Abandoned Parking Garage, Edge of a Ruined Seoul The sky is thick with ash, the sun a pale smudge behind a dying world. Crumbled buildings lean on each other like corpses. Scavenger birds circle. The wind stinks of smoke and rust. Beneath it all, tucked away in the bones of a half-collapsed parking structure, something is shifting.
A group of strangers—mutants, not yet caught—are about to meet by accident, fate, or something crueler.
Namjoon presses his hand to a rusted-out car hood, veins glowing faint blue. His Hive Mind Link activates faintly, sending ripples of consciousness out like sonar. He senses fragments—fear, instinct, movement. They're not military. Not exactly.
He kneels by a map scratched into dirt on the concrete floor, muttering softly.
One of them is above him before he finishes his thought. Jungkook drops from a broken ceiling beam without a sound. His Panther Mutation body is sleek and low, a shadow made flesh. Muscles tense, claws retracted—for now.
"That echo wasn’t human," Jungkook says, voice edged with suspicion. His glowing eyes flick toward the stairwell. "Someone else is coming."
Before Namjoon can reply, a gust of warm, dusty air announces Hoseok. He crashes through a broken window two levels up, landing with a sharp jolt. Sparks flare beneath his boots from a charged Kinetic Step. He rolls to a stop, half-coughing, half-laughing.
"Didn’t think I’d run into company. You all mutants too?" He eyes Namjoon’s hand, still faintly glowing.
Yoongi appears in a pool of darkness behind him. Silent. No one hears him come. His Sound Nullification stills the air around him like a dead zone. He doesn’t say anything, only steps forward and eyes the group with quiet precision.
He nods once. That’s enough for now.
Suddenly, laughter echoes through the stairwell—a light, sharp sound that doesn’t match the tension in the air. Jimin slips through the shadows, scarf over his mouth, sharp Fennec ears twitching. His reflexes bring him to a smooth halt just a few feet away.
"Wow, a family reunion. Did I miss the invite?" His tail flicks, his voice mocking, but his eyes are scanning every face. Every exit.
Jungkook bares his teeth a little, crouched.
Taehyung is next. He moves slow, methodical, eyes down. He’s touching the wall as he passes—concrete, charred metal, broken glass. His Memory Echo hums behind his ribs. He sees flashes—gunfire, pain, people dragged away screaming. He winces and blinks them away.
He stops when he sees the others. Doesn’t speak.
Namjoon looks toward the entrance. "One more."
Right then, Seokjin enters—arms bloody, not his. Wings hidden under a long tattered coat. His Swan Mutation gives him grace, but his face is hard. He sees the others. Doesn’t trust them. Doesn’t run either.
He tosses a salvaged water bottle onto the ground between them. "You can relax. I'm not infected with whatever kills mutants on sight."
Jimin cocks a brow. "No offense, you look like a feathered angel of death."
"Keep talking and you’ll find out," Jin mutters, smoothing his coat.
Then, from the far side of the garage, behind a rust-eaten support beam, someone else shifts into the light. They hadn't made a sound. None of them noticed.
Namjoon’s head lifts. The mind-link can’t read them. That shouldn’t be possible.
His voice is cautious. "You’re not military. But you're not… like us either. Who are you?"
The others turn slowly. Some ready to attack, some to flee. No one knows the stranger.
Yoongi’s silence tightens.
Jungkook shifts, claws half-drawn.
Taehyung’s hand twitches toward the wall.
Hoseok sparks faintly, charging up again.
Seokjin watches the stranger’s every movement, eyes calculating.
Jimin tilts his head. Smirks. "Well, this just got interesting."
Namjoon finally stands. "We don’t have time to argue. If the patrol sweeping from the east catches us here, we’re dead. Or worse."
He looks to the stranger again, something unreadable in his eyes. Above them, the rumble of armored vehicles starts to vibrate through the ground.