Anna adjusted the shimmering veil of her Spatial Distortion Cloak around the front door as Penelope stacked the last of the heavy crates against it.
"Try again," Anna said softly, voice echoing strangely inside the space bubble. Arthur stepped back and swung a metal rod at the door. The impact stopped cold—like it had struck air hardened into steel.
"Solid," Arthur said, impressed.
"Good," Anna replied, wiping her forehead. "That's the last entrance sealed with shielding. Gwen, set the trip wires near the back windows?"
"All done," Gwen called from the hallway. "If anything breathes too close, it'll trigger a slingshot loaded with knives. Kind of medieval, but effective."
Annabelle crouched near a boarded-up vent, her vines snaking in and out of the openings, weaving a living web. "Nothing gets through here. I left the ends sensitive—anything tries to pass, they'll snap shut like a bear trap."
They had been working for hours, reinforcing doors, setting up makeshift barriers, layering plant defenses, and spacing out traps. The once-renovated basement now looked like a bunker designed by paranoid teenagers with supernatural powers—and it was beautiful.
Arthur emerged from a back closet, dragging something behind him. "Found this under a pile of blankets."
He unrolled it on the table.
It was a map—dusty, yellowed at the corners, clearly old, but detailed. It showed their town before everything changed, complete with street names, building layouts, even underground utility lines.
Anna leaned over it, eyes scanning quickly. "This... this shows every major location around us. Grocery stores, police stations, and—" her hand landed on a red-marked building, "the Riverpoint Mall."
"Oh ho," Gwen said, grinning. "I was wondering when we'd hit the jackpot."
"But look," Penelope pointed, tapping a corner. "That's... an emergency exit tunnel? It looks like it connects the mall's underground lot to the old subway system."
"That could be useful," Anna murmured. "Escape route, backup entry... or a monster den."
Annabelle frowned. "Do we really think a mall's safe? That's where people would've run to. If there were... survivors... or worse..."
"There's a supply cache we can't ignore," Arthur said firmly, the fire in his eyes briefly flaring. "Batteries, meds, food. Maybe even generators."
Anna didn't speak right away. Her fingers traced the layout again, memorizing entrances and chokepoints. "We'll move at dawn," she finally said. "I'll map us a portal anchor halfway there and mark a return point."
"Wait," Gwen said, suddenly still. "Did you guys hear that?"
From the far side of the building, there was a dull scrape—metal on concrete. Everyone froze. Then a faint hiss, long and low.
Annabelle's vines surged toward the sound like vipers, coiling.
Anna raised a hand, focusing her space senses, then exhaled. "Nothing inside yet. But we need to be ready."
And that's when she said it—calm, resolute, like the leader she didn't ask to be:
"Gear up. The mall raid starts tomorrow. Whatever's waiting there... we face it together."
The sun barely pierced the grey overcast sky as the group approached the mall—a massive skeleton of cracked glass and steel looming over twisted street signs and overturned cars. The shattered windows glinted like jagged teeth, and ivy crept up its sides like veins over a decaying corpse. Anna stood just outside the cracked parking lot, her eyes scanning the building with sharp calculation.
"We need supplies," she said, her voice low and controlled. "Food, medical gear, tools—whatever's left. We go in fast, stay alert. Gwen, you scout ahead. Arthur, cover the flanks with fire in case something jumps us. Penelope, freeze anything that moves too fast. Belle, keep your vines ready."
Annabelle nodded, green eyes blazing. "About time I stretched."
Anna didn't say it aloud, but her gut was twisted. Something about this place... space warped faintly, like echoes of movement where none should exist. She activated Spatial Shielding, a faint shimmer forming a bubble around the group's leading edge.
They breached through a side entrance, careful over broken tile and toppled mannequins. The air inside was stale, reeking of mildew, rotted fabric, and something... musky.
The first floor was quiet—too quiet. Gwen zipped between aisles, returning with a blur.
"There's canned food in the back. Hardware store's looted, but there's some batteries and rope. Might be some medical supplies upstairs."
They moved, cautious but efficient. Annabelle summoned creeping vines to part collapsed shelves. Arthur lit small flames to light their way in the dim interior. Penelope froze stubborn locks and kicked doors open. Anna stored what they found instantly into her Spatial Storage, reducing their physical load to zero.
Then the floor thudded. A rhythmic tremor, barely perceptible.
Gwen froze. "Did you feel—"
A sound tore through the silence: a slither. Wet. Massive. Wrong.
"Above!" Arthur shouted.
Crashing down through the ruined skylight, a snake the size of a city bus plummeted with a screech of warped metal and shattered tile. Its scales shimmered like oil slicks, eyes glowing with eerie violet light. It hissed, fangs dripping with a viscous, steaming substance.
"Back!" Anna shouted. Buffer Zone activated, slowing the snake's dive just enough for Gwen to grab Penelope and bolt out of the impact zone.
The floor cracked as the beast landed, tail lashing like a whip through shelves and walls. Arthur leapt back, blasting Flame Burst in its direction, fire rippling over the creature's armored hide—but it barely flinched.
"Too thick!" Arthur yelled. "My fire's not getting through!"
"Belle! Legs!" Anna called.
Annabelle clenched her fist. Root Lance exploded from beneath the tiles, entangling the snake's lower half in a surge of spiked vines. It hissed and thrashed, tail slamming wildly.
Anna reached out with Remote Spatial Hands, dragging Gwen to safety across a chasm of rubble just in time. "Everyone reposition! Penelope, ice its head! Gwen, blind it!"
"I'm on it!" Penelope summoned a cluster of glowing frost in her palms. Glacial Spike launched from above, smashing into the creature's skull. Gwen blurred into motion, dashing in circles until a Whirlwind Barrage of slicing air forced the beast to recoil, flinching and roaring.
Anna's eyes narrowed. "We'll trap it. Belle, slow it down again. Arthur, melt the ceiling support above it on my mark."
The snake surged forward, breaking through the roots. It lunged.
Anna flicked her hand. Spatial Anchoring—the snake's momentum stopped like it hit an invisible wall.
"Now!"
Inferno Fist ignited on Arthur's arm as he leapt upward and punched a support beam. Flames raced up, melting the ceiling's framework. Anna Blink Transported Arthur to safety just as half the second floor collapsed onto the serpent, burying it in concrete and metal.
Smoke hissed from the wreckage. For a moment, silence. Then rubble shifted.
"No way it's still—" Arthur began.
It burst free, now enraged. Acid drooled from its mouth, sizzling on tile.
Anna raised both hands. "Final move. Penelope—freeze the air around it! Gwen, you're bait. Belle, prep something nasty."
The team moved like clockwork.
Penelope cast Cold Snap, frost erupting across the floor and walls. The beast slowed, slipping, breath visible. Gwen taunted it, dodging every lunge with Flash Dodge and leaving behind Afterimages to confuse it.
Annabelle stepped forward, hands glowing green. A monstrous bulb bloomed beside her—Cannibal Bloom—its maw opening with rows of leafy fangs.
"Now!" Anna cried.
The snake struck at Gwen's afterimage—Sap Trap erupted under it, pinning it momentarily.
The Cannibal Bloom lashed up and clamped down on the serpent's neck, vines wrapping and tightening. It hissed and writhed, but the freezing air and restrained movement gave it no escape. With a final gurgling shriek, the snake collapsed, half-swallowed and rapidly entangled by writhing vines and blooming flowers.
Silence returned.
They stood, panting, bruised but alive.
Anna let her shields drop. "That... was not normal."
Arthur kicked one of the collapsed beams. "These animals have mutated."
"No," Anna murmured, staring at the deep acid-burn marks in the tiles. "They've evolved."
Gwen huffed. "Good thing we're evolving too."
Penelope gave a tight nod. "Let's clear the rest, get supplies, and get out."
Annabelle looked at the dying bloom chewing the snake's remains and wiped sweat from her brow. "Next time, I want the mutant to be smaller."
Anna activated Echo Space, recording the battle aftermath in case it helped them understand more later.
As they walked through the mall's shattered halls, Anna looked up at the cracked skylight.
Whatever had changed this world… was only just beginning.