Matthew stepped out into the cold of the night, wrapped in a denim jacket and yoga pants. At this hour, the courtyard was still and quiet. There was only the distant chatter of students far beyond the dorms and the gentle clink of the tetherball bumping against it's pole.

He hugged himself, searching through the darkness for Ben. As the minutes passed and he still didn't see her, he grew more and more nervous. He just knew the girl was going to be furious. Hell, she was probably going to up and slap him across the face. He probably deserved it. After all, he and Micah had vanished without a trace. They hadn't even been given a chance to say goodbye.

Suddenly, the sound of churning gravel echoed from behind him, but before Matthew could turn and face his attacker, he was shoved. Hard. He yelped and fell backward, landing painfully and awkwardly.

"Asshole! No good, rotten, piece of absolute shit!" Ben spat out, towering over him. "How dare you just show up here?!"

Matthew looked up at her, eyes wide. He tried to sit up more, to stand up.

"No! Stay down!" Her fists balled at her sides. "You'd better start explaining yourself before I beat the hell out of you for ghosting me the way you did."

He knew she didn't mean it, but a part of him wondered if he deserved it. "Okay, okay!" He said, slowly raising his hands. "I'm sorry!"

"You're sorry?" Ben laughed bitterly. "You're sorry?! Oh, like that will fix years and years of thinking you were dead, Mattie! Do you have any idea what I've been through since you disappeared? Do you even care?! And now you show up here, of all places! You couldn't have called? You couldn't have given me some clue you were okay?!"

"Okay, I'll talk. I'll talk." He climbed to his knees. "But not here. Not in the open. Is there someplace...private...we can go?"

"Oh? And why does this story need to be private? Everyone knows you were on that mission to catch Pardus. What could possibly be so private?"

"Listen, Ben, you don't understand—"

"No! You're right! I don't understand! So talk!"

"Not here—"

"Talk, Matthew!"

Matthew sucked in a deep breath, trying to force the emotion out of his voice when he lost his temper. "Damnit, Ben! Micah is dead!"

That silenced Ben immediately. Her expression went flaccid. Her fists uncurled and the tension fell from her shoulders.

Matthew finally rose to his feet and hugged himself again, falling silent with her.

There was a long pause that stirred between them before Ben timidly spoke up. "How...?"

"I..." Matthew's eyes filled with tears. "Stephen and Fidel, my... my guardians killed him. I didn't see much. I just—I just saw him on the floor in a puddle of his own blood. Then, I was dragged away and locked in our bedroom for who knows how long before I... was handed off to Pardus."

Ben was speechless, absolutely speechless. She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jacket and looked at the ground, hiding her face. He could've sworn she mournfully mumbled something under her breath.

Matthew wiped at his face. "I'm here to avenge him. I know it's not very hero-like, but I want to get the training I need to finish off Pardus. I don't know what happened to Stephen or Fidel, but I'll find them too."

"I'll second that." Ben wiped her face, hiding her tears. "But I've got to find out what happened to my mom too. She... well, not long after you two vanished, she did too. Now I'm wondering if Pardus or the two bastards who killed Micah had something to do with it. I came here to become a hero in order to put the people who harmed her behind bars." Ben paused. "I understand what it's like to want something not hero-like. I don't really care. I'll help you with your mission against Pardus, for Micah's sake. And for the chance it might help me find my mom. Does that work for you?"

Matthew slowly nodded, listening as she explained everything that had happened to her. It seemed they had a lot of catching up to do. He just hoped she had found it in her heart to forgive him for leaving. Maybe she did now?

"Good, then I'll make a deal with you. Okay?" Ben said with a stern frown.

"Okay," Matthew said.

"I'll forgive you for leaving without saying goodbye, for vanishing without a trace and making me think you were dead for three years, if you promise to work together to get revenge on Pardus."

Matthew looked her over for a long moment. Even though this deal seemed simple in theory, he hated the idea of working with another person. He didn't want to feel responsible for her if she got hurt, especially in his quest for vengeance. He would blame himself. However, he couldn't help but feel like he owed Ben. He felt bad for everything that had happened to her since he was gone. The two of them had felt such similar, yet different pain.

"I...need to think about it." Matthew sheepishly said. "It's a lot to ask."

Ben's frown deepened. "How?"

"Ben, look, I'm sorry. I really am. I feel awful for leaving you, but this revenge quest is something that I kind of need to do alone."

Ben let out a bitter laugh. "Excuse me? Do you hear yourself right now?"

Matthew just blinked at her.

She shook her head and took a step forward. Matthew grew painfully aware of the fact that she was still taller than him. "Listen, Mattie. I know how you are. I also know that you've been alone for a long time now. But I want you to understand that you don't have to be a loner anymore."

Matthew frowned, but before he could stop himself, he said: "Says you."

Ben's face contorted with a sudden fury. She raised her fist, and Matthew cringed, waiting for the blow, but it never came.

"I'm not a loner, Mattie! I don't try to be, at least." She bit out. "You and Micah were my only friends. Still are, actually." She paused and shook her head. "I guess I was wrong to think that I could confide in you. You act like you're the only one hurting here. You're not the only one who has lost someone."

Then, Ben turned and marched away, leaving him in a cloud of dust. "Good luck killing Pardus on your own, asshole!"

"No, wait!" Matthew choked out, trying to catch up to her. But, to no avail.

Ben had thoroughly vanished, materializing into the side of the girl's dorm facility.

And, just how they had started, Matthew was left feeling nervous and guilty. He had said the wrong thing, hadn't he?

He sighed and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket, returning to his room for the night where he tossed and turned for hours until he was awoken to that annoying blare of Phil's alarm. He groaned and rubbed his eyes, now listening to the discord of their two alarms fighting for attention.

Matthew sat up and frowned over at Phil, who was snoring loudly.

"Phil?" Matthew called.

No reply.

Matthew sighed loudly and tossed the covers back, sliding out of bed. As he grew closer and closer to Phil's bed, the more he noticed the strong, pungent smell of alcohol. Matthew gagged and held his nose, shaking Phil's shoulder.

The boy eventually woke, looking up at Matthew with dark circles around his eyes. "Oh...man." He drawled. "Morning already?"

"Yeah," Matthew said, cringing at the sight of him.

Phil winced at the sound of their blaring alarms, rubbing his temples. "My head."

Matthew worked up the courage to ask, "Are you...hungover or something? Where were you last night?"

"At Damian's party," Phil explained. "Well, party is an overstatement. We usually just meet at the edge of campus near the woods, drink a little, hook up, whatever. Why are you asking? You're not going to snitch on me, are you?"

Matthew quickly raised his hands. "No, no. I promise."

Phil's orange eyes swept over him. "Alright. I'll trust you."

Matthew turned and silenced his alarm, as did Phil. They both got dressed for class, which was awkward as usual, then shuffled away at their own pace. Phil had taken a while to style his hair with a comb, but soon after, he was gone, leaving Matthew to finish brushing his teeth and pack his backpack.

Before Matthew knew it, he was on his way to his first real day of being a student at TAFAH. He crossed the courtyard, glancing over at the cluster of girls who exited the dorm beside his, but before he could take off and leave them in his dust, their leader, the girl he remembered as being Felicity, waved over at him.

She was flanked by three other girls. One, being Yang. The other two being girls he didn't remember the names of. One had crimson red hair and a pair of horns, the other was a plain-looking brunette, who appeared to be scanning the ground intensely. Matthew's eyes widened when he saw something shiny spring up from the dust and fly to her body. However, she looked up when she was left behind and hurried after Felicity as she approached.

"Hey!" Felicity beamed. "Want to walk to class with us?"

Matthew knew he would feel bad if he declined their offer, so he nodded. "O-okay."

"Great! I know you met us all yesterday, but just a little refresher..." Felicity gestured to the redhead with horns. "That's Davy."

The girl named Davy, the one with red hair and horns, gave him a timid smile. "Hey."

"And that's Faye," Felicity said, looking around for her companion.

Faye appeared behind Matthew, and he turned to find her eyeing his backpack. She straightened and gave him a cocky smile, taking a bow. "Nice to meet you."

Matthew subtly moved away from her, letting out a little yelp as Yang came up out of nowhere and slung a muscular arm around his shoulder. There were too many girls surrounding him for Matthew to be comfortable.

"I'm sure you already know Jian pretty well." Felicity laughed.

Matthew quickly reminded himself that her name was Jian, which was definitely harder to remember than "Phil", whose name was so similar to his alias.

"Oh, yes," Jian said. "He's my little wingman. Say, Matthew, why don't you be my partner in training today, hm? You're the only boy I haven't beaten yet."

Unlike the other girls, Jian was wearing a pair of khakis that matched his. The other girls were wearing white, knee-high skirts and long socks. Matthew wondered if Jian was breaking uniform, but he didn't honestly care. Perhaps all the girls were given the choice to wear skirts or pants?

"Uh, I already promised Leo, sorry." Matthew laughed nervously. "Maybe tomorrow?"

"Ah, really? You're going to train with a shrimp boy instead of me? Bummer. It won't be much of a challenge, but okay."

"Hey," Felicity interjected sharply. "Leo's the goalie on the varsity lacrosse team. Don't call him a shrimp."

Jian snorted. "He is a redhead. Red like shrimp."

As the girls bickered, Matthew tried to edge out of their circle. He looked over at Faye and saw her smirking, obviously enjoying the show. And as Matthew turned and hurried away, he heard Davy trying to break up the quarrel.

Poor girl, he thought. Out of all of them, he liked her the best. She wasn't as loud or touchy. One of Jian's charms, it seemed, was invading his personal space. However, something about Jian reminded him of Cecilia. He wouldn't want to be alone in a room with those two for very long. He probably would go crazy.

Soon, Matthew found the door to the main building and unfolded the schedule in his pocket, climbing the stairs to his first class. As he approached the door, he heard voices inside.

Matthew peered through the window on the door, his eyes widening when he saw the girl that was draped across one of the desks, practically sitting in a poor boy's lap. However, when he looked closer, he saw that it was Fists. Matthew choked on a laugh.

Aside from the distraction, he did get a good look at what the classroom looked like. It was a plain, square room with rows of desks facing a whiteboard. In the far corner of the room, near a window, was a desk, and in front of the whiteboard was a podium. There were sparse posters hanging here and there, but otherwise, it was pretty dull.

"What's so funny?"

Matthew jumped, letting out a little, startled "eep". When he turned, he found Ben standing there with her arms folded.

"You're blocking the door," she growled. "Move."

Matthew quickly obeyed, alarm in his eyes.

Ben just stepped past him with a huff, entering the classroom. If Matthew remembered correctly, Ben had an idio that enabled her to pass through substances by taking on qualities of anything her skin touched. He wondered why she had bothered to use the door, when she could've just materialized through the nearest wall. Matthew just sighed and rolled his eyes, reaching for and opening the door.

But, when he did, he severely regretted it.

The girl who was lounging on Fists' desk lifted her head, her pale blue eyes settling Matthew. She was beautiful. Something about her reminded Matthew of a doll. She had wavy, pink hair that tumbled down her shoulders, delicately flushed cheeks, and a pearly smile. Something about her was entrancing, and the accent that laced her voice was somehow even more so.

"Hello, lovely." She purred sweetly, waving a bejeweled hand in Matthew's direction. "You must be the new kid."

Matthew's face splashed with color. "Y-yeah."

She hopped off of the desk and extended a dainty hand to him. "My name is Candi."

Matthew blinked. He now remembered her from their first day, but he couldn't figure out if that was her actual name or alias. "Uh, hi," he stammered, taking her hand. "I'm Matthew."

"I know, lovely." She winked. "I've had my eye on you since you arrived. Finally, we meet."

That made Matthew a little uncomfortable. He made a face, wanting to step away and find his seat. Thankfully, the door opened behind him, and Felicity's voice almost blew out his eardrums.

"Candi! How have you been?" She exclaimed, practically glowing.

Candi dragged her pale eyes from Matthew to Felicity and the two embarked on their own conversation, leaving room for him to sneak away.

Thankfully, Matthew found an empty seat at the back of the classroom and began to pull out his supplies as the classroom slowly filled up. The green mutant he remembered as "Aaron" eyed him for a long time when he entered the classroom, then plopped down into the seat beside him, looking annoyed.

Matthew frowned. What had he done to piss him off?

Soon, Amai and Leo entered and took the seats near him. Matthew then saw Phil enter with the girl named Shelby. She was a dark girl with scales crawling up her arms and face. She was quite pretty. Matthew wondered if she was Phil's girlfriend.

Once everyone was settled into their desks, or...mostly, the door flung open and Mr. Grey came sauntering in, briefcase in hand. Today he was wearing a dark blue turtle-neck shirt with a pair of glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. He took a minute to arrange his things on his desk, then cleared his throat and faced the class.

"Good morning, class."

"Good morning." Everyone recited in unison.

So Mr. Grey was their teacher in and outside of the classroom?

"Open your textbooks to chapter six. Equilibrium and acceleration. Felicity, will you read the first passage loud and clear?" Mr. Grey said, flipping through pages in a large Physics book.

"Yes, Mr. Grey!" Felicity chirped.

Matthew quickly found the page they were on and read along with Felicity as she read the first page. However, they were about to flip to the next page when there was a knock at the door.

Everyone's heads shot up.

Mr. Grey sighed and took off his glasses, striding across the classroom to open the door. "Oh, Bobby," he said before talking quieter.

From there, Matthew only caught pieces of what they were talking about. Pieces like "I need to talk to him", "it's important", and the word "mother". Suddenly, when Mr. Grey turned his direction, he instantly wished he hadn't. What was it now?

"Mr. Rivers, Mr. Steele needs to talk with you. He says it's important. You will have to get the notes from one of your classmates later. He says he will only need you for this first period, so you will be able to make your second one."

Matthew slowly rose onto his feet. "Oh, okay. Yes, sir."

He was painfully aware of the stares he received as he walked to the front of the class and turned for the door. Platinum, who waited on the other side, gave him an encouraging smile. Matthew stepped out with him, not daring to look back into the classroom.

Platinum set a hand on his shoulder as they walked down the hallway. "Sorry for interrupting your first day in class, kiddo."

Matthew shrugged, despite being a little upset. "It's fine."

"Anyways," Platinum said, heading up the stairs to his office. "This will only take a bit. I just want to go over your test scores with you and discuss a few...other things. Nothing to worry about, though. You tested really well. Your scores were quite impressive for being homeschooled."

"Thanks," Matthew mumbled. "And it's really no problem."

Soon, he and Platinum reached his office. The towering man opened the door for him and Matthew stepped inside, painfully aware that the last time he had been here, was with Jason.

"Oh, uh, how's Jason doing?" Matthew asked, taking a seat in one of the chairs positioned in front of the grand, wooden desk. Something he hadn't noticed before was a picture in a frame on his desk. It was of Platinum, who was with a little boy that was on his shoulders. Both were smiling big and laughing before the camera captured this happy moment.

"Oh, Jason is doing great. He trained with me this morning. If he continues at this rate, he will be ready to go into the city and take on real villains with me in no time. He's a stubborn one, though." Platinum laughed, taking a seat at his desk. "I had to scold him today for doing extra training at home."

"Oh? Really?" Matthew let out a laugh.

"Yeah. But, anyways we are here to discuss you..." Platinum said, filling through a stack of papers. "First comes first, here are your scores: Composite, eighty-seven percent. Above average in English, average in math, above average in history, and average in science. You're a very smart boy."

Matthew smiled a little bashfully. "Thank you, sir."

"No problem. These scores put you in honors English and history. Would you like to transfer into those classes?"

Matthew thought for a moment. "Will I graduate sooner if I take those classes?"

Platinum made a face. "Eager to graduate, are we?"

Matthew realized his mistake. "No, no, sir. I just...am eager to become a hero."

"Well, I'm afraid that taking these classes won't speed up that process. It will only help you in the long run. Only the most skilled students and fighters get their hero licenses. It's not all training and fighting, you know."

"Oh, so you think I should take honors?"

"I think if you are comfortable with the workload, you should. Why don't you start off with one and then transfer to the other once you're fully acclimated?"

Matthew nodded. "Okay. I'll take, uh, honors English. If that's okay."

Platinum slid over to his computer and clicked around on it for a while before he turned and slid to the printer, printing a new schedule. "Tomorrow you will report to room two-eleven 'B' for your new English class. It's with a teacher named Ms. Davison. You'll like her. Most students have pleasant things to say about her."

"So Mr. Grey isn't my teacher?"

"No, no. Mr. Grey only teaches sciences and maths. He's your training instructor, so you report to whatever class he teaches first." Platinum explained. "Which, today is Physics. Tomorrow, it will be Algebra."

Matthew nodded and fell silent.

Platinum sighed and combed through his hair. "Alright, so now that that's settled, there's something else we need to touch up on. Something that I figured you would want to know."

Matthew blinked, growing a little concerned. "Wh-what?"

"Since I don't want this to disturb your day, I will give you what little information I know and let you do the rest." He paused, sucking in a deep breath. Then, he folded his hands on the desk and said: "I...think I know what happened to your mother."

Matthew gripped the chair, his eyes widening. "You what?"

"I knew there was something familiar about you when we met, but especially when I got your application and saw your last name. I knew it couldn't be a coincidence, so I did some...research."

Matthew's heart beat so fast he was convinced it was going to explode. He wanted to know. He wanted to know everything. "Yes, and?"

Once again, Platinum took in a deep breath, as if this was hard for him to say for some reason. Then, he lifted his gaze and met Matthew's. "Matthew, I think you're the son of Sarah Rivers." He paused. "A famed professional hero. Her alias was 'Bandit'."

Bandit.

Matthew clutched his head as this processed, unable to find the words to respond. What could he even say to that? All his life he had spent not knowing anything about his mother. It was hard to even try to imagine her face.

"She was a student here at TAFAH. I...knew her very well. If she is indeed your mother, you should spend some time researching her. Once you have found a satisfying amount of information about her, come back and speak with me. Only then, once you understand who she really was, I will finish telling you what I know."

That was fair enough. Matthew slowly stood onto wobbling legs. "Thank you for your time, sir."

"Oh, please." Platinum stood. "You don't need to be so formal with me. Not if Sarah was your mother. She was like a sister to me. That makes you my nephew."

Matthew nodded, still overwhelmed. Then, he turned for the door and left, shutting the door behind him. He pressed himself against the wall and ran a hand through his hair, feeling his clammy face.

If this information was true, It made Matthew the son of a hero.

Not a villain, nor the reluctant tool of one.

A hero.

Slowly but surely he was finding himself, figuring out who he really was. He only hoped that with some research, the puzzle would piece itself together.

So that Matthew Rivers would finally, at last, know who he really was.