The ice cream truck stands there, more like buried into the front yard of No. 64, completely crushed into a ball. If it isn't for the surprisingly intact strawberry ice cream cone, Tony wouldn't be able to recognize it.

"That's the fricking truck," Milo exclaims, his eyes at his widest.

"Come on," Alexa says, dusting her jeans as she gets up. 

The Covert agent trudges toward the remnants of her workplace, but stops, flinching when she sees Chloe appear before her.

"Are you mad?" she asks, brows arched. "You just had the Stability Serum."

"Chloe! Milo!" a voice bellows, making everyone turn. Well, except Milo, since he knows who this furious voice belongs to. He pulls his mask further up, covering his eyes as well.

"Jesús," Chloe mutters, seeing her mother step down from the porch of No. 61, her eyes fueled with rage.

"Qué diablos estás haciendo afuera! {What in the hell are you doing outside!} " Isadora roars, hurrying when she sees the demolished truck. "Get back in now!"

Tony watches Chloe zap to the porch of No. 62, only to get pushed off of it by a dark force- no, her dad maybe. He remembers seeing Raymon Serrano once, in the ICJ-owned paper. Something to do with him making a comeback.

"What's wrong with you?" Raymon asks, straightening his coat. "And how can you drag your brother with you?" He turns to see Tony, baffled. "Oh, you must be Anthony...what happened to you?"

Tony touches his face, he's burning. Of course he is, he doesn't know where his brother is.

"There's nobody there," Alexa says, making everyone shift their gazes to her. "Tom's not there."
Isadora, who's found grabbing Chloe and Milo by their arms, slowly lets go. She looks at Tony, alone and ashen. "Did something happen to your brother?"

"Si, mama," Chloe answers for him. "He's been kidnapped."

Isadora and Raymon glance at each other, not again. They stare for a moment, as if discussing something, and then look at Tony. "We'll find him," they say together.

"But first," Dora says. "You all must stay inside, especially you Anthony."

Tony doesn't respond to this, his gaze on the parched grass of his yard. They're slightly moving...a breeze's blowing in their direction.

"Gah!" A muffled voice screams in the distance, making Tony glance over his shoulder. The others come closer to him, step by step, the adults on the outer end of the protective huddle.

Tony takes in a deep breath, he can hear a soft sound...flapping of wings. He looks up, glancing at the dark sky.

"Help!" The voice is more clear than before. But Tony continues to stare at the sky. The voice is not Tom's, his is a more shaky and high pitched scream. 

His voice isn't this smooth and deep.

Tony glances back at the street, blinking his eyes.

A bruised Michael races enters the street, his clothes tattered and burned, revealing the red scratches and burns on his arms and legs. His hair's completely gone.

"The psycho," Alexa says, not able to control her laughter. "He's roasted."

Tony looks up again when the flapping gets stronger, but there are no birds flying right now. The sky's completely empty. Save for the...

"Mierda! {s***}" Milo curses, mouth agape, eyes goggled, hands trembling. He never expected to see this again.

Chloe flits her gaze to him. "I knew it. You do know Spanish." She scoffs when he pats her shoulder. "What?" She traces his hand which points to the sky, her smile vanishing when she sees...

It whips through the grey clouds with its ginormous beige wings as it descends on Claremond Street, its bronze scales glinting like a thousand miniature suns, the edges of its twisted horns twinkling with neon sparks. 

Unlike Alexa and the Serranos who either gape in fear at the terrifying dragon or shield others with themselves, Tony gazes at this magnificent creature with the utmost awe, more than that for No. 62. A wide grin starts to carve itself on his pallid face.

"Hurry," Isadora says, pushing Tony and the others towards the porch of No. 62.

"No," Tony says, squirming out of her grip. "It's Tom."

He's right. Rookie Hero of the Year. Maven Academy's Golden Boy.

His annoyingly awesome brother.

The dragon draws in a mighty breath, and its spiky tail destroys the white fences of No. 62, heading towards a crawling Michael. Milo watches this, a chill running down his spine.

This dragon is the same creature that attacked him and his friends two years ago. He did get away with the least injuries (singed hair, scrapped knees and a twisted ankle), but the intensity of the dragon's ebony-red orbs succeeds in terrorizing his dreams.

Milo takes in a shaky breath, the fumes erupting out of the furious dragon's nostrils bringing him back to reality. There's no way Michael can survive this.

Tony takes a small step forward, gaze fixated on his shapeshifted brother. He knows what he's going to do.

But he doesn't notice the small lump trudging in his direction.

An injured Michael manages to reach the broken fence of No. 62, just a few meters away from Tony and the Serranos. Tom would return if his brother's under his grasp, right? His eyes glow a faint indigo as they lock gaze on its target.

Chloe exhales sharply, watching this. She pushes away her mother's tight grip and zaps to the murderer, every inch of her broiling in wrath. He killed her neighbors, her Aunt __ and her best friend and cousin, Pele. A smirk appears on her pallid face as she watches the agent's every slow reaction, the smirk growing bigger when she sees her dad Raymon overtake her.

Michael ends up on the empty street with a thud, causing a deep crack on the bitumen. Numerous grape vines enclose him, covering every part except his face. His glaze lands on Isadora, the vines shooting from her palms.

"Call everyone," she says, tightening the vines bound on Michael which cause him to choke. The ends of the vines seep into the crack on the road, securing him in place.

The dragon stomps its way to Michael, grunting as he sees him terrified for the first time. Now nothing can stop him.

"Don't!" Tony cries when fire begins to emerge out of the dragon's mouth. He rushes onto the street, pushing away the stopping grips, the cries for him deafening as he races toward his brother.

"Tony," Chloe yells, terrified of what's about to happen. She begins to bring him back, zapping to the fence, but gets pulled back by her dad. "Don't, hija {daughter}," he whispers into her ear while she shakes her head.

They're supposed to stop this.

Claremond Street awakens to life, doors squeaking open, the adults stepping onto the porch, the children and dogs watching from the grilled windows. All eyes set on the maleficent dragon and its prey.

And the brave boy between them.

Everyone gasps as the dragon breathes out a gush of blue-red flames, engulfing the street before him. Some rush back to their houses and lock themselves in. The Serranos and Alexa stand agape in horror.

This changes to dumbstruck awe when the flames die out.

A thick, transparent yet sparkling dome appears on the street, the bound murderer and Tony in it. The latter's arms are raised, in contact with the dome, white-purple sparks emanating from it.

"Force field!" Milo blurts out, his agape mouth twisting into a full-teeth smile. "He's generated a fricking force field!"

The dragon lowers his head, realizing what's just happened. His orbs glisten with tears...he almost killed his brother.

Tony steps forward, his force field diminishing. The last rays of the setting sun making his pallid skin glow. Blood trickles from his nose.

"Please come back, Tom," he manages to say with a cough, his vision beginning to dim. Blood trickles down his forehead. "We've already caught him."

The dragon sniffs, slowly drooping his head down to the ground. Tom doesn't think he can come back this time. Alive, and in one piece.

The grandfather clock jammed into the corner of the Covert vehicle's interior chimes a six when Tom enters. He glances at Michael who closes the doors with his squinted eyes. What is Michael trying to gain from here?

He not only broke the Covert's rule of maintaining a client's privacy and not mentioning of their cases to anyone, he's threatening to dissolve the deal he made with Diselhock.

"Please take a seat. Want to have something?" 

"No" 

"I know it's not my right to poke my nose in this, but what you've done is illegal. Both manipulating Diselhock as well as attacking five orphans at Saintsburg Church." 

Manipulating? And how does he know he attacked?
Who is he?

"Plus, the ICJ can see this as abduction. You bringing your brother here. You yourself aren't of legal age yet." 

Tom remains silent, for his gaze is on the cupboard behing Michael. It's the same mark as the one at their old home.

It can't be. 

But when he spots the same mark on Michael's neck peeking out and glowing blue, and the burns all over, Tom realises. 

Michael's the killer.

"What about you?" Tom says. No, he shouldn't be talking. He should accept what Michael's saying and get out. He's powerless.

But the person who's killed his parents is here. He's not going to lose him this time.

"Can you continue as a Covert agent after news of you being a murderer comes out?" 

Michael stares for a moment. And then he laughs. He pulls up his jacket, covering his mark.

"I really wanted to work with you, Tom."

He raises his hand, lightning coiling around it.

Tom's eyes widen. And then he feels it. His heart racing. His brain super-attentive. The rest of the cells of his body vibrating. 

A wide grin appears on Tom's lips. "You're making a big mistake here." His pupils go red.

Tom doesn't know how, but he's back to his real self. A thirteen-year old boy. What's more surprising is that his brother Tony's hugging him. 

Patting his brother's back, Tom whispers. "I'm sorry for messing things up."

"Just don't do things alone," Tony replies, his voice a muffle as his face is buried into Tom's shoulder. "I have powers too now." 

Tom chuckles. "Yeah."

"Why did you kill them?" Chloe demands, Milo stopping her. "Let me go, that bastard needs to answer me."

Michael has regained consciousness, still is bounded. He's kneeling. "I didn't kill anyone." He grins. "You all did."

Isadora gasps, coiling another round around Michael.

"The real cops are coming," Raymon says. "Ones from the ICJ. They'll make sure to give us the truth."

"Real cops? That's all crap," Michael says, coughing out blood. "The ICJ's the main perp here, making sure people feud and kill each other off. Makes them the heroes in the end."

"Don't call them," Isadora says, her face pale. She whispers under her breath.

"Mama," Chloe says. 

"He's right." Isadora glances at her hands. "He didn't kill anyone."

"Yes he did," Tony says, getting up. "He killed our parents."

Isadora doesn't listen. She heads back to No. 61.

Raymon follows her.

"Don't go, Papa," Chloe says. "We still have a culprit to take care of."

"Watch out!" Alexa says. "Everyone, move inside!"

Everyone sees Michael heating up.

"Come on, Tony." Tom says, grabbing his arm. They all head toward No. 61. But it's too late.

Bang!

Everyone falls down. Tom grabs onto his brother, shielding him from the blast. A gush of hot wind whips through Claremond Street. 

Moments later,  Tom opens his eyes, breathing heavily. A shrill tone fills his ears, deafening the voices that call out for survivors. He sighs, when he sees a wide-eyed Tony under him. 

"You okay?"

Tony nods, coughing. 

"Boys?" Raymon's voice cuts through the defeaning ring. Tom tries to get up, but his aching limbs anchor him to the ground. 

Tony notices this. "Mr. Serrano," he cries for help.

As Mr. Serrano and Alexa help Tom to get up, he stares at the black spot before him. Michael's burnt himself to death. He checks once again on his brother, no major injuries, just a bleeding nose. 

He then realises the tears streaming down his cheeks. He's crying. He couldn't avenge his parents death.