“Humans are weird,” Ten said as he picked up the remote and turned the television off despite Lucas’ protests. “That Captain J guy barely did anything and everyone is swooning all over him.”

“He has charisma,” Xiao Jun spoke up from his seat on the floor.

Ten shook his head in disagreement. “Nope. I don’t get it. You know who’s really out there doing cool things? Doctor Death. He has great powers and he can use them. Though, I am critical of the way he is choosing to use them. Seriously? Taunting the hero? No. He could go for world domination!”

“Alright, calm down, Ten,” Kun said as he walked into the living room from the kitchen. “Remember what got us here in the first place.”

Ten rolled his eyes, leaning back on the couch with a slight pout on his face. “I’m just saying, humans don’t know how to use their powers correctly. Also, they swoon over the most bare minimum things.”

“I think humans are quite fascinating,” Lucas spoke up from his seat on the other, smaller, couch. “The other day I was taking a walk to the store and I saw a family playing at the park. They were kicking a ball around and whenever a side lost, they didn’t annihilate one of the members.”

Ten’s face scrunched up. “Then what is the point? I can’t believe I’ve been stuck in this planet for five years already.”

“Shouldn’t you be the most adapted one since you’ve been here the longest?” Yang Yang spoke up from his seat besides Xiao Jun on the floor.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t question them.” Ten sighed.

Si Cheng pursed his lips, thinking about everything they were talking about. He frowned and bit his bottom lip. “Either way, we’re the villains, right?”

Everyone in the room went silent, thinking about Si Cheng’s words.

“We’re not villains,” Ten spoke up after some silence. “We’re not heroes either. What do the humans call them? Anti heroes. We fall under that gray area; No morals, no mal-intentions, nothing but our own selfish reasons as motivations. But most importantly, we’re us. We’re WayV.”

Yuta woke up, once again sweating from the series of nightmares. His breathing was fast and heavy and his vision was blurred. He was in tears. And he knew it wasn’t just a dream. It was another one of those visions. He had been having them consecutively for the past couple of nights; The same one over and over again. But this one was different. There was a lot of fire everywhere, surrounding him. A flash of navy blue. A blurred smile and tingly feelings. And then that guy once again. The beautiful one.

He sighed, turning to look out the window above his bed. It was a bright, full moon. He turned to the other side where he could see his alarm clock. It was three in the morning. Deciding he wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep, Yuta stood up and grabbed a blue hoodie, slipped into his shoes, and walked out, not bothering to change out of his sweatpants.

The night was silent, there weren’t many people out at that time. All the stores were closed and buildings stood tall and dark. A few cars passed by here and there, and he walked by a jogging couple at some point. But other than that, the streets were lonely.

Unsure of where he was walking to, Yuta let his footsteps lead him along. He only stopped walking when he found himself standing by Han river, close to where the building he interned at was. A sigh escaped his lips as he looked up at the building and flashbacks of him and Han Sol came along. Without thinking too much, he walked over to the back of the building and found himself standing in front of the fence that kept him separated from the old factory.

A flashback of Han Sol telling him he was sure he had seen something back there one night came back, and Yuta frowned. He felt the urge to jump over, wanting to know what was inside of the building. And feeling like he had nothing to lose, and a new wave of emotions, Yuta took a few steps back before running forward and climbed over the fence with ease, landing on the other side with a grunt.

Something’s different, He thought to himself as he looked around and saw broken glass lying around everywhere. Had someone broken inside or something? Was it that explosion he had heard vaguely about? Feeling a wave of curiosity, Yuta walked over the building and began to look for a way in. There were many windows on the second floor, but none at the bottom. And there weren’t any doors except for the main entrance door at the front of the building that had a huge lock preventing him from going inside. But he was determined and went around to the back of the building and started to climb the ledges until he reached a window. Careful around the sharp edges of the broken glass, Yuta peeked inside. There was not much to see, quite to his disappointment.

It was dark inside, the moonlight barely peeking in through the windows. But Yuta still went inside, carefully landing atop the second floor that had a huge wide opening that showed the bottom floor. He began to head down the stairs, feeling more eager to look around. But he couldn’t find anything interesting. Empty cardboard boxes, useless wires lying around, and some huge, wide, metal circle in the middle. It looked like whatever had been inside had been taken out in a rush. And there were also ashes and burned scraps of metal. As if there had been some sort of explosion. So it was true.

Yuta sighed, sitting in the middle of the building, atop the big metal circle, and hugged his knees close, burying his head in them. This place was as empty as he was. And with that thought, he looked up once again, eyes filling up with tears. He would love to tell Han Sol about this. The old factory he had been so curious about was empty. But he wasn’t there, and he wasn’t coming back.

And Yuta began to lose it again. An overwhelming sense of emotions came to him and he began to cry. He sobbed loudly, groaning in pain as he tried to gasp for air. He felt suffocated. He felt pained. Like there was something inside him trying to escape and hurting him all the more while trying. And he was in grief, mind filled with thoughts about Han Sol and all the worst things he could possibly think about.

He would never see Han Sol again. He could never tell him about the factory. They could never finish their internship together and become successful businessmen together. He wouldn’t graduate. He wouldn’t watch him get married, or have kids. There was so much- so much he and Han Sol had planned together. And none of it was going to come true.

Feeling anguished, Yuta stood up, releasing a loud groan as he clenched his fists and shut his eyes tight, before falling to his knees. And he heard a loud whoosh and his hands felt hot. He opened his eyes and saw a blue sort of fog surrounding him, crushing everything in sight. The metal pieces, the broken shards, the door; Everything turned to ash.

Yuta gasped, looking down at his hands as tears continued to stream down his hands. They were the source of that blue, foggy wave. He quickly stood up, as a sort of an attempt to escape whatever was happening with his hands, still looking at them with that strong incredulity. But it didn’t stop and only got worse instead, destroying everything in sight. Yuta ran up to the stairs, grabbing a hold of them before they collapsed, and the blue mist spread quickly, destroying the whole second floor too and everything else in sight. And then the building started to fall down too. It wasn’t like they were up in flames, or like whatever substance he was releasing from his hands was fire. It was just some sort of magical thing that made everything he touched- or everything that was near- collapse and turn to ashes.

His breathing fastened once again, watching the entire building fall down around his through the blue fog. He took a step back, and another. It wasn't stopping. Nothing was stopping. Not his rapid breathing or the blue fog and the massive destruction. His steps got faster as all he wanted to do was get out of there.

Yuta turned and headed for the door, running out as quick as he could as the entire building began to collapse. He looked down and clenched his fists in an attempt to stop whatever he was doing, but instead the fence broke down, bending in a way as if a giant had just slammed their hand down on it. Yuta’s breathing fastened once again and he began to run down the empty streets. He ran and ran, scared of his own self as everything he walked past either crumbled down and bent or turned to ashes. The lamppost he turned at bent, and the empty cars he passed by crushed down. And he ran to the only place where he could be isolated in peace without hurting anything or anyone.

Yuta woke up at the cemetery next to Han Sol’s grave. The smell of the freshly cut grass was the first thing that came to him as he opened his eyes. And then the flashbacks of the night before came to mind with a ringing sound making his head hurt. He shut his eyes tight as his hands went up to the sides of his head in attempts to stop the ringing.

“I found him!” He heard a voice shout and footsteps approach.

Yuta's eyes snapped open and he sat up with a gasp, feeling sudden fear that he could possibly hurt whoever it was. And then he saw the armor, silver, navy blue, and iron? He looked up, eyes landing on the owner of the metal suit that stared down at him with a worried expression. And then someone else came along, trailing behind in a red hoodie.

“Who…?” Yuta asked, hugging his knees tight as if that would stop him from doing whatever he did the previous night.

The guy in the iron suit glanced back at the guy in the red hoodie who nodded before turning to look at him once again. “I’m Johnny, and that’s Tae Yong. We’re- well- I guess you could call us superheros.”

Yuta’s eyes widened slightly. “Like, Captain J?”

“Yeah, we know him.” The guy named Tae Yong spoke with a firm nod.

“Were you at the old factory last night?” The guy named Johnny asked, getting straight to the point.

Yuta felt a thud and he clenched his fists tight. He nodded slowly, feeling his fight or flight responses approaching. As if the two guys could sense this, they exchanged another look before the Johnny guy lowered himself down and said, “You can trust us. We know about your powers, and we’re here to help.”

Yuta looked back and forth between the two, his breath growing uneven once again. “Help?”

“Yes, we were able to pick up the unusual activity and traced it back down to this place and it’s all very scientific but-” Johnny paused, realizing how scared Yuta was looking. He had dark under circles from lack of sleep over the last few nights, his clothes were all dirty, and his hair was messy. His face was also tear stained and his eyes were puffy. Johnny looked at him pitifully. “You’re scared, and we just want to help you, but we need you to trust us.”

Yuta nodded slowly, shaking from the cold, but his breath getting steadier. “Okay.”

“Tae Yong?” Johnny spoke, looking up at the other who nodded in response. He walked over, flicking his wrist up, and Yuta was knocked out.

The next time Yuta woke up he found himself on a thin mattress inside a dark room. Something felt tight around his wrists and he looked down to see some sort of metal bracelets on them. He stood up, finding the silhouette of a door and walking over to it. He found the doorknob and twisted it, pushing the door forward.

“Ah, you’re awake,” A voice came from the other side of whatever room he now stood in. His eyes adjusted to the light and he was able to look around the much brighter room. It was wide, spacious, and filled with mostly white and metal sleek furnace. There were white couches and metal decorations, and the whole place just looked very futuristic. And on one of the couches, was Tae Yong flipping through the channels on the tv, and then Johnny looking at him from his desk on the opposite side.

“Where am I?” Yuta asked as he ventured further into the room.

“My home. Headquarters. It’s a mix of both,” Johnny said with a shrug.

Yuta watched as the tall guy got up from desk, wearing a very formal looking suit, and walking over to one of the couches and sitting down. He pointed at the couch on the other side, gesturing for him to sit down. He did as told.

“What are these?” Yuta asked, looking down at the metal objects on his wrists.

“They’ll block out your powers for now,” Tae Yong responded, glancing down at the Japanese boy’s wrists. “We ran scans on your powers and it seems like they are quite powerful, perhaps too powerful for you to control anytime soon. Especially in the state of grief you are in.”

Yuta frowned, head snapping towards Tae Yong. “How do you know I’m in grief?”

“We did a brief background check to see if we could figure out how you got your powers,” Johnny responded. “I’m sorry for your loss. But I do have to ask, do the files really tell the truth when they say you were on the other side of the river when the accident happened? Opposite from your place of work?”

Yuta nodded, faint flashbacks of that night coming back to him. “Yes, we were on the other side. Why?”

“There was an accident in that old factory and we thought if you were near it then that would explain your powers,” Tae Yong explained. “But I guess it could have traveled through the water or something. They are quite unexpected and unpredictable forces”

Yuta bit his bottom lip as he processed what they were saying. “So, just how powerful are my abilities?”

Tae Yong sighed, turning the television off and setting the remote down. “Very,” He answered. “For powers such as yours, you must have had some very heavy impact of some sort. I’m honestly surprised you’re alive right now. From what we scanned, you could destroy anything and everything in unpredictable radiuses. It will also be very hard to control them for a while, they seem to still be adjusting to your body.”

“Will these things prevent me from having the visions too?” Yuta asked, looking down at his wrists before looking up at Tae Yong curiously.

Tae Yong frowned. “You have visions?” Yuta nodded in response.

Johnny and Tae Yong exchanged another glance.

“I think they might? We really mostly designed them to be suited to your strong psionic powers, but I guess visions could work with that. Can you tell me, what sort of visions have you been getting?” Tae Yong asked curiously, as if he were doing some sort of research.

“Just things like buildings on fire and collapsing-” Yuta gasped, looking down at his hands before turning to the other two with wide eyes. “Do you think that has something to do with my powers? I cause all the trouble in the visions I have?”

“Calm down,” Johnny said as he shook his head. “You can’t think like that. You have to know one day you’ll be able to control yourself.”

“But what if I can’t?” Yuta asked in panic, his eyes turning glassy. “What if I put people in danger?”

Tae Yong shook his head. “No, that certainly will not happen. Trust us.”

Yuta didn’t know why he felt the instant need to trust the two guys. Even if he wasn’t sure he trusted them, he just wanted to. Maybe he was desperate to have someone at his side once again, but he nodded anyway. And he felt calm for the first time in a while.

With that being settled, Johnny cleared his throat as he leaned back on his seat. “So, what do you think about moving in here with us? You know, so we can keep a closer eye on your powers and try to run more tests and help you control them?”

Yuta’s eyes slightly widened, taken back by the sudden question. “Uh,” He mumbled, looking down at his hands. “Maybe?”

Si Cheng sat at the windowsill, a leg dangling off while the other was folded up and he rested his elbow on it. He stared out at the city, letting himself take in the loud sounds of car honks and the bright lights of the tall buildings. He sighed.

“What’s wrong?” A voice asked with concern, and he didn’t have to turn to see the frown on Kun’s face.

“Nothing,” Si Cheng said, rather unconvincing.

“Hmm,” Kun hummed, taking a seat across from him. “Does this have something to do with that Yuta boy?”

Si Cheng’s eyes widened the slightest as he turned to look at the older guy. “Am I really that transparent?”

Kun chuckled. “Well, even back home you never paid any attention to those who were courting you and you for sure would have never cared if any of them found themselves in trouble. But this boy? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so stressed.”

Si Cheng sighed, knowing what Kun was saying was true. Never had he found himself worrying so much about anyone that wasn’t a close friend. But this Yuta guy, he had met him a little below a year ago the first day he pretended to be a regular college student to fit in with the humans and he walked into class and the first thing he heard was the weirdest human pick up line. And after that it just continued, and he admitted it was a bit irritating at first, but eventually he didn’t mind. It was rather amusing. And though he didn’t know much about Yuta, he knew he was a genuinely happy and nice guy who felt things deeply and thought deeply. So everything that he was going through at the moment didn’t seem fair.

“He just deserves a better life,” Si Cheng sighed, turning to look out the window once again. “It’s not fair to someone like him to end up in such a sh*tty situation.”

Kun gave Si Cheng a pitiful look. “Nothing is fair. But I think you need to trust he’ll be able to get out of this situation.” There was a pause, and Kun seemed hesitant on what he was going to say next. “Why don’t you go see him? Check on how he’s really doing?”

Si Cheng slowly turned to look at Kun, a disbelieving look on his face. “Really?” The other nodded.

“I mean, he doesn’t remember you, so seeing him from a distance wouldn’t hurt, right?”

So, Si Cheng did as suggested and the next day he woke up early to wait at the convenience store across the university, waiting for Yuta to pass by. But he didn’t pass by. Instead, the boy walked into the store, the door opening with a ding, startling Si Cheng.

Si Cheng held in a gasp when he saw Yuta; the dark bags under his eyes, his messy hair, and chapped lips. And then the later turned around and noticed his presence, being the only two in the store besides the cashier who had gone to the back for a moment.

Yuta didn’t seem to think about it at first, turning his head and walking to the other side of the store. Si Cheng let out a breath of relief, feeling his tense muscles go loose once again. But when he turned around, ready to leave the place, only to find Yuta standing right besides him staring up at him with an unreadable expression, he knew he messed up.

“I’m sorry,” Yuta spoke in a soft tone, and Si Cheng bit his bottom lip. It was the first time he had heard him speak in a while. “But have we met before?” And Si Cheng froze. He felt every muscle in his body tense up and he was sure the rapid pace of his heartbeat wasn’t normal even for someone that wasn’t human like himself.

But then Yuta laughed.

“I’m sorry, nevermind,” Yuta chuckled, the corners of his eyes crinkling as his hand covered his mouth. “It’s a stupid pick-up line. I’m sure if I had ever met you I would remember someone as pretty as you."

Si Cheng was speechless. His breath hitched and he wanted to speak but nothing was coming out of his mouth. Thoughts flowed through his head, none of them able to process clearly. Did Yuta just use the very same pick-up line he had used when they first met? Even in the state he was? Something about that made Si Cheng feel a wave of relief and ease, while also making him sad once again.

Yuta scratched the back of his neck, feeling shy when Si Cheng didn’t say anything in return. “I want to say it worked because you’re smiling, but you’re not saying anything, so…”

Si Cheng was smiling? Oh god, he hadn’t even noticed he was smiling! What was he supposed to say then? “Uh, I,” Si Cheng paused, trying to find the right words, “It was just amusing to hear such cheesy pick-up lines.”

Yuta looked up at him, a slight look of relief on his face. “Yeah, it was stupid, I guess. It just came out.”

Si Cheng nodded, not knowing what else to say. He wanted to introduce himself, sit down with Yuta to get to know him better. But there was something inside of him telling him he couldn’t do that. No matter how much he wanted to, he wasn’t supposed to be talking to him anymore.

“I have to go,” Si Cheng said, looking down at his watch as if he actually had somewhere he needed to be.

There was a flash of disappointment in Yuta’s eyes and Si Cheng wasn’t really sure what to make out of it. He just knew he hated to see the happy look on his face disappear after no being able to smile for a while.

“I have class, so I have to go too,” Yuta said, looking down at his fiddling hands. “But maybe we can see each other again and I can tell you more amusing pick-up lines?”

Si Cheng chuckled unconsciously. “We’ll see about that,” He hummed before walking out, leaving a very baffled Yuta behind. And then he kept walking and walking and walking, a smile plastered on his face, until he got back home and realized what had just happened.

He had just, yet again, become the reason behind Yuta’s smile.

“You look happier today,” Tae Yong said when Yuta walked into the headquarters later on that day before turning his attention back to the game he was playing. “I didn’t think going to school could give someone those feelings.”

Yuta shook his head, taking off his backpack before sitting next to Tae Yong on the couch. “I just saw someone today.”

Tae Yong paused his game and turned to look at Yuta. “Someone,” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “Someone you like? Because you’ve been living here a week now and you’ve done nothing but mope arou-”

Yuta shook his head, rolling his eyes the slightest. “No, I just saw someone cute today and flirted with them. And it felt nice. Like it was a missing part of my daily routine that made everything fit together nicely.”

Tae Yong nodded, a small smile on his face. “I understand. Well, if you ever need to talk about anything, I’m more than just Johnny’s right hand man who helps him deal with all the superhero stuff.”

“Yeah, you’re also the couch potato that does nothing but play video games when he’s not busy helping Johnny or cleaning,” Yuta said with a grin.

“Hey, I do more than just that,” Tae Yong said, ready to defend himself. But before he could, Johnny walked into the room with Jae Hyun following behind as he told him about what a great job he did during his last encounter with Doctor Death.

“I’m telling you, the comments on all the articles are praising you and calling you the defender of the people,” Johnny said, looking down at his tablet and flipping through the tons of articles that had appeared since the last battle. “It looks like we’ll be able to transition into the next phase of our plan soon.”

Johnny looked up from his tablet, noticing the presence of Tae Yong and Yuta in the room. “Oh, you two are here too. Great, Yuta, have you met Jae Hyun?”

Yuta shook his head, looking over at the guy who stood besides Johnny, looking tall, but not as tall as him, and younger by a couple of years.

“Well, Yuta, this is Jae Hyun, also known to the public as ‘Captain J’,” Johnny introduced the younger. Yuta nodded, recognizing the name of the superhero. “And Jae Hyun, this is Yuta, another human with very much potential to become a superhero just like you.”

Jae Hyun smiled at Yuta who looked uncertain with Johnny’s words. “Nice to meet you,” Yuta said with a slight smile. “But I don’t think I have much potential to be a superhero.”

“Nonsense,” Johnny said, walking over to the one person couch and sitting down while Jae Hyun sat on the one on the opposite side. “Yuta has great potential. He just needs to learn how to control himself.”

Yuta sighed, sliding up the sleeves of his jacket to look at the metal bracelets around his wrists. He still hadn’t even taken them off, and he was quite dreading the moment he would have to. He didn’t think he could ever be ready to unleash such powers.

“Is Yuta going to join the group?” Jae Hyun asked curiously, looking from Yuta to Johnny and then back again.

“Eventually, when he is comfortable with his powers,” Johnny looked over at Yuta, “That is the plan.”

Yuta frowned. It wasn’t the first time they had mentioned this superhero group, but he just wasn’t used to the idea. He really didn’t think he could ever be comfortable with such destructive powers, and then thinking about using them out in the city sounded like a nightmare. Like one of his visions. Though he hadn’t had any of those since he put the bracelets on.

“Do you have any other recruitment in mind,” Yuta asked, changing the subject from himself.

“Yes,” Johnny nodded, tapping something in his tablet before he set it down on the coffee table and a sort of hologram screen flashed out. “These two kids we met before: Hae Chan and Mark,” He said as he flicked his wrist and a hologram of two different profiles came on. The one on the left, showing the profile of Mark. He smiled in his picture while there was a series of information shown next to his face, including his date of birth, superpowers, hero name, and many other things. Next to his profile, was Hae Chan’s, showing a picture where he was frowning and the same information that appeared on Mark’s.

“We know these two are working with others and calling themselves ‘The Dream Team’, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to dig up much information on them. My guess if they’re working underground and have someone on their side that is good with computers,” Johnny explained with a series of hand movements as more pictures of Hae Chan and Mark appeared. Some of them during their fight scene with Doctor Death, and some other shady ones of them walking down the streets of Seoul.

“Either way,” Johnny continued, “I don’t think we need them right away. They’re young and immature- mostly Hae Chan- and lose control of their powers easily. Though I do think we should get them in training as soon as possible because they have a lot of potential.”

Johnny flicked his wrist again and another holographic profile came up. This time there was an image of Jae Hyun himself, in his new suit, from his latest fight with Doctor Death. “Of course, we have our first defender, Captain J.” He flicked his wrist, and another profile came up. Tae Yong. “And then we have you,” He said, looking over at the guy in the red hood. “Soon you will join Captain J as TY.”

Tae Yong nodded with his eyes closed. “My training is far enough.”

“And then I will,” Johnny spoke as the next profile, himself, came on. And then he flicked his wrist again and there was Yuta, staring at himself. “And when you’re ready, your time will come.”

Yuta looked down, not able to stand the attention on himself. As if Johnny and Tae Yong could sense that, they exchanged a look before clearing their throats. “And that leads me to something else,” Johnny said as he stood up and looked at everyone. “Follow me.”

Everyone stood up and followed Johnny downstairs to a part of the building where neither Jae Hyun nor Yuta had been to before. It was dark and they couldn’t see anything until Johnny clapped his hands, and one by one, all the lights .

The place was wide and spacious, filled with a series of stations, all with many different sorts of compartments and fighting equipment and-

“A training area,” Jae Hyun said in awe as he took a few steps forward and scanned the entire place.

“Yup,” Johnny nodded, a smile on his face as he turned to face them.

“Since Yuta is living here now but only moping around, and Jae Hyun has just agreed to move in because he’s tired of his small student room, and Tae Yong only cleans and plays video games, I think it is time for this room to come out,” Johnny said, clasping his hands excitedly before he spread his arms wide. “Welcome to the 127 training room, future members of 127!”

--

Hello, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! It was kind of sad and very hard to write and even harder to edit, but I still hope it was good. The plot is really moving and next chapter introduces another character. -J

*cough* *cough*

I'm sick.

~Nae

(Nae is currently in bed sick with a fever and told me to post this because she can barely look at a screen without feeling like her eyes are bleeding.).

Update: We have a poll for what Ten ship we should include. (It won't actually influence the story, we just want to know what everyone wants).