The silent and darkened room of the abandoned log cabin was filled with dim moonlight, the bear rug and wooden chairs in the room illuminated slightly. The fireplace held several burning embers and charcoal from a recent fire. The little room was only about thirty feet by thirty feet, the cozy little feeling of it would warm the hearts of anyone who lived there. Unfortunately, no person lived there now. It had been overgrown and run down for years now, plainly shown by the heavy foliage and grass in the room. The roof was half wood and half tree cover, and there were weeds and flowers growing through the cracks of the floorboard. The silence was abruptly ended as the sound of creaking wood echoed through the room.

Sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, outside of the moonlight, avoiding illumination, was a tall metallic figure. A long blade, extending to almost four feet in length, sat across the figure's legs, its arms moving across the sharpest edge and sharpening it even more. The wind rustled for a moment outside the window, and then another figure was there. The shadow of the new member loomed over the room and plunged the room into even more darkness. The black, furry body with multiple spike like legs extending from its back shifted down from the window and into the room, standing tall with its head down. The metallic figure in the room stopped sharpening its sword.

"Arachnid," the metallic figure said, the robotic and ghost-like voice filling the room hauntingly, "You've returned empty-handed."

"I'm sorry sir. The little brats parents got in the way. I had to kill one of them and kidnap the other," Arachnid explained his excuse.

"Where is the one you've taken?" the robot asked.

"Stored away safely. She won't be escaping for a while. My narcotic bite made sure of that," Arachnid bragged as he opened his mouth, his fangs dripping with green liquid.

"I am still disappointed in you. You promised me the boy," the robot stated, his arm reaching for the handle of the sword.

"I will improve my endeavor to capture him, sir. However as time progresses I doubt things will become easier," Arachnid mentioned.

Suddenly the metal sword was glistening in the moonlight, the tip resting just below Arachnid's chin. Arachnid's eyes widened as he lifted his head, trying to keep the blade from slitting his chin open. The wielder of the blade held it tightly, not moving at all. It was as if he'd turned his body to stone.

"I'd suggest you make it easier Arachnid, or that bear might not be the only rug I collect," the robot threatened as a massive red beam, the sole eye of the robot before him, focused on Arachnid.

Arachnid focused his attention back on the one eye and shivered, "Y-yes sir..."

"Now go. There is an event at the school coming up that will no doubt prove most useful to you in your attack. I suggest you use it wisely."

Arachnid nodded slightly as the blade retracted back into the metal figure's lap. His arm continued to sharpen the edge.

"Well?" the robot questioned, "Are you going to leave?"

Arachnid turned and jumped out of the window, looking back at the cabin as he used his webs to fly through the trees in the overhanging forest. As he left the area it became apparent that this was no regular forest. It was a staged place, some hidden away cabin in a holographic world. No human would ever find him here. But then again, humans weren't the ones hunting for him. Arachnid stole himself a sigh and continued swinging away. How had he gotten himself mixed up in this situation? All he wanted to do was go around and have a few exotic human meals, not mingle with the Dragon Force and try to stifle their progress...

----------

The daylight burned its heat into the ground of the forest floor, the only thing soaking it up were the already dead leaves on the ground. The trees were bare and dying, the late Fall season finally taking full control of the natural world. The cool and gentle breeze tossed up handfuls of dead leaves on the ground and dropped them down somewhere else, constantly upshifting the balance of decaying colors on the floor. There was a pathway between the trees that could be just barely seen as you were traveling it, but for some people who lived in this area, they didn't need to see the path in order to follow it. The pure blue sky and dotted clouds across the canvas above were appealing to the passing eye.

Two individual's walked along the path together, enjoying the natural beauty of the land before them. They walked side by side, their warm smiles shared as they looked up into the skies at the clouds and birds above, and the beautiful colors that hadn't already died down below. It had been one month since the end of the Midnight Horror's reign, and the community was finally beginning to settle down again. People could rest easier now, knowing that somehow the thing keeping them awake was done. It gave them peace of mind for now. Some came up with the theory of a guardian looking over the city, as several other reports kept popping up of strange criminals or events being stopped suddenly. The world was becoming a little more self-aware about the unnatural events occurring across the world.

The Midnight Horror himself was resting and trying to forgive himself for the things he'd done. Being locked away like he was sounded bad, but to him, it was a blessing. Finally, he couldn't hurt anyone anymore, or even consider the action. His power normally activated when he was hungry or put under extreme amounts of stress and pain. In the little room he was in he didn't have to worry about any of those issues, unlike when he lived in the streets. He had opened up a lot, he had nothing else to do anyway, and told Zayne about himself and his past.

His parents abandoned him to his grandparents at age three, and then his grandparents abandoned him at age ten. Since then he'd been in a foster home for a while until he broke out and made a fake identity for himself. It wasn't easy, and living on the streets was difficult, and that was when he found a secret in the city. One evening he was exploring and he found a strange... thing... in the alleys of the city, hidden in a trash can. He refused to give details on what it was, but he said that after he took it he began to have his issues. He was vague in his description of what happened soon after that. He didn't want to strike a nerve in himself or get too detailed on the story. No one argued with it.

Zayne had been thinking about Eli since his nighttime chat with him. The amount of trauma he had to face day in and day out was tremendous. The people who he had killed. The lives he'd destroyed. Even if he had awareness of his decisions he had no control over acting upon them. Yet still, he had to live with the knowledge of their final moments, as fearful and petrified as they were. Zayne couldn't imagine the things he thought about and dreamt about when he did have the chance to sleep. The repeating moments, tormenting him every second of his life as he lived on, forced to acknowledge what he'd done. Zayne wouldn't have been able to live with it. But in that light, it showed something about Eli that Zayne admired.

Any other person might not have been able to live with that knowledge and killed themselves so they wouldn't have to acknowledge it anymore. But Eli wasn't like that. Despite the horrible mistakes he'd made and the things he had to accept, he moved on and tried to fix them. He had the strength to know what had happened and continue on his way, fighting on for a normal life and a balance over his actions. The amount of painstaking strength he had to muster to do that was far beyond anything Zayne muster emotionally. He never considered himself an emotional person, but the past few months and events had shown him just how little he was compared to the world in his own mind.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Aleah asked, his girlfriend who walked alongside him in the massive forest backyard.

Zayne snapped himself out of the world he was in and looked to Aleah with a blank stare before registering that she'd asked him something, replying, "Oh, just some family stuff."

"I get it," Aleah cut off the conversation from continuing any further.

The two finally came to a nice clearing in not only the leaves below but the trees above as well. Nothing blocked their view of the gorgeous sunlight and cloud-dotted sky above. The moment seemed to freeze in time as they stared at the heavens above together, soaking up every minute they could.

"Can I ask you something?" Aleah spoke up, not shifting her gaze from the sky.

"Sure you can," Zayne replied, slightly looking over to her.

"I know this is gonna sound weird and all coming from me to you when normally it would be you to me but, well, I really wanted to go and I thought maybe you'd forgotten but," Aleah turned and looked at Zayne with those big beaming eyes of hope, "Will you take me to the Half Year School Dance?"

Zayne fully turned to her and gave her a thoughtful look over. He put one hand under his chin and the other on his hip, making himself look like he was deep in contemplation. Aleah giggled a bit as he smiled and dropped both hands.

"I would be honored."

----------

The group of four friends, Zayne, Aries, Austin, and Aleah all sat around their lunch table eating quietly. They'd agreed on a new plan for lunch. Eat all the food first, then talk about whatever they wanted to. The past few days they'd noticed a considerable decrease in food consumption, mostly because of their conversations, which caused upset stomachs and constant snack eating at home. Zayne and Aleah had gotten most of the trouble for that. Aries and Austin didn't have that issue at home. Their parents didn't give a crap what they ate as long as they paid for the food later. Neither had a job, but they ate the snacks anyway. Somehow they managed to always pay it off though. It amazed Zayne to this day what those two could get away with somehow. He didn't admire them though. One day they'd get what was coming to them.

"So," Aleah spoke up first, swallowing the last bite of her food, "Opinions on no more Midnight Horror?"

"Oh my god I can finally sleep easier," Aries quickly replied, finishing up his own lunch.

"I could've lived with it either way," Austin brushed off, setting aside his tray.

"Then again it might not be gone," Aleah wondered.

"What, you think it just up and left on vacation or something?" Austin joked.

"It's just weird that one night it's there, then the next it's not and the only evidence we have is the massive crater in town," Aleah elaborated her thoughts.

"Apparently it was on National News," Aries mentioned.

"I saw that, and that led me to a really big research project," Aleah added in.

"Research? Of what?" Austin asked curiously.

"Apparently, after diving deeper into it, these craters and explosions aren't the first one worldwide. There have been hundreds of other incidents across the world that are unexplainable other than strange alien fights and superhuman encounters. The Midnight Horror, however, was the only one to have a pre-fight record. All of the other craters and explosions have been totally random and unprecedented," Aleah explained.

After that, she began to delve into more details on the specific articles. As she did Zayne began to realize that they were the same articles he'd looked at when he was first trying to study and research his powers. The articles he'd read before Arachnid rudely ruined his life forever. Zayne exhaled deeply and reserved himself when thinking about the moment. He had been working, along with his regular training, to control his impulses and aggravation towards the Mythic monster. He'd been successful thus far in controlling his anger. Doing so also helped him control his Dragon's Heart. Zayne had made an interesting discovery regarding the thing within his body.

His emotions directly affected the Dragon's Heart. His anger and lust for revenge had been a huge trigger for the Dragon's Heart, thus why he kept having random explosions of power. That also explained his constantly changing muscle formations. Once he'd let go and relieved a lot of stress within his body he had come to the realization that his body loosened up, and his muscles found a more solid spot to rest in. Zayne had also discovered that being happy and excited affected the Dragon's Heart less so than most other emotions, which was good for public settings. The most he'd get from being happy was a body temperature increase. Exercising and being active was also a key trigger for the Dragon's Heart.

Zayne returned his focus to the conversation Aleah and the others were having. Aleah had done a lot more research than Zayne had thought to go through with. Aleah was confused by the fact that the government all denied the existence of the events, despite ample evidence being given of their being. To Aleah and the other two this was stupid and strange, but to Zayne it made sense. He'd learned from Ver that the MRaCD was a worldwide department of multiple branches in each government. That meant that they could have unified coverage of these incidents. Despite this, the news still leaked out, and somehow the larger population was learning about the strange events slowly. Thankfully no one so far had connected all the dots and found the big picture, but the way things were going, that wasn't too far off.

"What about you Zayne? You're offley quiet about this whole thing," Aries asked, getting everyone to look to him in unison.

"What do I think about it? Well I mean I looked at pretty much the same stuff as her in my own research and I figured it was just some government experiment going on worldwide. I don't know honestly," Zayne lied.

"You? Doing research on mysterious explosion and events across the world? Who are you and what have you done with Zayne?" Austin replied in disbelief.

"You'd be surprised what you will do when you're bored and have nothing else to do," Zayne replied.

Aries and Austin started going off on the discussion even more. They were more into it than Zayne and Aleah were. While they continued the discussion of monsters and government involvement Aleah and Zayne turned to each other and started a new conversation.

"So I figured that since the Mid Year School Dance is in two months, you could come over to my place, maybe once a week, and just hang out around my family so they can warm up and let us go," Aleah suggested.

"You know that's weird," Zayne replied.

"What? You coming to my place?" Aleah asked frantically.

"No no no, the fact that I haven't met your parents yet," Zayne quickly corrected.

"Oh. Yeah," Aleah gently slapped a hand against her forehead, "I guess you haven't yet have you?"

"So once a week you said? What day were you thinking?" Zayne asked.

"I don't know, Wednesday?" Aleah threw out.

Zayne debated it for a moment, then nodded, "Sounds good. So every Wednesday I'll come home with you. My aunt and uncle won't mind."

Aleah bubbled up with joy and threw both arms around Zayne gleefully, "Oh we're gonna have so much fun! My parents are both great! We'll have so many laughs!"

"Awesome. So, tomorrow we start?" Zayne asked.

"Sure!"

----------

It never occurred to Zayne, not until now that was, but in reality, Ver was doing her part in the hunt for Arachnid. Zayne was in the cave base preparing for Ver's arrival for his regular training, wrapping his arms in cloth to try and soften any blows he might deal out. Zayne had learned the hard way that punching a cannonball, even if it was a hologram, was painful. They'd found out quickly afterward however that when Zayne had something, anything really, in between his knuckles and the thing he was hitting, it lessened the pain factor by a lot. Since cloth was cheap and indispensable to them, they decided that it was the best option for protection. Ver had ordered a pair of special gloves for Zayne to use, but they wouldn't arrive until the next few days. As Zayne wrapped his arms he had been staring at the satellite scans on the monitor.

Ver hadn't been actively looking for Arachnid, or even talking about it really, which gave Zayne the impression that she didn't care. He'd never even considered the fact that the satellite scan for Arachnid was indeed a form of investigation and search. Zayne had been out for a day and a half before waking up, and the scan was going on even then too, which meant Ver had started it almost immediately after she'd found out who was really responsible for the accident. Ver didn't give any physical signs of action, because she'd already begun her electronic action. It might not have been much to the eye, but Ver had linked up almost every single advanced satellite scanner to try and find Arachnid, no matter where he was. Once the scan found him he wouldn't be able to hide anywhere. Zayne felt a measure of comfort as he recognized this truth.

Zayne turned his attention to his palms as he wrapped them up, along with his knuckles, trying to ensure that all of it was effectively covered and protected. As he did so his eyes trailed up to a surveillance camera inside the cave base. It was a small little screen in between the monitor for Arachnid's scan and the monitor that usually kept up with Zayne's vitals. The camera itself was normal. There was nothing out of the ordinary about it or its position. But Zayne gained a curious question as he stared at the thing the camera was focused on. He'd vaguely been given an answer, but seeing it now, unopened and mysterious, Zayne wondered what training door three held behind it. Ver had said more intense training for when he'd mastered the basics.

Ver had gone in there several times Zayne noticed. She would be in there for a few hours, then come back out sweaty and tired, drinking half of the Atlantic Ocean in bottles of water afterward. If it made her work, then what kind of difficult scenarios would he be faced against? Currently, the only scenarios he'd been tasked with in room one and two was dodging and countering cannon balls, and trying to avoid being swallowed alive by the Earth while also trying to save a little girl from the same fate. So far he'd done pretty well, but that would all change when Ver bumped him up to difficulty. Zayne begged for a challenge now. He was getting better, but the difficulty one was getting boring and predictable.

"Hey, you're already here," Ver said as she stepped up over the edge of the entrance and stepped inside.

"Yeah. Just been wrapping myself up for training," Zayne stated as he held up one arm, the cloth covering every bit of skin visible.

"Good. Then let's jump right into it."

----------

The metallic door opened and Zayne stepped in, the overhead light switching on and filling the room with its dim glow. The metal bars on the other end of the room illuminated weakly, showing Zayne where he should stop. In his right hand was a bag of fast food, some of the most filling and most expensive stuff they could find. He stepped within a foot of the bars and extended the bag into the other room, also sharing a genuine smile. He could barely see the figure on the other side, but he knew he was there. The judgmental green eyes made sure he knew he was there.

"We tried experimenting. Just tell us what you like and don't like and we'll adjust," Zayne said as he shook the bag of food.

"Feeding time again?"

Zayne sighed and lowered the bag, "I told you to stop thinking like that. You're not an animal."

"You and I both know that's exactly what I am."

"If you keep working on control then sooner or later you're going to be like any other person walking down the street," Zayne argued.

"I'll never get there."

Zayne gave up. He dropped the food on the floor and let out a sharp breath. He kept staring at the food for a few moments before a skinny, fleshy hand reached out from the darkness and grabbed it. Zayne was taken aback by the sight of a human hand instead of what he'd expected.

"You got back into a human form?" Zayne asked as he looked back up at the figure, hope filling his eyes.

The figure inside scoffed and opened the bag, "Part of me."

"That's still better than last time," Zayne acknowledged.

"Not much," the figure grumbled.

"Even by a little, it's still better."

The figure stopped shuffling through food and looked up, staring Zayne right in the eyes, squinting. It set the food down and clasped its hands together. Zayne could see the movements fluidly, and his eyes were already adjusting to see the full form of the individual on the other side of the bars.

"Why are you so interested in me?" Eli asked, confusion in his tone.

Zayne smiled warmly, "Because I was like you. I was scared, confused, and fearful. But I moved past that. I know you can too."

Eli scoffed, "It'll never go away. The memories are already burnt into my mind."

"So cover them up," Zayne replied.

Eli gave Zayne a curiously raised eyebrow.

"If those memories won't go away, if they just won't leave you no matter what you do, then cover them up with better memories," Zayne elaborated, trying to say it in such a way that Eli could get the message.

"Can't really do that when I'm in here now can I?" Eli pessimistically replied.

"Every memory has a beginning and an end. You've come to the end of your horrible memories. Now it's the time for some good ones. Control is key Eli. Control is all you need to take a step into that new life," Zayne eagerly urged on as he turned and started heading for the door again.

Zayne was inches from stepping out the door when he stopped. He looked back towards Eli.

"I'll be back after training and fix that ceiling light," he promised.

"Leave it. I'd rather not see that disgusted expression on your face when you see what I look like right now," Eli demanded.

Zayne shrugged, "I'm still fixing the light."

Eli let out a low grunt as he reached back down and picked up the bag of food. As the door closed he pulled out a wrapped up burger in it. His chest let out a most unsatisfied gurgle, followed by the unpleasant feeling of his skin expanding. Quickly Eli unwrapped the food and took a bite, allowing the flavor and chewed up bits to enter his stomach. The expanding feeling subsided and the sudden instinctive urge to hunt ended abruptly. He took another bite, trying to enjoy the meal as best he could. Inside the bag he could still smell more food, like fries and even a soda. He let out a grateful sigh.

With his right hand he kept eating, but Eli raised his left arm to his vision and focused on the scales and flesh. He closed his eyes and harnessed the primal energy resting within him. His left arm began to glow bright green, the whole arm resonating with green energy, just as Zayne's arm had done but with a different color. When the power vanished and Eli opened his eyes his arm was back to its normal, fleshy, human form. A small victory. So minor that Eli almost overlooked it. But then he paused and admired his arm, seeing the full recovery it had made. He let a tiny, almost invisible smile break free. Even if it was small, it was still a victory.