Si Cheng’s eyes snapped wide open. It was dark. His room. “It was a dream,” he whispered to himself. But he knew it wasn’t.

With a sudden gasp, the boy shot up, pulling the covers off of his body and jumping out of bed, not even processing what he was doing. All he knew was someone needed him.

“Winwin?” Ten’s voice came when the boy walked into the living room with a panicked look.

Si Cheng turned to look at the older boy, noticing the presence of the those who had been watching the television, and those who were emerging out of their own rooms, probably awakened by his loud shuffling around his room. Everyone was then looking at him concerned.

“We need to go help him,” Si Cheng said, not bothering to explain anything to anyone. He didn’t want to waste any time, and everyone could see the desperateness in his eyes, and hear the pleading in his voice. Even those weren’t fully awake.

“I’ll drive,” Ten nodded, understanding Winwin better than anyone else in the room. Without any more words, he got up, grabbed the keys, and they all walked out. No questions asked.

It wasn’t until they were halfway there, that it happened. As vivid as Si Cheng’s dream, there was the loud explosion coming from an almost empty party of town, down at the other side of the bridge.

“Is he there?” Ten asked, eyes trained on the lights that shone over the building they were headed to. It looked like a nuclear explosion, but smaller. Like something wrong happening at a power plant.

“Wait, Ten, isn’t that where the crystal is?” One of the boys spoke from the backseat, suddenly becoming more awake.

“Yes,” Ten said. “Good sight, Yang Yang.”

“I don’t know how I feel about this,” The boy who sat by Yang Yang, at the far back of the van, spoke out anxiously.

“Shut up Xiao Jun,” The boy who sat on the other side of Yang Yang spoke.

“Kun, Hendery is being mean!” Xiao Jun shouted to the older who sat in front of him.

Kun, growing tired of the boy’s yelling, brought his hand up, ready to snap his fingers before all three boys in the back shook their heads and kept quiet. “That’s what I thought,” Kun said, resting back on his seat with his eyes closed once again. “Don’t worry Winwin, we’ll get to him.”

“I hope we do,” Si Cheng who sat in the passenger seat in front of Kun mumbled as he stared out the window. His eyes never moving away from the place of explosion, until they reached it.

As soon as the van stopped by the river, without having to be told what to do, all the boys jumped out of the car and got into positions. Yang Yang was taking off his backpack and setting it on the ground before digging in and pulling out a series of objects that he handed to Xiao Jun here and there.

“Where’s the invisibility cloak?” Hendery asked, walking over to Yang Yang’s side.

“I’m looking for it,” The boy said as he kept rummaging through his things.

“Well look faster.” Hendery rushed the boy.

“I’m trying!” The younger boy whined. “I forgot to organi- oh! Here!”

Without any more words, Hendery took the invisibility cloak and began putting it around the car before following Xiao Jun to whatever corner he was hiding in with his multiple gadgets. Yang Yang, on the other hand, swung his backpack over his shoulder and rushed to where Lucas, Kun, Winwin and Ten stood, working on their strategies.

“Xiao Jun and Hendery are in position,” Yang Yang told the older boys, looking back and forth between Winwin’s looks of worry, Kun’s concentrated face, and Ten’s scheming face.

“Okay, give me the invisibility potion,” Ten said, extending his hand out.

Yang Yang reached into the pocket of his pajama pants (he had no time to change when he was awoken earlier), pulling out a glass bottle that contained a blue liquid inside, and handing it over. “This one doesn’t last long though, so you have to be quick. Ten minutes tops.”

“You’re sounding like Xiao Jun with his shady products,” Ten said right before he took a sip and handed it over to Winwin who did the same.

“Who do you think I got it from?” Yang Yang asked, enjoying the look of panic in Ten’s eyes right before he disappeared.

“Let’s go, Winwin,” Ten’s voice could be heard, but he could no longer be seen.

“What now?” Yang Yang asked, turning to look at Kun and then at Lucas.

Kun was watching the footsteps in the mud that were left behind by Ten and Winwin as they headed to the back of the building where Winwin was so sure he had seen Yuta in his vision. He let out a huff, turning around, a stern look on his eyes. “Let’s get a view of the area. They’re going to need our help.”

“How do you know this place so well?” Winwin asked Ten as they made their way through all the bushes and walked past the fence that enclosed the old factory.

“I’ve tried sneaking in before,” Ten said and, though Winwin could barely see the outline of his figure in the moonlight, he was sure he was frowning. “For the crystal.”

“Why did you leave it here?” Winwin asked as they made a turn.

Ten scanned the area, feeling the presence of people around them. Most of everyone had already evacuated the area before the explosion, but it wasn’t long before those people in the yellow hazmat suits would start arriving. If they weren’t already there. This was a very restricted area with very dangerous things inside after all, despite being branded as on old and empty, run down factory. Ten knew that the best.

“There was no point in taking a crystal that was weak of its powers,” Ten said, glancing back at Winwin before he moved along and the younger boy followed. “But seeing how it was able to make this big of an explosion, I was wrong to leave it behind. Now it’s going to be even harder for me to retrieve all those powers that were set free when the humans started poking around with it."

“We’ll get them,” Winwin spoke, placing a hand on Ten’s shoulder. The older guy looked back at him, and he nodded in reassurance. “Then we can go home.”

“But first we need to get your loverboy out of here,” Ten said, turning back once more to remain focused on the task.

“Incoming, the yellow people are approaching, over.” Lucas’ voice came in through the earpieces they were wearing, forcing the two to stop mid-track and retreat a couple of steps.

“They’re called hazmat suits, Lucas,” Hendery’s voice came in through the earpiece as well.

“Don’t worry, I’ll shoot the yellow people. Over.” This time it was Yang Yang’s voice.

Before Winwin or Ten could tell the boy not to shoot, they heard the shots coming from the other side of the building and what they assumed were the thuds of the bodies dropping to the ground.

“Nice shot, Yang Yang!” Xiao Jun’s voice came in at the same time Hendery yelled, “Yang Yang!!”

Winwin and Ten exchanged a look, holding back smiles, before they continued walking ahead in caution.

“Kun, have you scanned the perimeter yet?” Ten asked, holding on to his earpiece as he looked through the window to see what went on inside the building.

Kun’s voice came in seconds later, a series of muffled noises heard in the background. “Yes, from what I can see they were trying to mess around with the crystal and conducting a series of experiments that went wrong, so everyone evacuated right before it exploded. If you keep walking right ahead is where you’ll find loverboy by the river, but let me warn you, he was so close to the explosion that he won’t be in best condition. There’s also someone else next to the backdoors of the building who will be in even worse condition than him. Might not be alive. Over.”

Winwin and Ten nodded, beginning to run ahead to the back where Yuta would be by the river. And just like Kun had said, he was right there, lying unconsciously on the ground, wet from the waves that kept splashing on him, and- he looked awful. Not as bad as Winwin had feared, but he small cuts all over his face, he was covered in dirt, and he was bleeding out from where a shard had dug into his stomach.

“Oh no,” Winwin said as he hurried over to Yuta’s side, falling to his knees right besides him. “He’s badly hurt.”

Ten, still standing a few feet away as he scanned the area, looked over at Si Cheng, a soft look on his face. “Can’t you...?”

“I can try,” Si Cheng said, making a small nod as he brought his hands up above Yuta’s body. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. It wasn’t often that he had used this power, or any of his powers to be exact. It was no secret to those in the team that he had the second most powerful powers among them, being able to control so much yet nothing all. But he feared them. He wasn’t like Ten, or Kun, or Lucas, or even the younger three who still possessed no powers but the kind they got when they were infants. He was scared of having so much control, thus never using his powers unless really needed to, making them rusty and making him unsure on whether he could make things better or worse for Yuta.

But he needed him.

Letting out a shaky breath, Winwin clenched his hands, and released them. Immediately there was a small, faint glow that began coming from his hands as he brought them around Yuta’s body, and slowly, the recovery process for the boy became fast. His cells were multiplying and the wound was disappearing. But so were Winwin and Ten’s invisibility powers.

“There’s sirens,” Ten said, looking up and around as he heard the wailing of police cars and ambulances and firetrucks. “They’re coming.”

“You guys need to get out,” Kun’s voice came in through the earpieces again. “There’s a lot of guys in hazmat suits coming in. Over.”

“Guys, Xiao Jun and I are trying our best to shoot the guys and Yang Yang and Lucas are on the other side doing the same, but there’s too many people coming in and we can’t be discrete. Over.” That time it was Hendery.

Ten rushed over to Si Cheng’s side, replying a quick, “Got it, over.” Before he started pulling the glass battle out of his pocket and taking another sip. “Here,” He said, handing the bottle to Winwin. “We need to go.”

Si Cheng looked down at the bottle, and then down at his hands. “I need more time. He’s not fully healed. If we move him now it will only hurt him more.”

Ten groaned, setting the bottle down and running over to the building. Si Cheng glanced over and watched as Ten began to bring his hands up, moving them in a series of different motions before he pushed forward and his powers came to release. He was manipulating the area around them so all three of them would remain hidden. It was the first time he was using his powers do greatly in years.

Realizing what he was doing, Si Cheng turned back to Yuta and shut his eyes tight, trying to quicken his powers so they could all get out of there. “Come on, come on,” He chanted, using as much strength as he could to push it all out of him. “Please.”

Whoosh.

Si Cheng opened his eyes, looking down at his hands and then at Yuta. The wound was gone. Of course, he still had the small scratches on his face and was probably in a lot of physical pain, but his big wound was gone and he was no longer bleeding out. Without wasting any time, he looked over at Ten who was still trying to manipulate everything around them.

“Let's go!” Si Cheng yelled, taking the glass bottle and taking a sip before he poured a few drops in Yuta's mouth.

“Good job healing him,” Ten said as he ran over to his side and scanned the body. “Now let's get out of here.”

Ten and Si Cheng quickly pulled up the body, both swinging one of Yuta's arms around themselves to drag him along. They began walking ahead, making sure to be as quiet as possible as the place began to get filled with people that came to investigate the explosion.

“Wait,” Si Cheng gasped, eyes landing closer to the building where another body laid, looking even worse than Yuta had.

“We don't have time to save anyone el-” Ten began, turning around to look at the body that Si Cheng stared at.

“That's Han Sol,” Si Cheng breathed. He didn't know what to do. He was terrified. In his vision he had only seen Yuta and he assumed he was alone when they found him. But there was his best friend, whom Si Cheng was aware was one of the only important people in his life. “We can't leave him behind. He'll either die from wounds or they'll kill him for witnessing this."

Ten opened his mouth to respond, when he heard the voices of people approaching. “We’ll come back,” He whispered, pulling Yuta and Si Cheng back just in time as more people in hazmat suits showed up. “The invisibility potion won't last for much longer.”

“Guys, we need to get out now,” Kun's voice came in through the earpieces once again. “More and more vans keep arriving and the kids are struggling to get out without being seen. Over.”

Ten glanced at Si Cheng, sending a pitiful look before he began walking ahead. Letting out a sigh, Si Cheng sent one last glance to Han Sol's body that was being investigated by the men in hazmat suits.

I'm sorry.

“You got him!” Yang Yang exclaimed, leaning away from the invisible van and pulling the invisibility cloak down so Ten and Si Cheng could drag Yuta's body inside.

The door to the van swung open, Xiao Jun standing right there behind it. “Hurry up,” He said as he moved out of the way. “Kun is driving.”

“Oh come on!” Ten yelled as he helped take Yuta in before running out to head to the passenger seat. Yang Yang then climbed in, swinging the door closed before he headed to the back to his seat. Si Cheng was on the van's floor, Yuta's head resting on his lap.

“Is he okay?” Lucas asked, looking down from his seat.

Si Cheng nodded, softly. “He will be.”

The rest of the car ride went smoothly. Kun’s driving was much gentler than Ten's and they were no longer in a hurry to get anywhere. It was also three in the morning and the streets were pretty empty. The boys in the back were all falling asleep, heads resting on each other's shoulders. And Ten was left humming softly to a song he made up back home, “New Heroes~”

It wasn't until they were almost home that Yuta began stirring in Si Cheng's lap, startling the dark-haired boy.

“Si Cheng?” Yuta asked, looking up at him with cloudy eyes. It was a dazed look, as if he couldn't believe he was actually there in front of him. “W-what-?”

Si Cheng shushed the boy, shaking his head softly. “Shh. Just wait.”

“We're here,” Kun said, stopping the car in front of the old building they found shelter in.

Ten and Kun hopped out of the car, opening the van doors so everyone could get out. Si Cheng had to help Yuta, because though he was somewhat conscious now, he was in major pain and releasing a series of groans.

“Where-?” Yuta tried talking once again, stopping himself to groan in pain.

“I said shhh,” Si Cheng shushed him once again as he led him inside and to the floor they lived in. “You’re in too much pain.”

When the two walked into their home, slower than the rest because of Yuta’s state, Yang Yang and Hendery were setting up some space on the couch for Yuta to rest on while Xiao Jun was sorting through some of his shady objects on the floor in the middle of the living room.

“What are we going to do with him?” Winwin could hear Kun ask Ten in the kitchen, but ignored it as he helped Yuta sit on the couch.

“Can I watch tv or is now not the time?” Lucas asked as he sat down on the other couch, tv remote in his hand. Hearing that, Kun walked in and snatched the control out of his hand and hit him with it. “Of course not.”

“Han Sol,” Yuta breathed. Si Cheng turned to look at him. He was remembering the events. “He-” Yuta panted, hands shaking as he shut his eyes tight. “Where-? He- I-”

“Shh,” Si Cheng tried calming him, taking his hand into his own to soothe him. “Calm down. Yuta. Shh.”

Si Cheng closed his eyes, holding Yuta’s hand tight as the light from his palms began to glow again. “Calm down, shh, calm down.”

Yuta took a breath, and his eyes opened once again. He was no longer panicking and seemed much calmer than before. Si Cheng’s powers were perhaps not as rusty as he thought they were.

“He’s so cool when he does that,” Yang Yang said from his spot on the floor besides Xiao Jun and Hendery.

“Okay, Yuta,” Si Cheng said as he looked into the older guy’s eyes, a slight shine in his own. “I need you to tell me everything that happened, calmly.”

Yuta nodded, enchanted by the dark-haired boy’s voice. He looked down as if gathering his thoughts, before he looked up and nodded once again. “I was with Han Sol. We were working late for our internship and- we had a small break so- I-” Yuta shook his head, trying to remember. “Han Sol wanted to investigate the old factory. He said he had seen something there and we went out and climbed the fence over. But then- gunshots? Thunder? There was a noise, and I wanted to leave, but I fell and I couldn’t move. And Han Sol was climbing up to the windows on the second floor and then-” Yuta paused once more. Si Cheng could tell he was about to freak out, but he held his hand tighter, calming him down with his powers. “He saw something. And then there was an explosion.”

“Do you know what he saw?” Ten asked, arms crossed as he walked over to the couch. Yuta looked up at him and shook his head.

“No. But he was terrified. I’ve never seen him like that before,” Yuta said, shaking his head. He then groaned once again, letting go of Si Cheng’s hand and clutching his chest.

“AHHH!” He groaned loudly, starting to squirm around in the couch as if trying to find a way to ease the pain.

Si Cheng stood up, looking at him with a horrified look on his face. “What’s going on?” He asked in panic. “I healed his wound, why is he hurting like this?!” He slightly yelled, turning to look at everyone who looked just as shocked as him.

“It’s the crystal,” Kun said, setting down his mug and walking over. “The crystal must have affected him somehow. Humans are weak and can’t be that close to a crystal’s explosion without having some sort of after effects.”

“What do we do?” Si Cheng asked, watching as Yuta rolled on to the floor, not stopping his loud groans of pain. “He’s going to die!”

Kun turned to Xiao Jun, scanning all of the shady objects he had sprawled across the floor. “Quick, put that in a syringe and hand it to me!” He yelled at the boy while pointing at one of the bottles with a weird, green liquid inside.

“But that-!”

“Quick!”

Without having to be told again, Xiao Jun hurried in opening the bottle and inserted the needle part of the syringe (Yang Yang had pulled out of his back), pulled the plunger to draw the liquid into the syringe, and gently tapped its side to make sure there were no air bubbles after making sure to get rid of any excess air, and without another second lost, he handed it over to Kun.

“This is going to hurt,” Kun mumbled as he crouched down on the floor besides Yuta, and without any warning, he stuck the needle into his arm, right on a vein.

“Oh my gosh,” Lucas said, covering his mouth and turning around in his seat. “I’m going to be sick.”

“What is that?!” Si Cheng yelled, seeing how Yuta was only getting worse from there. But before Kun could answer, Yuta suddenly stopped, his breathing slowing down as his eyes shut close.

“It’s something we learned back home. It’s like a tranquilizer here,” Kun began to explain. He stood up and handed the syringe over to Si Cheng. The younger boy took it, inspecting it close before he sighed and nodded.

“I remember,” He said, handing it over to Ten who looked at it closely too.

“I don’t remember,” Ten said with a frown. “I’ve been gone too long.”

“It pauses your anxiety. Or, back home, it pauses your powers,” Si Cheng explained, a tired look on his face from the realization. “When those who get their powers from the crystal can’t control them right away and are suddenly overpowered, this is used on them.”

Ten’s eyes widened slightly. He looked down at Yuta, a look of realization crossing his face. He gasped and turned to look back at Si Cheng and Kun. “Does that mean, well, he-”

“He has powers now,” Si Cheng sighed. “We can’t keep him here.”

“But if he has powers can’t we just make him one of us?” Xiao Jun asked from behind.

“He’s not one of us.” Si Cheng shook his head. “He may have powers like us, but he’s a human. Something we are not.”

“So what do we do with him?” Hendery asked, eyes focused on Yuta.

Si Cheng turned to look at Ten, and the latter nodded, understanding what he had to do. He knelt down besides Yuta, bringing his hands up to his forehead, and began to use his powers. His palms glowed as he began to erase the events of that night from his mind, and began to manipulate. He manipulated so he thought he and Han Sol got into a car accident by Han river. He manipulated so he thought Han Sol had gone missing in the river. He manipulated so he-

“Erase me from his mind. Every last trace of me.” Ten stopped, turning to look at Si Cheng with a taken-back look. Everyone in the room reacted the same.

“Winwin, are you sure?” Si Cheng nodded. He had made up his mind the moment Yuta’s eyes opened in the car and he looked up at him, an almost enduring look on his face.

“He saw me tonight,” Si Cheng started. “And he saw me yesterday, and the day before, and the day before. And if we’re ever going to get out of this planet, we can’t have any connections with humans.”

All the boys in the room exchanged looks, knowing glances.

“Plus, now that he has powers, when he discovers them, he’ll try figuring out where they came from.” Si Cheng sighed. He was exhausted. “He would ask us about our powers and how he got his and what we know and who we are and where we come from and we can’t have that. It’s best if he doesn’t remember me at all.”

Ten nodded, not saying anything else as he brought his hands up to Yuta’s forehead once more. He listened to Si Cheng’s orders, and began to draw out all memories Yuta had of him. The moment he asked him out the previous day, the moment Si Cheng agreed; The entire class period a week earlier he had spent staring at him; The day he purposely waited an entire hour at the convenience store across from their university because he knew Si Cheng stopped by there every morning; The week they were partnered up for an assignment and stayed in the library till late hours, getting almost nothing done because Yuta wouldn’t stop staring and getting flustered when Si Cheng looked back; The time Si Cheng first rejected Yuta’s asking him out, and he decided he wanted to keep doing it until he said yes; And lastly, the day when Si Cheng first walked into class a year ago and Yuta, all flustered by his beautiful looks, blurted out the cheesiest pick-up line ever, and Si Cheng got all flustered making Yuta decide he would keep flirting with him for his cute reactions without realizing he would actually come to like him.

Ten gasped, pulling his hand away after withdrawing every last memory of Si Cheng from Yuta’s mind. He turned to look at the tall boy, asking him one last time if he was sure. And he nodded. “Besides,” Si Cheng said, looking down at Yuta, “if he’s a human with powers. . . we’ll have to go up against him one day.”

--

Fun Fact: Sometimes Nae and I just have Winwin's line from Chain playing on a loop in the background just to feel blessed. Not even the full song. Just Winwin's line. Because we love him. A lot. And I currently miss him in 127 and I'm sad and updating because of that. Also, I have an assignment for my creative writing class that I'm procrastinating on because my classmates will critique my work and I'm lowkey scared at the responses I might get. So here's this update that I hope everyone enjoys. -J