"Stay calm!"

It sounded like Platinum was trying to reassure himself more than anything. That was worrying. Platinum was the professional hero here, after all.

The flames were completely blocking their only exits down from the third story, and jumping from the window would surely lead to imminent death or injury. They were trapped, with nothing to do but pray that someone would be smart enough to look for them, and fast.

But, strange enough, Matthew wasn't panicking. If anything, he was paralyzed. It was almost like a veil had dropped over his mind, separating emotions from thoughts. He felt like he was living in a bad dream. A dream where he wanted to desperately wake up from and be reassured that none of this was real.

TAFAH couldn't go up in flames. This was his only home, his only refuge. If this went down, so did Matthew's future. He would have nowhere else to go, nothing else to do.

"Matthew?" Platinum coughed.

Then, there was a hand on his shoulder.

"Matthew?"

Matthew's eyes snapped over in the direction of Platinum's voice. "Huh?"

"We might have to jump from the window."

"What—? No! That will kill us!"

"If we don't jump, both of us will die. If we do, I'll suffer the consequences. I'd rather save you and let one of us walk away unscathed. Besides, it's my duty to protect my students, my children."

The last part of what Platinum had said made Matthew's heart hurt. He knew that idiotic selflessness was written in heroes' DNA. Cecilia, and even Jason, were equally as selfless. And as much as Matthew hated it, in this moment he was beginning to understand.

Platinum smiled sadly and squeezed his shoulder. The smoke was becoming so thick that it began to burn Matthew's eyes and lungs. But just as Platinum opened his mouth to speak, they heard something, or rather, someone.

Two voices.

Platinum turned and looked down the hallway. Matthew's attention joined his.

Coming from the stairwell were two figures, which trailed behind a plume of smoke. They were putting out the fires with streams of water, both unique in their own shape and size, which came out of their hands. One was a woman with dark skin and hair, another was a boy no older than Matthew. In fact, he recognized him as being the boy named Damian, who went by his alias, Jet.

"Platinum!" The woman exclaimed, her eyes wide with worry as they put out the last of the flames and joined them on the third story.

"Aqua!"

"Hah! That was awesome!" Damian cheered.

Matthew frowned at him, peeved by his nonchalant behavior. It seemed the heroine named Aqua was, too. She cast her companion an irritated look and strode over to Platinum.

"Sir, there's an attack on the school!"

"I know, I know! We have to get outside. Are the other teachers okay? What about the students? Are they secured in their dorms?"

Aqua grabbed his arm. "I will tell you once we are outside. We're handling what we can at the moment."

Matthew looked up and could visibly see the worry dance behind his teacher's eyes. He followed Platinum, Aqua, and Damian as they took them down the stairwell and through the doors.

Nothing could've prepared Matthew for what he was about to see.

Thick, grey smoke hung over the night sky, blocking out the stars. There was screaming, sirens blaring from all edges of campus, and there were shadows dancing among the tree line. It looked like a scene taken fresh from the apocalypse.

"Matthew? Matthew!"

Matthew's attention snapped towards the voice calling his name. It was Platinum.

"I need to help the other teachers. I need you to find the students. Get them to safety."

Matthew nodded.

"I believe in you," Platinum said before he turned away with Aqua and Damian and sprinted in the opposite direction.

But did Matthew believe in himself? No, not really. He never did. But he sure as hell would try this time. The fate of his new friends, his future, was in his hands.

He turned and headed in the direction of the shadows, searching the idios inside himself to see what he still had available. Ben's was fading but still there, and it seemed like Platinum's had also joined hers. Good. He had two, strong options.

As he approached the trees he saw two figures stumble out of the darkness, sweaty, weak, but mostly unscathed. Felicity and Leo.

Leo's eyes widened when he looked up and saw Matthew. "Oh, thank God!"

"What? What's happening?" Matthew quickly asked, pulling to a stop in front of them.

"We need to get the teachers! We need to get Platinum!"

"Platinum is helping free the other teachers," Matthew said. "He will be here soon."

"Soon?" Now Felicity chimed in, breathless and desperate. "How soon?! There are villains in the forest! Our classmates are in trouble! Half of them are injured or soon will be!"

"Villains? How many?" Matthew exclaimed.

"I don't know. One of them rushed Leo with a weird weapon made of crystal or rock or something, then when I tried to defend Leo with my idio, he just absorbed my light. He must be some kind of AEM. He promised us, though, if we left with our injured, he would leave with his."

Matthew had stopped listening to her after she had mentioned crystals and an AEM. It sounded too similar to Micah's idio for comfort. It put him on-edge.

"Where?" Matthew asked. "Where is this villain?"

He knew it wasn't Micah, but perhaps it was someone related to him? Some long-lost family member? After all, everyone in the city had an idio unique to them, sometimes passed down through generations. This could just be some strange coincidence.

Or maybe it wasn't.

"He's still in the woods," Felicity started to say.

Matthew brushed past them, heading off in the direction they had come from. "Come on."

Felicity turned and, as if she was on some sort of string attached to Matthew, followed. Leo joined her.

"But the teachers—"

"We can't wait for them!" Matthew called over his shoulders.

The forest was dark, with almost zero visibility, but he could hear something among the trees. A voice. No. Voices. He squinted and slowed, trying to figure out which direction it was coming from in echo of the wood, but now... everything was quiet.

Then, he saw movement. A shadow. Then, again, a voice, far in the distance. A male voice. A somehow almost... familiar male voice.

"Hey! Stop!' Matthew called, frowning.

He saw the shadow stop, bend down, and pick up something that looked suspiciously like a person. An unconscious person. Then, the shadow took off at surprising speed.

Matthew cursed and sprinted after it, letting his legs do the thinking.

"Matthew—!" He heard Leo behind him, but he didn't have the time to turn around and respond.

He needed to catch this villain.

He needed to know if this was who Felicity was talking about.

He needed to know who he was and who he was taking.

But the forest was dark and hard to navigate, and Matthew kept getting his feet caught on roots or fallen branches. The villain was outrunning him, even with his captive in his arms. And soon... he knew they would make it to the road. He only hoped they didn't have some kind of get-away vehicle.

Pathetic.

Matthew was pathetic.

If he couldn't catch a guy running through the woods on foot with someone on his back, why did he ever think he had a chance at being a professional hero?

Matthew grit his jaw and tried to force those caustic thoughts away. But, as he broke through the clearing with the road in view, he heard tires squeal and a van speed off. Just as predicted; a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Defeated, panting, dirty, and reeking of smoke, Matthew watched from the edge of the forest as his answers to all his questions left on four wheels. These kinds of things kept happening to him, and he was reaching the end of his fuse.

So he just stood there for a moment, taking everything in; watching as the taillights of the van disappeared into the night; listening as silence returned to his surroundings.

The fire alarms stopped blaring.

The stars began to peek out of the clouds.

Everything was slowly returning back to normal.

~     ~     ~

As Matthew trudged through the forest on his way back to campus Leo and Felicity met him halfway in a panic.

They told him that they had found Jian, but she needed serious medical attention. Apparently, it was bad enough that they were worried that she wouldn't make it to see tomorrow.

That was enough to get Matthew's legs going again.

He followed them back to the scene to find Phil was with her, a look of horror plastered on his bruised and dirty face. And, when Matthew dragged his eyes downward and saw Jian, he understood why. There was a nail driven through her eye. Blood dripped from around the wound, soaking into some sort of makeshift bandage.

Someone had taken the time to stabilize the nail gouged through her eye with a piece of their shirt. As if they cared.

It was disgusting.

Absolutely disgusting.

As much as he hated heroes' selfless, reckless behavior, he would never understand the cruelty of villains. How they tortured and injured and pretended to have a heart. There were faults on both sides it seemed. He couldn't believe this had even crossed his mind, but he missed the days he'd lived with Fidel and Stephen. He missed not having to choose a side.

Matthew eventually pulled his attention away from Jian as the teachers arrived and called an ambulance. He couldn't bear to look at his friend in the state she was in. Besides, blue-green crystals, just as Felicity said, were littered everywhere. From knife-like shapes, to a rod, to shattered fragments. He kicked one over in the dirt, then bent down and picked it up, turning it over in his hands.

Goosebumps went skittering down his arms.

Micah's crystals had looked almost perfectly identical to this. In fact, he recalled a memory from when he was little of Micah shaping little figures out of crystals such as these.

"Here, Mattie!" He could still hear his laughter rattle in the back of his memories. "I made this for you! It's you!"

For a moment, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the rock in the center of his hand. His heart ached, and for a moment he really wondered if this had been Micah's doing. That concept was harder to grasp. Micah doing villainous deeds.

As much as he desperately wanted to hope that this was him, that his best friend was alive, a part of him... didn't.

He couldn't bear to find out that all these years the boy he loved like a brother had picked up what Pardus, Stephen, and Fidel had started. It made him sick to picture him as the loyal, obedient tool just as Matthew had been to them.

Matthew curled his fingers angrily around the crystal fragment and held it close to his chest. But, just as he lifted his eyes, he caught sight of something else. And, as he approached the object, he realized that one of the villains had forgotten a... jacket?

Matthew tucked the crystal into the pocket of his pants, bent down, and picked the jacket up, holding it out in the air. Broken chunks of crystal had been scattered around it, as if something had shattered on it. It was much too big for him and was in a bit of a sad state after the fight, but there was something inside him that whispered for him to hang onto it. Besides, with all the adrenaline coursing through his body, he had forgotten about the night chill.

He slipped the jacket on and hugged himself. His hands barely poked out the ends of the sleeves, but he wasn't complaining. It was still warm. A bit smelly, but warm.

"Hey... Matthew?" He heard Leo ask sheepishly from behind him.

Matthew turned.

"We need your help for a moment. We need to go and find all the badly injured students so that they may be taken to the hospital. Will you help me and Felicity look for them?"

Matthew nodded and took the jacket with him, hugging himself still as he followed.

~     ~     ~

Aaron had been trapped in a crystal similar to the one tucked in Matthew's pocket, but he hadn't suffered any major injuries.

Phil was suffering from a minor concussion and a broken nose. He was taken to the hospital, along with Jian, even though his injuries were minor compared to hers.

So were Amai and Mr. Grey for similar reasons. Minor concussions, mostly.

But, one thing that was odd, was that none of the teachers nor the students could find Ezra.

They searched the woods.

They searched all corners of campus.

They even checked the dorms.

As Matthew trudged back to his room later that night, he overheard two teachers talking with a few police officers about filing a missing person report if they still couldn't find him in the morning.

Matthew was worried, but he was so exhausted. Mentally and physically. It was hard to show much emotion when your entire body felt like it was about to fall into a pile of limbs on the ground.

Hell, he hardly remembered how he had gotten back to his bed in the first place when he lifted his head in the morning and saw that it was past noon. And, he was still in his stinky clothes from the previous day, including the jacket.

This seemed to be his usual, morning routine.

Or, afternoon routine.

Matthew finally pulled himself out of bed at two o'clock. School had been canceled today and likely for the rest of the week to recover from all of the damage and get the students at least mentally healthy before classes began again.

He needed this break, anyway.

As Matthew sat up on his bed, he felt the crystal in his pocket dig into his leg.

He muttered an "ow" and retrieved it, holding it in the center of his palm as he began to study it again. He would never really know if this had belonged to someone who had known Micah, would he? This crystal, this jacket, was just a reminder.

Unless...

An idea crossed his mind.

An idea that could either make him feel worse or better, depending on how it went.

He didn't shower as he stood and headed out his door, exited his dorm, and headed across the vacant and debris-riddled courtyard. Tufts of grey ash swirled on the pavement and there was still the strong smell of smoke that hung in the air.

A reminder of the events from yesterday.

There was a cluster of teachers outside in the courtyard standing in front of a few police cars, waving to them as they started their engines, turned, and drove past the main gates. Then, Matthew saw a figure, Platinum, put his arm around the teacher beside him, and hung his head.

He could only imagine how hard this was for them.

It was their duty to protect the school, their students, their children, and they had been bested by a group of low-profile villains. Not only that but they had failed. One of their students was missing and the other was in critical condition.

With more sleep in his system and time to process what had happened, Matthew finally felt the delayed blow to his heart. Yang. His friend. One of his first at TAFAH. She had been the one who had encouraged him to attend here. She believed in him.

He didn't know how he would cope with losing her, but he hoped he didn't even have to prepare himself for that. She would recover. She had to. She was in good hands now.

And Ezra...

Two people who had helped rescue him from Pardus. Gone.

Phil would return, but he didn't know when or if the other two would be back anytime soon.

Despite knowing he wasn't really alone, that he still had Ben, a part of Matthew felt hollow.

As he stood there wallowing in self-pity, one of the teachers noticed him. They said something to Platinum, which got him turning on his heel to see his student standing sadly a few paces away. He patted the teacher beside him on the shoulder, then sauntered over to Matthew.

Matthew just looked up at him expressionlessly.

"I know," Platinum sighed. "I'm sorry."

"For... what?" Matthew croaked.

"Your friends."

Had he read his mind?

"Oh. Yeah."

"We aren't giving up on Ezra. The police will continue their search. As for Jian... I will be sure to keep you updated on her condition."

Matthew nodded. "Thank you."

Platinum mustered a smile. "Besides that, how are you fairing?"

"I'm... managing."

"Fair, fair. Are you hurt, though?"

"No."

"Good, that's a good thing."

Matthew shrugged.

"Count your blessings, Matthew. Count your blessings."

Matthew fell silent. He supposed Platinum was right. TAFAH was still standing. Ben was okay. Or, he assumed. Matthew wasn't hurt. He supposed there were a few things to be grateful about.

Platinum broke the silence. "Whose... jacket is this? Did one of the teachers give you this?"

Matthew looked down at himself. "No, I...found it."

Really, he didn't know why he was still wearing it. It most likely belonged to the villain who had hurt his friends. And it smelled.

"Where?" There was curiosity in Platinum's tone.

"In the forest," Matthew replied.

Platinum blinked. "Well, why are you wearing it?"

"I... really don't know."

It was the truth.

"May I see it?"

Matthew hesitated.

Platinum sighed. "Listen Matthew, I will let you keep the jacket if you really want it, but that might be important evidence you are wearing. It could have fingerprints, hair, or fibers belonging to the villain on it."

Now Matthew felt bad. He slipped the jacket off and passed it over to Platinum, hiding his gaze. "Sorry... I was cold last night."

Platinum carefully took it from him, as if he was worried about distributing potential evidence on it. "It's okay, it's okay," he assured him. "I don't fault you."

Just as the jacket was passed into Platinum's hands, Matthew belatedly realized why he was really here. He let out a little gasp. "Wait, uh, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"I might need to check the security cams."

"Why?" Platinum perked up. "Do you know anything?"

Matthew dug the crystal out of his pocket and displayed it to his teacher. "Well, I'm not certain, but these crystals remind me of someone. See, my brother had an idio that made crystals similar to these. I have a hunch that this villain was someone who knew him or was related to him or..." Or was him, his mind jeered. Matthew shook his head and proceeded. "It can't be a coincidence, Platinum. It can't be. Maybe if I look through the cams, I'll have an answer which can help with your case too. But I need to know. I need to know who this is."

It didn't take much convincing. Platinum nodded. "Okay. Let's go to the front office."

~     ~     ~

Leaning over a few monitors in the front office, Matthew watched, pensive, as Platinum clicked through the footage from the previous day.

On their way there, Matthew had filled Platinum in on everything he saw. From the figure over the villain's shoulder to the van disappearing down the road. And with Ezra gone, it was easy to connect his disappearance to the villains and the van.

Both Platinum and Matthew were on a mission for information. Platinum needed to confirm if Ezra had been with them and Matthew needed to figure out who had taken him.

They started with the footage from the previous morning, watched as the students filed into their classes, then the time where they were dismissed for training. They checked every camera ranging from the ones in the hallway to the ones at the front gate.

As night mode turned on and the sun went down, however, Platinum gasped and clicked back on the footage. Then, he zoomed in and viewed what the cameras had picked up.

Figures.

Figures in masks.

There appeared to be five of them.

No, six.

"It looks like they came from the direction of the road," Platinum observed. "And you said you saw them getaway in a van?"

Matthew nodded.

"What color?"

"Uh... white?"

"Did you get the license plate number?"

Matthew shook his head.

Platinum cursed. "The cameras don't stretch out to the main road." He paused and turned back to the footage. "Let's just follow these hoodlums and see what they do next."

Matthew nodded and leaned in again, watching as Platinum flipped from camera to camera, then watched as the group slowly split off. Three of the six figures had gone to the main building to set the fires, but had separated into two groups; two had stuck together while one had gone alone.

And the one who had gone alone was helping along a familiar figure. Platinum gasped. It was Ezra. His head was slumped forward and he was barely walking alongside his kidnapper. He looked like he was being dragged. His uniform was ruffled, his hair was tousled, and he was covered in mud.

So many questions went racing through Matthew's mind.

What had they done to him?

What did they want with him?

Had they drugged him?

But one thing was certain... this kidnapper was the villain with the crystals. They were wearing the jacket Matthew had found with the hood pulled up over their head. It was painted with white and turquoise jagged designs, and had the same shard of crystal embroidered on the breast. Platinum stopped the footage and zoomed in, trying to clear the image and get a good look at the villain's face, but to no avail. The shadows were concealing every inch of skin behind the hood.

"Damnit." Matthew heard Platinum mutter.

"Follow him," Matthew suggested. "See where he is taking him."

Platinum nodded and played the footage again. Both of them watched as the shadowy villain dragged Ezra over to a bench by the edge of the woods, then sat him down. Ezra, who was swaying, but still cognitive, then proceeded to converse with the villain until they departed, abandoning him there on the bench.

"What? What was that? Why did they do that?" Matthew frowned, growing frustrated.

"I don't know, but I'm trying to follow him." Came Platinum's reply.

They switched to the next camera, then the next, tracking the mysterious figure as he headed in the direction of the teacher's dorms.

"That must've been the villain who set the fires at the teachers' dorms." Platinum mused. "But is he the one who took Ezra?"

Matthew nodded. "Yes, that has to be the one."

Platinum clicked forward in the footage. "Alright, let's see where he goes next."

As the footage played, they watched as the villain indeed arrived at the teachers' dorms and wandered into a random room. Mr. Grey was also caught on camera, following him within after spotting him down the hall. Then, Platinum gasped as the footage from the hall revealed a fight. The door swung open and the villain was found attacking Mr. Grey before he escaped and fled down the hall. Mr. Grey followed.

Platinum clicked to the cameras outside and got a better view of the fight. Mr. Grey tackled the villain to the ground and leveled a blow to their face, but with the mask in the way, it didn't do much good. What was hurting the villain, it seemed, was Mr. Grey's idio. As the villain managed to escape and flee just as the bomb rattled the cameras and blurred the image. But, when it refocused, the villain was found staggering into a lamppost. This time, it was Matthew's turn to gasp.

"Stop the recording!"

Platinum did as he was told.

"Zoom in," Matthew said, leaning over the desk to get a better view. His heart was racing. He could hear his pulse in his ears.

As the image cleared, Matthew got a glimpse of the villain's face. Half of their mask was broken and on the ground, revealing the lower half of their face. Lips. Nose. Skin. Nothing directly gave him answers. He needed to see the assailant's eyes. He needed them to lower their hood.

"Nothing," Matthew frustratedly breathed. "Nothing."

"Don't give up. We will follow him."

Platinum played the recording again and witnessed the villain summon those crystals. No, crystal armor. Micah's signature move. Or perhaps it wasn't. Maybe his hopes were raising unnecessarily high, diluting his memory.

The villain then took off for the students' dorms, just in time for a horrific scene to spread before them on the cameras. Aaron was suspended in the air, clinging to a female villain with large, bat-like wings. He was struggling; twisting and turning, aiming to break free of her grip. He reached out and grabbed one of her wings and the girl withered in pain as it bent in a sickening and unnatural angle.

Down they fell, destined for a quick demise.

But, just as the girl villain was about to hit the ground, the villain with the crystals caught her and absorbed her fall, setting her back onto her feet. There was an exchange of words between them before the girl headed off for the woods, her wing hanging limply at her side. This must've started their retreat. The villains were beginning to notice that they were outnumbered.

With the female villain gone, the one with the crystals turned to Aaron, who was getting back on his feet. Since his idio allowed him to take a gelatine form, he was unscathed after the fall. There was an exchange between them, and then they broke into a fight. A fight that inevitably led to Aaron being encased in crystal. It was the only way the villain could win against Aaron's gel form.

With Aaron taken care of, Platinum and Matthew watched as the villain looked around. Then, followed him as his attention was snagged away by some activity nearby. The footage revealed another fight and two other villains struggling to ward off Amai and Phil. One was wearing a dark blazer trench coat, slacks, and an eye mask, whereas the other was showcasing arms that looked like they were made of steel. No, worse, swords. He had sword arms.

The one with the trenchcoat was very obviously losing against Phil, and the villain with the crystals hurried to help. Meanwhile, Amai was also struggling. Matthew's heart hurt to see the fear wrought on his friend's face, especially when the villain cut him down and knocked him out cold. Phil was soon to follow, finished off by the villain who was now flaunting crystal gauntlets.

The villains were winning, despite their odds.

But they were retreating.

The one with the crystals looked like he was demanding them to. And they listened. Was he their leader?

With the two other villains gone, Matthew took a mental note that there were three left. The villain with the crystals only had three left until he would depart and the cameras would catch Matthew chasing after him. All Matthew needed was to see his face. He hoped the cameras had caught it. This was his only hope for actually receiving the answers he desired.

Platinum mumbled something under his breath and continued to follow the villain to a new fight. Two against two again, except this time the hero was winning. And the hero on top was none other than Jian. Yang. She was choking him. Killing him.

"Jian?" Matthew inquired.

"This is what must've happened to her." Platinum grit out with a surprising amount of anger. Matthew was used to hearing him all calm and composed.

"How...?"

"Watch."

And watch he did. He watched as the villain with the crystals looked between helping his companion fight off Leo, who was manipulating what looked like cyborg parts. Then he watched as Felicity jumped in to his rescue and hauled her friend with her to get help. Matthew knew where this story was heading. This was where he came in.

But for Jian, it was too late. By the time the villain with the crystals was done defending his friend, they turned to witness the villain turn the fight around in a desperate attempt to protect himself. He stabbed Jian through the eye with a rusty nail. It was over. She was finished.

Platinum gripped the desk so hard the wood whined. "Bastard."

Matthew felt his throat tighten with sadness. He had to look away for a moment. Seeing everything happen was so much worse compared to witnessing the aftermath.

When he returned his eyes to the screen, Matthew saw the villain with the crystals yelling at his companion who had just maimed Jian. He seemed angry. Furious. This obviously hadn't been their intention. That villain had an ulterior motive.

But Matthew found himself wondering why. Why Jian. Who were they?

When the two villains had hurried off, it left the one with the crystals alone. Platinum and Matthew watched confusedly as he took off his jacket and tore off a piece of his shirt, bandaging Jian's eye the best he could.

They were villains and yet this one... cared? Enough to bandage up a hero? One which was hurt by the hands of his friend?

"What is he doing?" Matthew frowned. 

"I... don't know," came Platinum's reply.

Just as the villain finished up, he stood and spun to face someone. Both Platinum and Matthew were stunned. Ezra. It only took a heartbeat too before he leapt at the villain, too, swinging and punching.

But the worst was yet to come.

And Matthew, despite his suspicions, was not prepared for what was about to happen.

Never.

Ezra leveled a blow to the villain's face, his mask fell off and into the dirt.

Platinum stopped the footage.

Matthew could barely hear the world around him. His vision began to tunnel.

The boy who was standing there was Micah.

His brother.