Laser gunshots echoed in the distance, each burst growing closer.

"They're coming, Tobi! Let's go!" Antony's voice cracked with panic as he fumbled with the strap of his pack.

"I'm almost done…" Tobi crouched over the makeshift device, his fingers flying across the console. Sweat dripped down his forehead. "There—done!"

Hurried footsteps splashed through the muck nearby.

"It's XEN-V! Go, go!"

A soldier's voice rang out. "Hey! There they are—get them!"

"Shit," Tobi muttered, grabbing Antony's arm. "They've found us. Leave the supplies!"

Antony protested, stumbling forward. "My breather is in the bag!"

Tobi hesitated, torn between getting the supplies and escaping. "Fine—grab it fast, then we're out!"

The sharp click of a trigger echoed. A low hum filled the air as a laser weapon charged in front of them.

"Don't move!"

They froze. A soldier emerged from the haze, his laser rifle aimed squarely at them.

"Hands where I can see them. Now!" he commanded, steadily closing the distance.

Slowly, they raised their hands as Tobi curled a steady wave of energy around himself, preparing a counterattack.

Antony's chest heaved as he whispered, "Tobi, what are you doing?"

More soldiers arrived, weapons trained on them.

Tobis' eyes narrowed. "Antony, take the supplies and run. I'll hold them off."

"No—Tobi, you can't—" Antony stammered, frozen as tendrils of lightning coiled around Tobi.

"Tony, if you don't move, we both die!" Tobi snapped, his voice firm.

A warning shot whizzed past them, kicking up dirt.

Antony's fists clenched. His breath hitched. His body trembled as his eyes burned with tears. He didn't want to run. He didn't want to leave Tobi behind. But Tobi had already made up his mind.

"Tony!" Tobi barked, his voice raw, almost pleading now. "Go!"

Antony's teeth gritted as a single tear slid down his cheek. His heart pounded against his ribs. He sucked in a shaky breath—then, in an instant, he vanished. A streak of light, his silhouette flickering like a mirage before disappearing into the haze. The ground cracked in his wake, dust swirling violently where he once stood.

"Hey! Don't let them get away!"

The leader lunged forward, bridging the gap. A soldier fired wildly, missing both of them.

Tobi voice cut through the chaos. "Call me XEN-V again," he growled, his tone cold. "I dare you."

More soldiers fired, their shots striking Tobi, but the energy around him only intensified.

The commander flinched, his confidence wavering. "Fall back! Fall back—"

Electricity crackled in the air as another soldier fired in desperation. His captain's face twisted in horror.

"Shit! What the hell have you done?"

A menacing laugh escaped Tobys' lips. "You shouldn't have done that, mate," he said quietly, electricity dancing along his fingertips. Then, with a slow, eerie grin, he bellowed—

"Say hello to Abraham Lincoln for me!"

A cataclysmic detonation erupted in a blinding flash, a shockwave tearing through the street, swallowing everything in its path.

***********************************************

Journal Entry – October 24, 2039

I stared at the city—if you could still call it that. Twisted metal and collapsed towers stretched as far as the eye could see. The skyline, once buzzing with life, now stood as a graveyard of human arrogance.

Everyone knew a third world war would be devastating, but this? This was beyond anything we imagined.

Five years ago, my friends and I thought we could save humanity. We were wrong. The governments played their atomic chess match, wiping 35% of the world's greatest nations off the map. Entire regions became dead zones—places where even cockroaches wouldn't dare crawl. Heaven on Earth, turned into wastelands.

Humanity was crumbling, on the verge of extinction. Someone had to step in. That someone was us.

The rich didn't stick around to fix the mess they made. They fled—took their luxuries and left the rest of us to rot. The mid-class took over, claiming control, and—surprise, surprise—they made everything worse.

So we tried something different. We experimented.

And that's when everything really went to hell.

The plan was simple: adapt, evolve, survive. But Mother Nature wasn't having it. Some of us lived. Others… changed. The ones who couldn't handle the mutation? They didn't make it. The ones who did? We became something else.

The world calls us XEN-V.

Freaks. Mutants. Monsters.

By law, we don't exist. No rights. No protection. We either serve in their military, fighting wars that aren't ours, or get exiled with a kill-on-sight order.

They even wrote it into their damn constitution—just to make sure we never forget our place.

But we're still here.

Today marks five years since everything changed. Five years since we lost everything. But we gained something too. Power. Clarity. Purpose.

They think we're done. They think we'll just disappear.

They couldn't be more wrong.

My name is Jamal Oluwatobi Williams.

And I lead the Western Resistance.

I've seen entire cities burn. I've set some on fire myself, but to understand how it all went to shit, I have to take you back—**way back—**to before it all began.