The Universe's Finest

Zuberi Adebayo and Clara Reinhardt have just finished high school and are meant to begin their new lives in the City of Polinarious. Instead, Zuberi is sent to stay with his uncle in the middle of nowhere, near the edge of the city, deep in Africa, where something ancient and dangerous has been lurking far too long. Clara, his new step-sister, is far from happy about the arrangement. She wanted a future in Belgium, not a forced new family after her parents’ divorce and her father’s disappearance shattered everything she knew. When Zuberi is assigned the simple task of picking her up from the airport and bringing her home, the plan falls apart almost immediately. The airport is nearly empty. The silence is wrong. And something hidden beneath the surface has already noticed them. Demons and aliens are working together for world domination, harvesting power and spreading their influence. But in the middle of the chaos, something chooses Zuberi and Clara. Herocores, powerful artifacts born in the heat of galactic conflict, bind themselves to their users’ souls and bodies. Zuberi inherits the legacy of the legendary hero Spark, while Clara carries the cold, overwhelming frost of the notorious Empress Lily. Now the two must fight side by side in high-risk battles that could decide the fate of their world. Will they find allies before it is too late? Will they rise to become the Universe’s Finest? participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge