A few minutes had passed since the detective had informed the teenagers about what had happened in the city. While everyone else mourned, the warrior hoisted the redhead onto his shoulder and laid him down beneath a tree. Emily let a few tears fall when she heard Matias say, "They've confirmed all the deaths — one hundred and fifty…" The adolescents felt guilty for not having acted during that situation. The officer kept his gaze down and clenched his fists. Jayden spoke up: "Surgiri, you should go — your colleagues need you."
Matias, looking at the ground: "You're right."
Tyron, curious: "I wonder if it has anything to do with that place Antonio kept staring at."
Matias, raising his head: "Which place?"
Tyron: "A restaurant."
Matias, thoughtful: "Given the schedule and that restaurant… it's very possible he went to attack his final target. But in the middle of the afternoon it would have been a scandal—that would have alerted people, and some of the police force would have left various places in case of hostages."
The patrol radio crackled again. After hearing the message, the detective's face hardened with fury as he walked toward the unconscious redhead. Alexa took his arm to stop him and said, serious, "Remember we're on the same side — share your information."
Matias, angry: "All the shooters tested positive for the same combination of drugs and proteins as him! I'm interrogating him right now. If he gives up his supplier—" he pointed at Antonio.
Jayden, rubbing his ear: "I don't think you can, Surgiri. The kid is practically in a coma, like he's paused. Even if I heal his body, the wounds aren't the problem; it's the junk flowing through his system that keeps him like that."
Matias, furious: "Don't you see there must be some bastard who planned this? He could have another scheme. Say whatever you want, but I doubt that kid is the mastermind behind those attacks!"
Jayden, walking to his porch: "Good luck — you're not a doctor, and you won't wake him up anytime soon."
Matias, angry: "Then help me. Help Guarly. Use any of your resources to get information so I can at least be calmer about whether there'll be another attack!"
Francesca, serious: "Mr. Matias is right. Help us so we can save lives."
Jayden, eyes closed: "It's your city. You should be able to find a solution on your own."
Emily: "Yes, but right now we don't need that — we need to act fast. Please, master, give us something that helps!"
Jayden opened his eyes. "If you depend so much on my abilities, you'll never reach where you want. That's why I train you."
Tyron: "Teach us something now that can wake Antonio up!"
Jayden, looking at them sternly: "What do you want from me? I'm tired of this. You've learned basics and still get beaten by ordinary people. You crave more knowledge when you can't even use what you already have properly."
The brunette studied the argument. Imagining how many families must be suffering motivated her to step forward. With shining eyes she said, "We're on the right track. I know we're pathetic, useless, and all that — we depend on you a lot — but we're not asking this as concerned citizens. We're asking as your students who want to help the innocent!" Those words made the warrior think. After a moment he said, "Fine. I'll teach you something a bit advanced that might be rarely useful. Understood?" The teenagers nodded and sat around him.
Jayden, serious: "At some point during training you've probably felt a warmth or a strange sensation…" He watched them nod. "That was Fiu. Basically, it's the origin of all existence that's constantly growing. Everything has Fiu, but only living beings can manipulate it and increase their own amount."
Francesca: "Is that Fiu what makes your healing work?"
Jayden: "Yes. Since you won't fully understand it yet, I just give a little of my Fiu to whoever I touch, accelerating their regeneration."
Matias: "Oh — now I understand how you fixed my patrol car."
Jayden blinked at Matias with deadly intent. "You are not a student. BE QUIET."
Matias, startled: "Yes — yes, sorry!"
Jayden: "Good. To do the next thing I need you to concentrate so you can channel that training sensation."
The youths closed their eyes and breathed in and out. After a few minutes they all said at once, "Ready."
Jayden: "Now imagine that sensation as if it were a thread."
The image in the kids' minds became a bright mass that, when they tried to picture it as a thread, took a thousand shapes. It was flexible, so forming a stable, concrete shape required effort. After several minutes Emily and Francesca managed it; the rest finished in double the time.
Jayden: "Okay. Last step: connect that thread — one end to your hand and the other to your head. With any being with whom you have an emotional bond, you'll be able to enter their mind. The condition is that both parties must share an emotion of affection. This technique is called Connection."
Emily was the first to succeed, followed by Francesca, then Tyron, and finally Alexa, who was sweating to keep the Fiu-thread shape. When the warrior accepted that they could do it, he said, "Now whoever's closest to that little guy, touch him with your hand. Focus on a feeling you share so your Fius synchronize…"
The dark-haired boy opened his eyes. "He's my best friend — or at least he's mine. But before I do it, what exactly will this technique do?"
Jayden looked up at the sky. "If he were awake, you could interact via telekinesis. Since he's… well, asleep, you'll see thousands of images his brain has recorded, including his fantasies. But you must be ready: if you feel him waking, get out immediately." The warning worried the brunette, who gripped Tyron's shoulder and whispered, "You shouldn't do it if—" but Tyron interrupted firmly and confidently, "It's not about what I want — he's my best friend. I have to take responsibility and help him fix his mistakes."
Tyron crouched beside the redhead, closed his eyes, and placed his hand on his friend's forehead. At first nothing happened. Jayden barked, "What did you do wrong now, idiot?" Tyron, confused, answered, "I did everything like you said: the thread, the hand, the head… and nothing…" Jayden smacked the back of Tyron's head. The boy complained but was quickly reprimanded for not searching for the specific feeling that worked as a key. Tyron tried again with no result. Jayden, annoyed, grabbed his shoulder. "Focus, you piece of—. It's not a common feeling like sadness or fear; everyone has those. It's something that connects the two of you…!" Tyron's face flushed with shame — he was tormenting himself with guilt over how savagely he had beaten the redhead.
Jayden shook Tyron. "You must feel bad about having hit him, yes — but don't think of yourself as the guy who beat him senseless. Remember why you gave him the title best friend. Use that reason as strength to help him and to help Guarly now."
Tyron recalled the first time he and Antonio bonded. He smiled faintly and followed the steps to make the Connection. When he touched his friend's shoulder he was pulled inward and saw thousands, perhaps millions, of images from his friend's life. He tumbled through the redhead's thoughts; his friend's voice echoed across that space, each with a different idea. The journey seemed endless until Tyron slammed into a wall — a huge screen showing his own fist striking. He floated, trying to find something to hold on to, but nothing in there felt real. The dizziness nearly made him vomit. While this occurred, the blonde leaned toward Jayden and tugged a sleeve to whisper, "Master, what happens if he doesn't get out in time if the bespectacled one wakes?" Jayden whispered back: "Most likely Tyron's mind will get trapped inside that kid's head." Francesca watched her friend, solemn and immobile.
Jayden approached Tyron. "Okay, kid, you're probably already in. Now comes the hard part: something that you don't know what it looks like and must find. But first things first — if you're floating, imagine a path. That'll let you move."
The warrior's words echoed inside that space. Tyron tried to speak but nothing came. Jayden's voice rang out again: "Don't try to talk. Nothing will come through. Just do as I say!" Tyron shrugged and imagined a path. Immediately, thousands of rocks gathered and he fell at high speed, crashing. When he stood up, sore, he saw the path heading backward, distancing him from the giant image of his fist. To the sides were the boy's fantasies — millions of dreams — and overhead were family memories with his mother. Floating through the air were memories of homework and time off. The path branched, but whenever he stepped the route collapsed. At the end he found nothing strange, so irritated he started jumping and floated again. He dove into the redhead's memories with his mother: every birthday and family celebration where the boy had only minutes with her. In one memory the child stared at a portrait of himself and his mother as a baby. Emerging from those memories like from a great lake, he returned to the path. Looking down, he noticed a rock had risen when he jumped. Under the path he saw images where the boy cut himself to get attention, scenes of brutal beatings from him and Kiev. Tyron felt discouraged seeing how they hit Antonio. Passing his fist again he encountered a gym with a massive sign reading "Caída." He kept walking and came upon a muscular man — but he couldn't help smiling a little because the man was far shorter than one would expect for such a build.
Tyron saw the green-haired muscular man handing his friend the whole suit, the needles, and the weapons. He returned to the path to head out, but midway everything began to glow. Antonio's voice thundered; multiple copies of the redhead poured from the memories and grabbed him. Tyron struck free, dodging the others and running as fast as he could toward the exit. Just as he grabbed the thread to leave, he heard Alexa's voice cry, "Master — don't do it!"
Tyron fell backward onto the ground. Antonio couldn't even open an eye before Jayden knocked him out again with a punch. Tyron worriedly said, "Hey! Why did you hit him?" Jayden answered calmly, "Two reasons. Number one — he might see my cabin and the trees and want to become my student. Number two — you're wearing your vigil suits and you're not covering your faces, and besides, it's not like he bled." At that moment a drop of blood fell from Antonio's nose, so Jayden touched him and healed it. "Well, maybe I did make him bleed a little," he added, "but it's nothing compared to how that idiot left him." Tyron's guilt returned, but Emily interrupted: "Did you find who supplies the weapons and drugs?"
Tyron, sure: "Yes — a short man who runs a gym called Caída near the center."
Matias: "Perfect. You go to that place and do your best to stop as many as you can. I'll take this one to the station." He began to lift Antonio.
Tyron grabbed the officer's wrist. "You can't. If you arrest him you'll ruin his life."
Matias, stern: "Are you crazy? He hurt people. They may be criminals, but he can't be free to take drugs again and carry out violence. I'm sorry kid, but it's my duty." He pulled his hand away.
Alexa: "Tyron's right. He's our age — he can't have a criminal record yet. Also consider he committed those attacks while drugged and under someone else's orders. He doesn't deserve that punishment."
Matias, furious, began dragging Antonio toward the patrol car. "And you expect us to leave him alone while we go after his boss? Besides, how will we explain to the other vigilante? Someone needs to be arrested in Erinios's mask and suit!"
Emily: "We'll see what to do. We can pin this on someone else, even the boss."
Matias, angry, shoved Antonio into the patrol car. "No — still too many things to explain and—"
Jayden slammed a rock into the ground near them so that everyone looked. He flashed them a manic smile. "I'll help with the explanations. Leave this kid with me and go solve your city's problems. But every time he tries to wake up I'll put him back to sleep." They all agreed and left Antonio in Jayden's care. As they climbed into the patrol car, Jayden shouted, "Hey, you idiot! What about your bokken?" When there was no answer, he smacked Tyron on the head.
Later that afternoon in the city, on the roof of the building facing the gym with the sign "Caída," the teenagers prepared. The blue-clad girl tossed a board she'd found in a dumpster to Tyron. They broke in, smashing the storefront windows, but found everything neat: lights on, machines intact, everything polished so you could see your reflection in the wall. The turquoise-clad girl asked, "Are you sure this is the place?"
The yellow-clad boy replied, "Yes. Everything is how I saw it — the machines and all, but this isn't where they gave the weapons to Antonio. This way — follow me!" Tyron kicked open the dark storage room door and found a switch on the wall. He flipped it. The lights came on, revealing an empty space — not even any shelves. Three of them grew frustrated. Francesca decided to search thoroughly. She went through a door from the storage room that led to a parking lot and found a pair of tire marks. Emily took pictures with her phone and sent them to the detective. Tyron threw the board and banged his head on the wall, yelling in pain from the bump Jayden had given him.
Alexa, approaching Francesca: "Do you think they left long ago?"
Francesca, looking out to the street: "It doesn't matter if they left a while ago or just now. We won't let him get away."