With a perturbed frown on his face, Namjoon inspected the street before him, dark eyes sliding from left to right as he took in the people moving about, patrons to the small shops lining the pavement.  He really didn’t want to be in this town, the mundane structures looming above him like parodies of squat titans.  But… he’d promised his parents he would try.

            Not like he had any choice what with them kicking him out of the basement after the last “debacle.”  It wasn’t even that bad!  That punk JR had started the fight anyway and it wasn’t Namjoon’s fault the idiot didn’t know who he was messing with.  His demolishing a building was just an unfortunate side-effect of their encounter, never mind he probably could have avoided it.

            “Aish,” he muttered, scratching at jet black hair with a fingernail.  The frown melted away while he his lips, tapping the tip of his shoe against the ground as he debated what to do.  Getting a job was pointless – his parents still paid for everything – and going to the training center would be a waste of time.  He was already awesome.  “This place ,” he exhaled with slouched shoulders when another review of the street showed him absolutely nothing of interest.

            People in their human guises glanced his direction once or twice but otherwise ignored him while the odd flyer or wall crawler paid him no mind whatsoever.  The scenery was nice but boring and there didn’t even seem to be something to do nearby.  It was a small town in the middle of the countryside where he supposedly wouldn’t be able to damage .  Come on!  He wasn’t a descendant of Perses for nothing!  But there were seriously no parks or courts or anybody worth getting to know…

            Namjoon shoved his hands in his jacket pockets and huffed, reluctantly heading down the street to see what other bit of nothingness he could find.  Seriously!  Did they have to send him to the middle of bum- nowh-

            “Yah!”

            He flinched and pulled up short when someone actually fell out of the sky just up the street ahead of him, crashing into the ground with a metallic clang while a burst of rubble erupted around their body.  Curiosity piqued, Namjoon sidled closer to see what was going on, watching unobtrusively since no one else seemed particularly freaked out about the occurrence.

            “Oh !  That was totally not a fair attack, Jiminnie,” someone scolded – like actually scolded – before a small group of people came rushing into view from around the corner of one of the buildings: two were in the air and the other three were on the ground, all crowding around the hole in the street.

            “But he said he was ready!” the lumbering dinosaur looking figure defended himself, larger body imploding to reform as a stumbling young man a second later.

            “Jungkookie?!” the flyer called, dropping his charge off on the ground before folding huge gray wings behind him to peer into the impromptu crater.

            One of the shortest ones, who seemed almost unnaturally pale, pushed his way through the group and jumped into the hole without a second thought.  “Suga!”

            “I’m okay…” someone groaned from the depths, though Namjoon had to strain to hear it.  Whoever it was, they were young.

            He watched in fascination as a golden – yes he was made of gold, or covered in it – boy crawled out of the hole with the assistance of Suga and the others.  His clothes were a bit shredded, revealing further patches of gleaming yellow underneath, further confirming Namjoon’s initial theory, but he seemed okay otherwise.

            “I’m sorry!” Jimin yelped, checking over the taller kid with obvious worry, just like the others were doing.

            “I’m dented,” golden boy pouted, poking at the concave dip in his chest.

            “He’s okay!” the one with a horse-face cheered, grinning from ear to ear while the rest of his group looked at him sideways.

            A shadow crossed over them and they flinched reactively, looking up at the new flyer who was frowning at them in displeasure.  “What’s going on here, boys?” he asked, setting down easily with angel wings.

            His back was to him so Namjoon couldn’t see his face, but he knew that dark blue uniform.  Of course they’d have official monitors here too.  Ugh…  Pain in the fun killers.

            Immediately, the pretty one gave a nervous laugh and waved the question off.  “Nothing but a friendly contest, sir.”

            “Just a slight miscalculation-”

            “It was my fault!” Jimin raised his hand with a pitiful expression, making them all roll their eyes.  Or face palm.  Namjoon saw both reactions and he snorted.

            “Come here, Jungkook,” the monitor waved, getting a better look at the golden boy.

            With a crestfallen expression, Jungkook did as he was told, head bowed and fingers lightly clasped in front of him.  “I’m just dented, Mr. Park.”

            The elder male sighed and traced his fingers around the crumpled imprint.  “Is Suga gonna take care of it again?”

            “Of course,” the pale one answered with a scoff.  “Easy peasy.”  The rest of the group nodded in agreement, heads moving like bobbles.  It was amusing.

            “Try to keep your antics to the training center next time,” Mr. Park laughed once, a shake of his head following while he inspected the larger problem of the hole in the street.

            “Yes, sir!” the group answered in tandem, giving hasty salutes before they regrouped to move down the street.  Jimin changed back into his lumbering dinosaur form, still no bigger than a horse - hah, and allowed Suga, Jungkook, and the pretty one on his back so they could travel faster.  The other two took to the air, where the flyer carried his companion, wings bending in huge, fluid waves to keep them both up.

            “Hmm,” Namjoon hummed to himself as he watched them depart.  Maybe there was something interesting here after all.  Another glance at the monitor told him this was probably a semi-regular occurrence since he didn’t appear particularly bothered by it.

            Mr. Park kicked a piece of stray rubble into the hole and looked around the street, eyes going over Namjoon once and then dismissing him entirely.  The obvious disregard irked Namjoon, especially because he was unfairly pleasant to look at with that dimple – stupid angel type descendant – and he made a face at the monitor when he wasn’t looking.  “Does anyone know where Youngwoon is?  Those damn kids were at it again,” he laughed, earning additional chuckles from bystanders nearby.

            Apparently it was a pretty frequent occurrence, but if they had an earth descendant around, no wonder it wasn’t a big deal.  How did they get one here?  Those bastards were hard to come by.  Namjoon waited for a moment longer to see if Youngwoon would show up, just so he could put a face to a name, but when everyone merely shrugged, he rolled his eyes and opted to follow the group of boys that seemed like they were his kind of people.  Even if they were going to the training center…

            With his hands stuffed back in his pockets, Namjoon wandered to the sidewalk and continued after the boys.  He’d already lost sight of them, but the training center was one of the most ostentatious buildings in every city.  All he had to do was look up.  Even with him staying at home and… adjusting – he would not admit to moping – in his new apartment for two days, he could see the center and there were always people around, on, or in it at any given hour of the day.

            Ah, what the hell.  Maybe it would give him a chance to show these punks who should be in charge.  Namjoon swiped his chin on his shoulder and chuckled to himself before settling into an easy lope.  There was no hurry, but he would admit to being curious about how Suga was supposed to fix Jungkook.  With that thought in mind, he upped his pace and rushed, garnering no additional attention whatsoever.

            He was not expecting the entrance of the training center to be so grand or old fashioned, bearing a striking resemblance to a castle portcullis with a moat and everything.  It was weird.  Namjoon edged closer to the side of the bridge to look down at the murky water below, noticing ripples on the surface, indicating denizens beneath.  He figured they might be mermaid or siren descendants until he saw a rather large fin breach, slicing through the water in eerie silence before disappearing.  “Ugh.  Kraken kin?” he shivered, inching back away from the edge so he could approach the interior instead.  There were no guards or attendants, that he could see, but it still felt like he was being watched.

            “Watch out!” someone cried before he’d gotten very far and Namjoon fell to the ground, flattening himself on the floor while a humanoid figure flapped awkwardly over his prone form.  He cringed further when heavy footsteps that reverberated with each fall alerted him to another person approaching.

            “Dammit, Myungsoo!  Stop putting crap in the communal drinks!” a Cyclops bellowed, leaning under the entrance to see better, since he was too tall to fit through otherwise.

            “Whoa,” Namjoon blinked in surprise.  He might actually be a challenge if they got into a fight.  Maybe…

            The abused Myungsoo picked himself off the ground, shaking out the feathers on his arms, before he gave a squinty eyed look at the enforcer.  “But I keep telling you.  Sungyeol started it.”

            “And you’re the one that keeps getting caught.  I know,” the Cyclops grunted, waving the other boy off with a giant hand.

            “Aw, come on, Youngbae,” Myungsoo groaned, scratching the back of his head with a frown.

            “Come back tomorrow,” Youngbae stated, finally glancing down to see Namjoon still on the ground.

            “But-”

            “You coming inside or what?” the Cyclops asked, plucking Namjoon up between his fingers to set him inside the perimeter while he remained at the gate to make sure Myungsoo didn’t try to get back in.

            Indignant at the treatment, Namjoon debated saying something but reconsidered when he got a glimpse of the interior.  The training center was just as large as most he’d seen, all three of them, but this one was damn fine.  Water pools dotted one side of the area while a crevasse extended into the ground on the other, and above him, there were tiers of platforms extending back into the walls with all manner of manipulated weather and scenery.  A forest front sat under what he presumed was a desert and on the other side he definitely saw snow.

            “Holy ,” he laughed, beginning to like the place.

            A grumble behind him made Namjoon look back to see the Cyclops reverting to his normal form: a short, shirtless, muscled young man with a fin of silver hair.  Narrow eyes turned to meet his gaze and he laughed once.  “Yes?”

            “Nothing,” Namjoon smirked with a glance up and down the stranger.

            Youngbae’s friendly demeanor faded just a touch and he quirked a brow in warning.  “Alright, newbie.  Move along.”

            “Yes, sir,” Namjoon nodded in a slightly mocking tone before he turned around to walk away, knowing he was pushing his luck.  And loving every minute of it, but this place had so much to investigate and he still needed to find those punks he’d seen earlier.  Off to the side, he saw a small crowd of people and a horned young man attending to what was likely the contaminated water supply.  They even had a unicorn descendant?  Why was this tiny place so special?

            His gaze shifted over further though and he finally saw the group he was looking for.  There was another short woman near them and she had her hand over Jungkook’s chest, the space between them shimmering with heat.  Jungkook’s face scrunched up, which was a funny enough looking thing on someone that was made of metal, but he poked a hole through his skin, near his shoulder, so Suga could place a hand over it.  Fascinated, Namjoon watched and then frowned, head tilting to the side like a confused dog as Suga’s hand shimmered, becoming more crystalline in nature, though it was as white as ever.

            Even more surprising was that the heated metal in Jungkook’s chest started to mend, filling out like it was supposed to in a matter of seconds.  What the hell?  That was new.  Namjoon was so focused on what was happening that it took him a belated minute to realize that the other five people were clustered on one side of Suga in particular, instead of spreading out like he would have imagined.  How odd.  He figured if anything, they’d be blocking off the side to the crevasse.  Not many of them could fly after all and swimming was generally so much easier.

            “Yay!” Jungkook cheered when the dent was fixed, finally coming out of his metallic shell to become the kid Namjoon suspected.  The rest of his friends cheered with him and Suga just crossed his arms over his chest to watch.

            Namjoon caught the name Sunny from one of them and the young woman beamed in response, waving at their group before she wandered off to do something else.  With a name like that and her obvious ability to heat metal, she was likely a descendant of Apollo.  Or Hephaestus, though the former seemed more obvious.

            “Alright,” he smiled, rubbing his hands together in preparation.  “Time to make myself known.”  He paused for just a moment when he saw Jungkook latch onto Suga with a grateful hug, making the shorter man flail in a pretense of annoyance.  Gods he was transparent.  His corny, toothy grin gave it all away, especially when his eyes nearly disappeared at the same time.  The pretty one took to scolding Jimin again, warning about not doing something like that in the future, and horse-face with his winged buddy laughed at the rest of their group, hanging particularly close together.

            Yeah.  They seemed like a good group to into.  Continuing his train of thought, Namjoon finally shifted into his alternate form, the edges of his body blurring and growing in a dark, amorphous mass until he stood up to a height that rivaled the Cyclops and stretched, showcasing great flaps of skin reminiscent of a bat that would allow him to glide very effectively.

            Oh yeah!  He was the center of attention with his gleaming dark hide, golden cat eyes and semi-draconic form.  Well, it was actually closer to a serpent but he claimed a draconic appearance when he could.  He had the elongated snout and everything, including a sinewy tail and impressive talons.

            “What are you doing, newbie?” Youngbae asked from a few yards away, completely nonplussed by his display.

            Namjoon declined to answer before he flung himself onto a wall and dug his talons in, enjoying the feel of the both hard and soft material that made climbing so easy.  With a look down at Suga’s group, all of whom were watching him with confused expressions on their faces – he was more used to awe really – he flashed them a toothy smile and proceeded to climb with perfect ease.

            He didn’t get very far before something coiled around his back right foot, stalling him in place.  Confused, Namjoon looked down to see a strange cord in Suga’s hand, the other end of which was attached to him currently.  “What-?”

            That was as far as he got before Suga and company grabbed and yanked, wrenching his foot free so that he lost traction on both feet, clinging to the wall with his front talons only.

            “No!” he whined, talons dragging through the wall before another yank plucked him off and sent him free falling back to the ground.  Unable to turn around so that he could glide, Namjoon clawed at the air and hit the floor hard, briefly knocking the wind out of him.  He hissed with a pained exhale and flexed tingly fingers, reverting back to his human guise instead.  “Hi,” he cringed when Youngbae stood over him, arms crossed and fingers tapping on his bicep.

            Intimidatingly, the Cyclops resumed his monstrous form as well and picked Namjoon up to simply toss him out the front gate, much like he’d done for Myungsoo earlier.

            “!” Namjoon wailed, scrambling to catch himself, only he couldn’t, and the ground was an unforgiving rescuer.

            “Come back when you learn some manners!” Youngbae glared from the entryway, single eye considerably more intimidating than two.  He snorted once, letting his gaze linger for a long few seconds, before the Cyclops turned around, reverting to his human guise as he resumed his watch within.

            A muted laugh drew his attention to the semi-familiar figure nearby who shook his head.  “ to be you,” Myungsoo murmured, clearly amused by Namjoon’s misery.

            “ off,” Namjoon grumbled while he picked himself up, earning another amused laugh from his unwanted watcher.

            “I’d say you’re off to a good start getting on Youngbae’s bad side.  And Suga’s for that matter,” Myungsoo shrugged, waving at Namjoon once before he turned to wander off.  “Next time, try not to be such an ,” he added by way of advice, not sticking around to see if the other actually listened or not.

            Namjoon made another face at Myungsoo’s back, running through a list of rather uncharitable descendants the irritating male could be in his mind.  It did nothing to assuage his bruised pride however, and Namjoon looked back to see people moving about the interior he had managed to get himself barred from for the day.  In impotent anger, he pointed a finger at the training center, as if in doing so he could raze it to the ground.

            He was the God of Destruction!  Well, Jr. and many generations removed at that but still…  Thwarted for the day, Namjoon flailed – sort of – and exhaled heavily.  What the hell was Suga to be able to pull him off the wall like that?  Little bastard.  And the others seemed just fine with it.  “That’s it,” he grumbled, pointing in Suga’s general direction.  “No one does that to me,” the last word ending with his thumb tapping against his chest.  “This ain’t over yet, pasty boy.”

            Namjoon looked around as he crossed his arms over his chest to make sure that no one else had seen him tossed out.  There were a couple bystanders about but they weren’t paying him much attention either.  What was wrong with the people around here?  Shouldn’t they gawking and all that crap?  It was what everyone back home would have done.

            With a wounded air about him, Namjoon hunched his shoulders and opted to head back to his apartment.  This place again.

(a/n: And here we begin!  I've got seven or so days to see if I can wrap this up!  Let's see what I'm able to do.  ^_^  hehe  Huzzah!)