Mayo walked toward the ruined building without hesitation.
The cracked walls and broken windows made it look abandoned, yet he moved as if he had already chosen this place long ago.
When he reached the rusted metal door, he pushed it open. The hinges groaned loudly, and the sound echoed through the hollow stairwell.
A few steps behind him, Aryan and Ozair followed carefully.
The inside smelled of dust and old concrete. Weak sunlight slipped through the shattered windows and painted pale lines across the floor.
Ozair glanced around uneasily. "What could he possibly be doing here?"
Aryan kept his eyes on Mayo's back. "Just stay quiet and keep watching."
Mayo began climbing the stairs without slowing. His steps were steady, almost deliberate. The first floor passed quickly, then the second.
Aryan and Ozair followed at a distance, trying not to make noise.
The higher they climbed, the quieter the building became.
When they reached the third floor, Mayo stopped in front of a heavy metal door at the end of the hallway.
Aryan quickly pulled Ozair behind the corner of a nearby wall so they could watch without being seen.
From their hiding spot, they saw Mayo place his hand on the handle.
The door opened with a harsh scraping sound that echoed through the empty floor.
Mayo stepped inside without hesitation.
Aryan and Ozair carefully leaned forward to look.
Both of them froze in place.
Ozair's eyes widened. "No freaking way…"
Inside the large ruined room, several older men sat gathered around a dented metal barrel. Some were smoking while others lazily tossed stones into the empty container, laughing every time the metal rang.
Aryan felt his stomach tighten immediately.
They recognized them.
Those men were the same robbers who had nearly beaten Mayo to death.
One of the men suddenly noticed the figure standing near the entrance. His laughter stopped as he squinted toward the door.
"What the hell…?"
Another robber looked over his shoulder. "They found us?"
The first man shook his head with a snort. "Relax. Those useless police will never find this place."
He paused, staring harder at Mayo.
"…But wait. I think I've seen that kid before."
One of the gang members leaned forward and nudged his friend. "That kid… isn't that him?"
The man's eyes slowly widened as recognition spread across his face. Then he began to grin.
"Yeah. Now I remember." His grin twisted into something cruel. "It's that pathetic little shit."
He stood up and started walking toward Mayo.
Ozair shifted behind the wall, muscles tightening. "We have to help him."
He started moving forward, but Aryan quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
Ozair glared at him. "What are you doing? Let go. He needs us."
"I know he needs us," Aryan said quietly. "But wait."
"Wait for what?" Ozair hissed. "Should we just stand here while they beat him again?"
Aryan looked back toward the room. Mayo still hadn't moved.
"We don't know how he found this place," Aryan said slowly. "Even the police couldn't track them down. If Mayo knew they were here and still came alone… he must have a reason."
Ozair hesitated.
"A person doesn't just walk into his own death," Aryan continued quietly. "He must have something in mind."
Ozair clenched his jaw, then slowly stepped back. "Fine. Just for a moment."
Inside the room, the robber walking toward Mayo stopped when another voice called out.
"Hey, Madari. Hold on."
Madari glanced over his shoulder. "Why should I?"
His smile widened as he kept walking. "I have unfinished business with this kid."
Another robber waved lazily. "Boss said not to start anything without his permission. Let him come first."
Madari stopped a few steps from Mayo, though the cruel smile never left his face.
"Fine," he muttered.
One of the gang members walked deeper into the room. "Go get the boss."
Moments later, heavy footsteps approached.
The leader stepped forward—tall and broad-shouldered, with a confident grin. He studied Mayo from head to toe as if looking at something amusing.
"Well, well," he said with a sneer. "Back so soon, kid?"
He cracked his knuckles as he moved closer.
"Didn't we already teach you a lesson?" His grin widened. "And tell me something—how did you even find us?"
The men behind him chuckled.
"Do you want more bruises?" the boss continued. "Or did you come here because you suddenly have a death wish?"
Mayo looked at him without expression.
Then he spoke in a calm, cold voice.
"Don't scream, you boring thing. Just pay what you owe."
The boss blinked once, surprised.
"…What did you say?"
Mayo stepped forward slowly, his boots echoing against the concrete floor.
"I don't repeat myself for disposable things."
The boss's smile vanished.
"Listen, punk," he snapped. "I'm in a good mood today. So I'll let you walk away alive."
But Mayo kept walking.
One of the men shouted nervously, "Hey! Don't make this worse. Just leave!"
Mayo didn't stop.
Behind the wall, Ozair whispered, "What the heck is he doing?"
Aryan shook his head slowly. "I don't know."
Madari smirked. "Boss, want me to take care of him?"
"Stay out of this," the boss said irritably as he marched forward.
He stopped directly in front of Mayo and raised his hand.
"Get out of my sight, you little—"
CRACK.
Before anyone could follow what happened, the boss flew backward.
His body slammed hard against the concrete floor several meters away. Blood burst from his nose, and his eyes went wide with shock.
Ozair's mouth fell open.
Aryan's eyes were just as wide.
"What on earth was that?" someone shouted.
"Did he even move?!"
The robbers rushed toward their fallen leader, but when they turned back to Mayo, something made them hesitate.
Mayo was smiling.
Not his usual shy, awkward smile. This one was crooked and unsettling, his eyes holding a cold, unfamiliar gleam.
Ozair and Aryan instinctively stepped out from their hiding place, ready to move.
But Mayo turned his head slightly toward them.
"Stay out of this."
Both of them froze.
He hadn't looked at them once since entering the building. Yet somehow he had known exactly where they were.
Ozair slowly stepped back.
Inside the room, the robbers finally reacted.
"Get him!" one of them shouted.
A thug rushed forward swinging a metal bat with both hands.
"Raaah!"
For a split second Mayo seemed to blur.
Then he vanished.
A loud thud cracked through the room.
The attacker suddenly flew forward like a missile, crashing across the floor as if struck by something invisible.
Another robber charged in anger. Mayo dropped low and swept his leg across the ground in one clean motion. The man's feet left the floor and he slammed sideways into a row of rusted metal bars.
Two more rushed in from both sides, swinging wooden poles.
Mayo jumped straight upward.
His body rose nearly ten feet into the air with almost no effort, twisting in midair, his gaze sharp and focused.
He came down with a spiraling kick that cracked against the ground between them. The shockwave sent both attackers tumbling backward.
From where Aryan and Ozair stood, the fight looked unreal.
Their eyes struggled to follow his movements.
Mayo wasn't just fighting them.
He was dismantling them.
The last two attackers rushed him in desperation. Mayo slid forward like a shadow and drove his elbow into one man's stomach. The robber coughed and his body lifted off the floor.
Mayo spun immediately and drove a punch into the other man's chest.
Both collapsed.
Silence filled the room.
Wind moved softly through the broken windows.
The boss groaned weakly from the floor and slowly lifted his head. Blood ran down his face as he stared up at Mayo in disbelief.
"You… you're a monster," he whispered.
Mayo looked down at him.
Then he threw a single punch.
The impact snapped the man's head back, and his body went limp.
Unconscious.
Mayo stood there quietly, his eyes glowing faintly in the fading light. Outside the broken windows, the sun had begun to set. Its dim orange glow stretched across the floor and over the bodies scattered around the room.
Some groaned weakly.
Others didn't move at all.
Mayo turned toward the door.
But his eyes stopped on Madari, still lying on the floor.
He paused.
Madari's body was barely moving, his face swollen and covered in dust and blood. Mayo stepped closer, grabbed him by the hair, and pulled his head up.
"Madari… is that it?"
A faint smile appeared on Mayo's face as he looked down at him.
"Hah… the pathetic shit doesn't look so tough anymore."
Before Madari could react, Mayo slammed his head straight into the ground. The impact echoed through the room.
Then Mayo released him, turned back toward the door, and walked out, stepping over the bodies on the floor as if they were nothing.
Aryan stood frozen, still trying to process what he had just witnessed. Ozair stared at Mayo's back as he passed them without a word or a glance.
"…Is that really Mayo?" Ozair whispered.
His voice sounded distant even to himself.
Aryan didn't answer.
They both watched as Mayo walked down the hallway and disappeared into the dim stairwell, his footsteps fading slowly into the silence of the abandoned building.
Ozair swallowed hard.
"…Is he even human?"