Midas Touch ➸ Taekook

- Thirtieth -

The first light of morning was faintly illuminating the sky as the X-Men gathered outside the headquarters of the Thieves' Guild, located on the outskirts of New York. The place had the look of an old abandoned building, and despite the lack of security, Logan only had to smell the air to know that the interior was teeming with men. The information Taehyung had brought back the day before had made it possible to locate this hideout, and the team had wasted no time in organising an intervention.

Taehyung remained silent, his features drawn by fatigue and pain. Jungkook's absence weighed on him more than he would have liked to admit. He felt a pang of regret, a dull wound that constantly reminded him of their last exchange. Despite this, he clenched his fists, gathering up all his anger and sadness and turning them into determination. This betrayal could not go unpunished, and if he had to face the guild without Jungkook, he would.

Namjoon turned to them with a serious but confident look.

"We're going in by surprise. The aim is to neutralise the guild members, but the priority is always the safety of the group. If the situation escalates, we evacuate. And... if Jungkook's there, we'll bring him back too." he added, glancing quickly at Taehyung, who ignored his last words.

Auroro put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he didn't react. He was too focused on what was to come to accept any consolation. His throat was knotted, but he felt this powerful force bubbling up inside him, ready to explode. He was going to use it. This power, which he had always seen as a curse, and which had so interested the guild and their mysterious sponsor, he was now going to use it against them.

They spread out silently around the building, slipping between the shadows to approach the various entrances. Taehyung, accompanied by Logan and Jin, approached one of the side doors, waiting for Namjoon's signal.

As soon as he did it, the team sprang into action. Taehyung kicked the door open with a powerful kick, his super-strength shattering the hinges in a single movement. They came across a group of surprised guards who tried to fight back, but Taehyung, driven by his anger, swept them aside with frightening efficiency, hitting them with such force that they fainted. Logan and Jin exchanged surprised looks, they had never seen the boy display such violence. Love could do many things.

As they made their way through the dark, winding corridors of the warehouse, other members of the guild appeared, armed and ready to defend themselves. The fight intensified, but the X-Men were prepared. Jin wasted no time in using his power, lifting half the attackers into the air and sending them crashing into a wall a little further on. Logan, for his part, showed a little less mercy: he didn't hesitate to slice through anything he could get his hands on with his adamantium claws, be it weapons or bodies.

Taehyung refused to use his own power. He'd always had reservations about it, but after that traumatic experience with Jungkook, he wasn't about to do it again. Now he was more afraid of the memories he would be able to access than of hurting others.

However, deep down, one question kept haunting him: was Jungkook here? Seeing him again in this context frightened him. Yet he knew that the team were counting on him to stay focused. The rest of the team soon joined them: they had secured the rest of the building. Only was left the heart of the old factory, where the man Jungkook remembered as Jean-Luc would surely be. His father.

As they entered the heart of the factory, their eyes immediately fell on an imposing man in the centre of the room, dressed in a long dark coat, his features marked by time, but his sharp eyes had lost none of their sparkle. Taehyung recognised him immediately, as he was the man from Jungkook's memories. And he was surrounded by the rest of the guild, which numbered around fifty men.

"Here they are, the famous X-Men that Jungkook told us so much about..." he said in a deep voice, a calculating smile on his lips. "You've made quite a mess..."

The X-Men tensed, ready for any eventuality. Taehyung, in particular, felt his pulse quicken as Jean-Luc's piercing gaze landed on him.

"I'll get straight to the point," continued the man, his hands folded behind his back. "I'll make you a deal: you leave Kim Taehyung to me, and we'll disappear. No one will have to suffer needlessly. I give you my word that no harm will come to him. After all, we're just thieves, not murderers."

Namjoon frowned, outraged by the mere fact that he could have imagined that his proposal would find an attentive ear.

"Negotiation was never an option." he replied, his voice vibrating with anger.

Jean-Luc shrugged, his smile never faltering.

"I thought not. But you should have thought twice..."

As the X-Men and the thieves' guild faced each other, their muscles tense, ready to launch into a fierce battle, a shrill whistle pierced the air, interrupting the moment. Taehyung turned his head, feeling a strange, almost familiar vibration in the atmosphere. Suddenly, around fifty cards shot into the room, sticking into the ceiling, the walls and the floor. They began to glow with an intense pink energy, each card vibrating as if it contained an unsuspected power.

Taehyung's eyes widened. This energy, this signature... there could be no doubt. Jungkook, he thought, his heart pounding. All eyes turned to the famous cards, and it was as if time had stood still. And as the glow of the cards became more intense, all the bodies tensed. They didn't have time to say a word or give a command, because the cards exploded with a deafening crash, throwing up debris and a bright light that spread across the room. A shockwave rippled through the room, separating the two sides in a chaos of dust, rubble and bright light. The X-Men were pushed to one side of the room, while the guild members were scattered to the other.

Taehyung, disorientated by the explosion, tried to steady himself. He raised an arm to shield himself from the debris, his ears ringing from the impact of the blast. Through the dust and flashes of light, he tried to get his bearings, his eyes frantically scanning the room for the person who had just made that spectacular entrance.

As the dust slowly settled, Taehyung finally caught sight of a figure standing alone amidst the rubble, facing the guild.

Jungkook.

He stood there motionless, his face partly obscured by the shadows, but Taehyung had no doubt: this presence was undeniably that of the Cajun. Jungkook stood straight and unwavering, his gaze fixed on the thieves' guild.

For a moment, everything seemed to stop around Taehyung. He could no longer hear the deafening sound of falling debris, nor the distant cries of the X-Men rising to their feet. His world was reduced to that solitary silhouette, that familiar figure, as if marked by an icy determination. Jungkook looked so different, so distant.

He wanted to shout his name, but a hand on his shoulder pulled him back violently.

"The building's collapsing! We've got to get out of here!" cried Namjoon.

He pulled him towards the exit, away from Jungkook as the debris continued to fall. The debris piled up, gradually building up a wall separating them from Jungkook and the guild.

And just before the wall completely blocked the passageway, isolating the two camps for good, Jungkook turned his head slightly. Taehyung had the impression, for a heartbeat, that their eyes met. Then the passage closed completely, and Jungkook disappeared behind the wall of rubble, Taehyung being pulled out of the building by his team-mates.