was a fighter. I could feel it.

  She radiated that same strange aura Mom had, the kind I hadn’t understood until I learned about the paranormal world. It wasn’t just her athletic, perfectly toned body that gave it away. I could always tell when someone knew how to fight. Call it instinct.

  She turned to leave, but I stopped her.

  "That friend you mentioned... is Creepy Carol?" I asked.

  She froze mid-step.

  "Yes," she said, her eyes lighting up. "Do you know her?"

  "Yeah." I nodded. "I’m Max, by the way."

  "Firmitudo Omnia," she said, shaking my hand. "But you probably know that."

  "Nope. Should I?" I asked. She gave me a puzzled look. "I’m new to all this paranormal stuff," I added quickly.

  She studied me more carefully. "Who exactly are you? You look familiar. Are you related to Carol?"

  "Yeah. She’s my mother."

  "Oh!" She gasped. "I didn’t know she had a daughter."

  "I’m a boy."

  She laughed. "You’re pretty small for a boy."

  Hey. Low blow.

  "Anyway," I said, pointing back toward the twins’ house, "she and my friends will be back soon."

  "Hmm…" Omnia hesitated. "You know what? I’ll talk to her in person later. Don’t tell her we met, okay? She doesn’t know I’m back in the country. I want to surprise her."

  "Uh, sure, but..." I turned back toward her, but she was gone.

  Not walking away. Not jogging. Just gone.

  ***

  A few hours later.

  I still hadn’t told Mom about my encounter with that woman. I hoped that keeping quiet about it hadn’t been a mistake.

  I was getting ready to leave for the movie night sleepover party.

  "Try to be more social," Mom advised. "I know it’s hard to get along with everyone when you’ve only just met them, but I met most of my long-term friends this way. This is a great chance for you to bond with your new group."

  "You’ve already said that like five times," I replied while tying my shoes.

  I wore normal, casual clothes, comfortable enough in case we decided to spar or dance. Hana had emphasized that we’d mostly be watching fights, but honestly, I wouldn’t have been surprised if some of the guys felt like throwing down.

  Mom drove me to Yoko’s gallery.

  "Before I forget," she said, handing me some cash before I got out of the car.

  "For pizza?" I asked.

  "Yeah. And you can grab condoms from the supermarket too, in case the party turns out to be that kind of party," she added, semi-jokingly.

  "Thanks," I sighed, stepping out of the car.

  Kelce, Tatiana, Bambi, and the twins were already there, taking a selfie with Hana in front of the building when I walked up.

  Naturally, Mom couldn’t resist one last comment as she drove past.

  "Be honest and don’t lie about your size!" she shouted. "Oh, and only use one condom at a time. Using two sounds safer, but the friction can break both!"

  Then she sped off.

  The girls tried to hold it together, but a few giggles escaped anyway.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  We headed inside to the residential part of the building. The others were already waiting. I recognized most of them: Armstrong, Stagora, Grill, Elek, Taura, Flint, and Bozo. But there was one girl I didn’t recognize. She looked surprisingly normal.

  "Oh, hi," she said.

  "You must be Creepy Carol’s son," she continued, but her voice didn’t come from her mouth.

  "I’m Angéla," she said, turning around and brushing her hair aside like a black curtain to reveal a second, slightly smaller face on the back of her head. "And I’m Angyalka."

  "Oh," I said slowly. "Let me guess, you’re Aletta’s daughter. I mean... daughters."

  "Yes," Angéla nodded, causing Angyalka to nod as well.

  "I see conjoined twins are kind of a family tradition," I remarked.

  "I’m more of a parasitic twin," Angyalka said casually. "But yeah. Something’s definitely wrong with our bloodline. Mom says it's a blessing."

  Right on cue, Yoko entered, carrying snacks and drinks.

  "I don’t want to be a party pooper," she said calmly, "but don’t be too loud. As long as the neighbors don’t complain, neither will I."

  Then she turned and headed back into the gallery.

  We chatted for a few minutes, mostly about everyone’s latest fights.

  "Alright, we can talk later," Hana said eventually. "Let’s see why we’re actually here."

  Her laptop was already hooked up to the huge TV, so whatever we watched would be impossible to miss.

  There was a couch with two sofas (one on each side), but even then, some of us had to sit on the carpet or grab extra chairs. I chose the carpet, settling next to the snack table in front of the couch. Strategic positioning.

  "So what are we watching first?" Armstrong asked.

  "Hm... I think I’ve got it," Hana said, opening a video file. The footage looked old, but the quality was still surprisingly good.

  For a second, I thought the fighter on screen was Hana in her faceless base form, then I realized it was Yoko. Marge stood in the center of the arena, announcing the fighters to the roaring crowd.

  "From Japan... Yokai Yoko!" she gestured toward her.

  Then she turned to the other side as another woman stepped into the arena.

  "And from the frosty fjords... Kraken Karen!"

  The fight started immediately. Karen’s body exploded outward into a writhing mass of tentacles, while Yoko tore off her empty face, revealing her wrinkled old Turbo Granny form underneath.

  She dodged Karen’s swings with ease. The tentacled transformation clearly drained a ton of energy, and once Karen started slowing down, Yoko shifted again, this time into her Oni form, and completely overpowered her.

  "Cool, right?" Hana said proudly.

  "Yeah," I nodded. "How old is this video?"

  "This fight happened before I was even born," she replied.

  We ended up watching a lot of videos that night. Obviously, I won’t describe all of them, but a few really stood out.

  One of the next videos featured the Tulpa-user twins, Alexa and Aletta. They looked about as young as Tünde and Titanilla are now.

  Their opponents were a pair of Buddhist monks. Working together, the monks summoned a single massive Tulpa: a four-meter-tall golden Buddha statue.

  The twins responded in kind, summoning one Tulpa together.

  It looked like a giant angel. Its right side was white and gold, while the left was red and black. One wing white, the other black. Even its long flowing hair was split, white-blonde on one side, jet black on the other.

  The fight dragged on for quite a while, but in the end, the twins’ angel raised a flaming sword and sliced the golden Buddha cleanly in half.

  "Do you have something more recent?" Grill asked.

  "Yeah," Hana nodded. "I usually record fights that are broadcast on Hungarian paranormal channels."

  "There are TV channels for paranormals?" I asked.

  "Yeah, but they’re not easy to find," Flint said. "You need a special code to access them."

  Mental note: I should ask Mom about these channels.

  "Alright, let’s check this one," Hana said, opening the next video. "This one is from last year."

  The footage started with two people sitting side by side. A young woman sat behind a desk, while her guest, a familiar bald man, relaxed on a couch. It looked like a standard talk show you could see anywhere.

  "Welcome back, everyone," the host said, turning to the camera. "I don’t think I need to introduce today’s special guest, Judgement Holden, as we know his stage name."

  Applause erupted, just like on any regular talk show.

  "First of all, thank you for coming," the host continued.

  "Oh, come on, Zsuzsa," Judge said with a grin. "I’m the one who should be grateful for the invitation."

  "We’re eager to hear about your recent victory at this year’s Battle Beast Bloodsport," Zsuzsa said. "But let’s start at the beginning. How did it all start for you? Why did you become a fighter?"

  "Well, in my case, it wasn’t really a choice," Judge replied. "I was diagnosed with spontaneous combustion at a young age. I had all this stress, anger, and excess energy because of this illness, and I needed somewhere to channel it. Fighting just seemed like the most logical answer."

  "Oh, so that helped you control your flames?" Zsuzsa asked.

  "Not really," he shook his head with a chuckle. "But it slowed things down. Eventually, I had to travel to Romania to find a cure." He made air quotes when he said 'cure'.

  "They’re going to talk for a while," Hana said. "Let’s skip the boring part."

  She sped up the video.

  The scene jumped to an arena, empty, with no audience. Just two fighters facing each other.

  To my surprise, I immediately recognized one of them.

  "That’s Firmitudo Omnia," I said.

  I expected at least a little reaction. What I got was complete silence.

  Everyone just stared at me.

  "Wow," Hana finally said. "She’s so famous that even you know her?"

  "No," I said. "I met her today."

  That somehow made it worse.

  A few jaws nearly hit the floor.

  "You have to be joking," Hana said, sounding almost offended. "When could you possibly have met her?"

  "When I was waiting for you guys by the car," I explained. "She recognized it. She knows my mom."

  "Are you kidding me?!" Hana snapped. "I missed my chance to meet Omnia because I had to call my mom about the party?!"

  If Hana still had a nose, steam would’ve been shooting out of it.

  "Okay," I said slowly. "Now I’m curious. Who is she exactly?"

  "Omnia is one of the strongest paranormal fighters in the world," Stagora said. "Possibly in history."

  "For people like us, nobodies," Tünde added, "meeting her is basically a religious experience."

  "Even fighting in the same tournament as her can boost your career," Titanilla said. "If you somehow manage to survive a match against her, you’re treated like a star, no matter how badly you lose. Which you would, by the way."

  "And someone like that knows my mom?" I said, impressed. "That’s awesome."

  Then I paused.

  "Oh, and please don’t tell anyone about this. Especially Mom. Omnia asked me not to. She wants to surprise her by meeting in person."

  "Okay, but if she’s walking around in broad daylight in a crowded city, people are going to notice her anyway," Hana said.

  "Let’s just keep watching," I suggested.

  "Fine." Hana hit play again.

  "Ladies and gentlemen," the host, who wasn't in the room, announced, "our undisputed champion: Omnimancer Omnia!"

  The camera zoomed in on her.

  "And her challenger, Omnislayer Otto!"

  The view shifted to a half-naked man, and to my surprise, I recognized him as well.

  "That’s... Günter’s dad?" I said. "überfrau’s husband."

  He looked so scrawny that even Omnia, who was completely normal-sized, seemed like a bodybuilder in comparison.

  "Günter’s father is a fighter?" I asked.

  "Yeah," Hana said. "In Germany, he’s even more famous than überfrau. No wonder she married into the Muskelmann family."

  "I thought überfrau was a Muskelmann," I said. "Wait... so Günter inherited his powers from him?"

  As if on cue, Otto’s body began to change.

  At first, he grew to a normal, fit size. Then he became shredded like a bodybuilder. But the growth didn’t stop there. His proportions pushed into an inhuman range quickly.

  Within a minute, he transformed into a five-meter-tall mountain of muscle. His limbs ballooned until they barely resembled human arms or legs anymore. Muscle piled on muscle, warping his shape into something almost spherical.

  Grotesquely, just like in his son's case, his head remained completely normal-sized.

  It looked like a goblin’s head slapped onto an ogre’s body.

  Then the announcer signaled the start of the match. I soon found out why the announcer didn't dare to be in the same room as them.

  Despite his size, Otto moved fast.

  One moment he was standing in front of Omnia, then he was behind her. I swear I could still see his afterimage lingering for a moment where he had been a second earlier.

  His boulder-sized fist slammed down.

  The camera shook violently as cracks spiderwebbed across the floor. When he pulled his arm back, a small crater marked the spot where Omnia had been standing moments before.

  Otto spun around, sensing the counterattack.

  The concrete behind him rippled.

  Omnia burst out of the floor like she was just swimming through a pool.

  Otto responded with a thunderous clap, his massive palms coming together with enough force to pulp a normal body.

  But Omnia twisted mid-air. A tight whirlwind wrapped around her, shielding her just in time.

  The tornado expanded, forcing Otto’s hands apart.

  Omnia landed on the floor beside the swirling column of air she just created.

  Then she bent down.

  And picked it up.

  Yes! She picked it up. She grabbed the bottom of the tornado like it was a baseball bat and swung it straight into Otto’s chest. The impact sent the giant man flying across the arena, but he landed on his feet; his stance hadn’t even changed.

  Omnia switched tactics.

  She spun again, but this time, it wasn’t air that responded.

  Chunks of the concrete floor ripped free and began orbiting her body. Within seconds, she stood inside a roaring tornado made entirely of concrete.

  As Otto charged again, shards of concrete shot out and slammed into him, sticking to his massive frame.

  At first, I thought she was just peppering him with weak attacks, but then I realized her goal.

  She wasn’t trying to hurt him.

  She was slowing him down.

  The concrete pieces fused together, forming an ever-thickening armor around his body. His movements became sluggish, then stopped entirely.

  Omnia leapt into the air. When she reached the level of Otto’s head, she punched straight down, mirroring his opening attack.

  Otto’s concrete-encased body sank into the floor like a stone dropped into mud.

  At the same time, the arena repaired itself. Cracks vanished. The floor smoothed over, as if the fight had never happened.

  A few seconds later, the ground spat Otto back out, now shriveled, unconscious, and back to his normal size.

  "And once again, the winner is Omnia!" the announcer declared.

  "She’s so cool!" Tünde said.

  "I want to be like her," Titanilla added.

  "That fight ended pretty fast," I noted.

  "Oh, it could’ve ended much faster," Hana said. "She was holding back."

  "No way."

  "Trust me," Hana continued. "If she wanted to, she could end a fight in seconds. She just respected Otto enough not to humiliate him, and she knows the audience would’ve been disappointed too."

  Then a pair of nurses appeared on screen to carry Otto away on a stretcher. Although one of them could have been enough. Not just because of how small Otto was in his base form, but because one of the nurses was pretty much a She-Hulk.

  "Is that überfau?" I pointed at the giantess.

  "Yeah, when not fighting, she works in a hospital for paranormal people." Hana revealed, "I guess that's when they met first."

  "By the way, what is Omnia's power?" I asked, "It looks like she has power over multiple elements."

  "Yes, she is an Omnimancer," Taura answered. "She is one of those not-so-many people who can master multiple elements like an expert."

  "Cool!"

  "To say the very least," Hana added. "She manipulates water like a Hydromancer. She uses fire with the same efficiency as a professional Pyromancer. And so on."

  "She is probably able to use light and darkness together better than we," Tünde said, and Titanilla nodded.

  "Huh, I wondered when Mom met somebody like her," I said, thinking aloud.

  "Well, I'm not sure whether it was their first encounter, but I do have a video of your mother and her fighting," Hana replied.