A little kid is running around the park, his laughter echoing the whole park. His tiny sneakers kicked up grass as he chased after nothing in particular—just the joy of being free. From their chairs, his parents exchanged amused glances. The mother called out, "Sweetie, time to head home!"

The boy's face lit up with a mischievous grin. "Five more minutes, Mom? Please!"

Mom explains, "It's getting dark, and Dad needs to drive us back." The kid looks at Dad with those puppy eyes and says, "Please, Daddy."

His father chuckled, kneeling down to meet his son's pleading eyes. "Alright, champ. Just five more minutes."

"Yay!" the boy squealed, spinning back into the open field.

Mom warned, "Arjun, don't go too far, okay?"

Little Arjun yells back, "Okay!" The parents share a smile, watching their joyful child.

Suddenly, the park melted away. Now, Arjun is running — not for fun, but for safety. Tears blurred his vision as he raced toward the school bathroom, with boys on his heels, jeering, "Hey, dufus, show us that fancy handkerchief!" His heart pounded as he threw himself into a bathroom stall, locking the door with trembling hands.

Curled in the corner, his arms wrapped tight around his knees, he buried his head, waiting for the taunts to fade into silence. The cold floor pressed against his skin, grounding him in loneliness.

When the door creaked open again, he was older—college-age, standing at the entrance of a classroom. His chest felt tight, his palms damp as he scanned the room for an empty seat. The weight of a thousand imagined conversations dragged at his feet.

Taking a deep breath, he slid into a chair, trying to appear invisible. Then another boy sat next to him, equally awkward. For a moment, they exchanged nervous glances without saying a word. Arjun rehearsed his greeting in his mind, over and over, before finally blurting, "Um... Hey. I'm Arjun. Arjun Veerabasker."

The other boy smiled, shaky but warm. "Victor. Victor Talisman. Nice to meet you."

In the next blink, they were arm in arm, laughing as if they'd been friends forever. The scene shifted to a lively house party of Arjun's old school friend. Arjun spotted a girl with chestnut-brown hair whose eyes shimmered like the night sky. Victor noticed Arjun's gaze lingering on her and gave him a playful nudge.

"Go talk to her, Romeo," Victor teased.

To his own surprise, Arjun found himself doing just that. Her name was Dahlia, but people called her "Dee" Sullivan. The curtain falls. Now, they are strolling through park, holding hands as the stars shining brightly illuminating the night. Their feelings grew like flowers in a garden of dahlias. It was the day she said "Yes" to him, and the memory ended with their first kiss—a moment that felt like a promise sealed between two souls.

On the night before a crucial experiment, Arjun headed to Dee's apartment with a bouquet of her favorite dahlias, eager to surprise her. As he reached the door, her voice drifted through the cracked window, talking to her friend Lisa over the phone.

"Congrats, girl! You're engaged!" Lisa said with excitement.

"Yeah... even I was surprised," Dee replied.

Arjun leaned closer, a smile forming on his lips.

Lisa's tone turned sharp. "But seriously, what do you see in Arjun?"

Dee hesitated. "He's... a nice guy."

Arjun's heart soared—until Lisa continued, "Yeah, but at least you've got his money, right?"

Dee was puzzled, "What? What are you talking about?"

Lisa pushed, "Come on, girl, you can be honest. No one's around, right?"

Dee assured, "No, no one's here. But that's not why I'm with him. What are you saying?"

Lisa insisted, "Don't act surprised. The night you started dating Arjun, you called me. You told me the main reason was his money. Do you deny it?"

Dee went silent.

Lisa pressed, "You said that yourself, didn't you?"

A lump formed in his throat. He waited for Dee's denial, but all he heard was silence.

Then Dee whispered, "Yes... I did say that back then. But—"

The word "Yes" shattered something inside Arjun. It was like a wildfire igniting in his chest, consuming everything in its path. The flowers slipped from his grasp as the ground beneath him seemed to crumble. He turned and ran, the ache in his chest burning deeper with each step.

Suddenly, the scene warped again. Running towards him was a weird doorway, the quantum portal. It sucked him in like a tidal wave, dragging him into darkness. He screamed as strange creatures clawed at him. A gunshot echoed in the chaos.

Victor was beside him, both of them fleeing from monsters that howled and snapped at their heels. A woman with sharp eyes—someone familiar yet distant—yanked them to safety.

"Serena," Arjun whispered, recognizing her from fragmented memories.

They fought side by side, rifles blazing and knives slashing through monstrous shapes. Arjun could feel every blow, every heartbeat in the fight for survival. Dmitri, once a trusted ally with a rock arm, now wielded a regular hand, gripping a gun as if reality had reshaped itself.

The battle raged on, fierce and unforgiving. Explosions rocked the ground, and bright lights tore through the sky. Arjun swung his fists wildly, each punch ripping creatures from their cursed forms. But when the dust settled, only lifeless bodies remained.

The team, along with Arjun, stood in front of his ruined lab. The portal opened again, causing a loud explosion.

Victor and Zuri lay torn apart by the creatures, their faces frozen in eternal terror. Arjun stood alone, the last survivor, his heart heavy with grief.

Just as a massive beast lunged at him, the portal roared open again, sucking him into its vortex. An evil laugh echoed around him as everything dissolved into white light.

Arjun jolted awake, gasping for air. His chest heaved as if he'd been running for miles. The dim light of his tiny, cluttered room came into focus. Cold sweat clung to his skin, and the sharp discomfort of his stiff mattress pressed into his back.

He wiped his brow, trying to shake the nightmare's grip on his mind. But one question gnawed at him, rising from the depths of his memories—a question he'd never dared to ask until now.

"Where are my parents?"

He scanned the room, searching for any sign of Victor, but found only silence.

Arjun got up, brushed the dust off his clothes, and walked over to a cracked bucket. He splashed cold water on his face, sending a shiver down his spine. Sitting by his bed, he wiped his face, trying to make sense of what Victor had shared.

Hearing footsteps, Arjun glanced at the door. Victor pushed it open with a creak that echoed through the room. "Hey, good morning. How are you holding up?" Victor asked, his voice soft. Arjun exhaled deeply. "Honestly? I don't know."

He studied Victor, worry etched across his face. "Victor... my parents. Are they okay?"

Victor's expression darkened, and he lowered his gaze. "I was planning to tell you later," he began hesitantly. "During the pandemic, your uncle called."

A lump formed in Arjun's throat. "What did he say?"

Victor hesitated, his voice heavy with sorrow. "Your parents... they caught the virus. Your mom got hit the hardest."

He paused briefly before delivering the devastating news. "I'm so sorry, Arjun. They... didn't make it."

The words hit Arjun like a tidal wave. He dropped to his knees, the weight of grief crashing over him. "No... no... This can't be happening," he whispered, disbelief thick in his voice.

Arjun slumped onto the bed, draping an arm over his face. "Mom... Dad..." he murmured.

Victor stood quietly by the wall, watching as tears slid down from beneath Arjun's arm. Victor leaned against the wall, the cracks shifting slightly under his weight. He didn't move or speak, giving Arjun the space to mourn. In silence, Arjun's mind drifted to the past.

He remembered running to his mom, tears streaming down his face. She had been sitting on the bed with a book, and he'd jumped onto her lap. She stroked his head while his dad looked on, puzzled. "What's wrong, dear?" she had asked.

"Mommy, I don't want to go to school anymore," he had whispered.

"Why, sweetie?" she asked.

"They're mean to me," he said, his voice trembling.

"They laugh, call me names, and even throw things. I thought helping them would make it stop, but it didn't. Rahul and the others only talk to me when they need something. I even helped their during the last exams. But it didn't, the moment the exams were over, they continued bullying."

He lifted his head, looking at his mom, "Mom, I tried. I tried to fit in with them. But they only talk to me to tease me or when they need help. I can't take this anymore."

She hugged little Arjun and kissed his head. The dad sat nearby, placing his hand on Arjun's back. She said, "It's okay, love. They treat you this way because they see how special you are. It's because they are jealous of you, that. It's because you are capable of doing bigger things than them. No matter what others say, you will always be our hero, MY HERO. We love you."

The memory dissolved, and Arjun returned to the present, tears slipping from his eyes. Victor placed a hand on his shoulder, grounding him in reality. Arjun wiped his face and walked back to the cracked bucket, splashing water on himself.

Victor sighed. "I'm sorry, Arjun. Truly sorry."

Arjun stayed silent, his grief too raw to express. Victor gave him a gentle nudge. "Come on, let's grab some food."

They made their way to the hall. Arjun shuffled to a counter, moving as if in a daze. Suddenly, a man with broad shoulders barked, "Hey, you! Get out of the way, idiot."

Arjun turned in surprise, facing a burly man whose chest was covered in coarse, vine-like hair. "Didn't you hear me? There's a line behind you!" The man shoved a few slices of bread into Arjun's hands. "Take this and move."

Arjun looked back and saw the others—mutated, hungry, and desperate. The sight stirred something in him. Before he could react, Victor took the bread from him.

"We're sorry," Victor mumbled to the man and guided Arjun away. As they walked, Arjun noticed mold growing on the bread. "Victor, wait... there's fungus on this."

Victor, still chewing, gave him a tired glance. "Yeah, I know. This is the best we've got. Eat it." Arjun hesitated but eventually gave in, hunger winning over disgust. "Careful," Victor warned, "don't choke on it."

After they finished, a familiar figure appeared—Zuri. She looked around until her eyes landed on them. "Serena wants to see you," she said.

Arjun exchanged a puzzled glance with Victor. "Why?"

"You'll find out soon. Let's go."

Before they could move, a blood-curdling scream pierced the air. They spun around to see a man thrashing violently, his body convulsing. A woman—his wife, presumably—stood beside him, panic etched on her face.

"What's wrong? What's happening?" she cried.

Zuri rushed forward. "Get away from him!" she shouted. The woman hesitated, confused. Just as she started to move, the man lunged at Zuri, teeth bared. But Zuri's hair shot out like tendrils, wrapping around the man's limbs and restraining him mid-air. With a swift punch, she knocked him out and tied him securely with her hair.

Panting, Zuri looked at the woman. "Do you have the medicine?" The woman fumbled for a syringe and injected it into the man's arm. His struggles eased, and he slumped unconscious.

Zuri retracted her hair, transforming it into a short bob. "He'll be okay for now," she told the woman. "Check his mutation levels and report back."

As they walked away, Zuri muttered under her breath, "Five today. It's getting worse... What the hell is happening?"