I didn't feel good about having Topher here. Something was off about him. "Not another step." Alex said to Topher but this only made him chuckle.

"I got you people titled, huh? Don't worry, amigos. I'm not gonna hurt you." He said to us, we weren't his friends though. And we never would be.

"¿Quién eres tú? Do I know you?" Molly asked him, if they did know each other I don't think it would be going like this for a reunion.

"No, muñeca. Not yet. ¿Cómo te llamas?" He asked us, there was no way in hell I'd give him my name.

"Did you follow her home? 'Cause I'll kick your ass right now." Chase said before getting in his face.

"Not quite fast enough, lindo." Topher said to him, how did he know that?

"Let's ask some questions first." Alex said to us. I didn't want to ask any questions.

"Ah, the leader, Eh? I'd shake your hand, but doesn't look like we're there yet." Topher said to him, he was right.

"Who are you?" Alex asked him, a stranger. That's who he was.

"He's an undercover cop. He's gonna bust us and send us back to our parents who'll murder us, or he's just a cold-blooded killer and he's gonna murder us right here, or he's a blackmailer and he's gonna demand money, which we don't have- -we will end up murdered." Gert said, she was thinking to far ahead.

"Everyone take a deep breath, ok? If you saw a little girl pick up a car, you'd check it out, too. Muñeca is a hero, for real." Topher said to us, if I saw what he saw I wouldn't do anything.

"This guy on the street was messing with this lady, and I tried to talk him out of it...with my fists. I had to protect her." Molly said to us, now I was all down for helping people. But I'd at least do it from a distance.

"You don't think to mention this to anyone?" Gert asked Molly, even if she did the response would've been the same.

"I'm mentioning it now." Molly said to us, it was a bit too late.

"When I heard them talk about the girl with yellow eyes, I had to check it out. Did I think it would lead me to a...mansión arruinada?" Topher asked us, he wasn't staying. Not at all.

"He means 'ruined mansion.' It's so poetic." Molly said to us, please don't tell me she was falling for this guy.

"But now that I'm here, give me the name of your decorator, 'cause this place is dope as shit!" Topher said to us, I couldn't deal with him speaking anymore.

"Cone of silence!" Nico said to him before trapping him.

"Finally, I never thought we'd get him to shut up." I said to her with a smile.

"He can't hear us now. What do we do with him? Discuss." Nico said to us.

"Let's get rid of him." Chase said to us.

"I'm with Chase." Alex said to us.

"So am I." I said to them.

"Isn't he just like us? So what? We find safety, then just abandon everybody else?" Karolina said to us, but he wasn't like us at all.

"We are Brentwood people." Gert said to us, that had nothing to do with anything.

"That's wrong. Let him stay. The cops aren't even looking for us anymore." Molly said to us, but how could we trust him.

"Who knows if we can trust this kid?" Nico asked us, we couldn't.

"We know nothing about him." I said to them and I didn't want to learn about him either.

"Yeah. I mean, look at him. He's all- -" Chase said to us he couldn't finish his sentence as he was cut off by Karolina.

"Homeless? Dirty? Hungry?" Karolina asked us.

"Uh, hello? Gert, stand up for this guy." Molly said to us, she couldn't. We didn't know him.

"In the 100-yard dash between my anxiety and my idealism, I'm ashamed to say my anxiety is winning. I'm a hypocrite. It's official." Gert said to us, there's no reason for her to feel ashamed at all.

"Don't apologize. Why should we risk letting a stranger in here?" Alex asked us, we all continued trying to decide.

"You know, my parents invested something for this exact situation. Do you remember the cartridge we found at Graciela's house? Inside is a serum that will wipe your whole hard rive. That 17-page term paper you call your memory? Poof." Gert said to us, we should use it.

"Great. Let's do that, then." Chase said to her.

"I agree." I said to them.

"No. Let's not. It's from our parents, remember? They're bad people." Molly said to us, but that wouldn't make us them.

"If we use it, especially on a kid, doesn't that make us just like them?" Alex asked us, I couldn't tell if it did.

"You guys." Nico said to us, I saw that Topher's eyes were orange. Like the color Molly's turn.

"What the...?" Chase asked before Topher punched the barrier away.

"No. You guys, he's not going anywhere." Molly said us, Old Lace went and smelled him.

"So...what is it?" Topher asked us, I thought it was pretty obvious.

"It's a 'she'." Molly said to him.

"She's a rescue." Nico said to him.

"So her breed is unclear." Karolina said to him.

"Pit mix, maybe?" Chase added.

"I was thinking more Great Dane." I said to him, before Old Lace went back to her area.

"So a girl with glowing eyes, a witch with a magic stick, and now a stray pup who had Godzilla for a dad. Feels like I'm in the right place." Topher said to us but he wasn't. We weren't a homeless shelter for the gifted.

"Yes. See, maybe I had to become a vigilante in order to find someone just like me. To bring in the eighth member of, you know, whatever we are." Molly said to us, she need to think about this for a second.

"Ok, Molly slow down." Alex said to her, this was a complete random guy. God knows what he could to us.

"He's a stranger." Chase said to her.

"He's got powers just like me. That can't be just a coincidence." She said to us.

"It still doesn't mean we can't trust him." I said to her, I got closer to Chase. I felt uneasy.

"Hey, let's not get ahead of ourselves. It's late, and everyone has a lot of questions. You sleep there." Nico said while pointing to somewhere.

"She sleeps here." Gert said while pointing to Old Lace.

"I'm going to bed. My parents murdered my friend and cost me someone I really about, so this guy? Not that important to me." Alex said before walking away. We all went away.

"Is there a lock on our door? I don't feel safe with it being unlocked." I said to Chase as we went to our room. He looked at the door.

"There is but even if there is a lock we know what he can do. But I will do all I can to protect you." Chase said while locking the door. He then walked over to me. "Now, everything will be ok." He said to me before I led down. He led next to me.

"Ok, but don't let me go. I'm scared." I said to him before pulling his arm around me. He kissed me.

"I can promise you I won't." He said to me with a smile. I rested my head on his chest and went to sleep. The only time I woke up was when Gert woke everyone up. Which was great.

"Guys!" She shouted waking us all. This had to be worth it. Gert told us everything before we set out to find Molly and Topher in this mansion. "Hey, Molly?" Gert asked before we entered the dining space.

"They work with rocks. Does that make any sense to you?" We heard Molly say before we entered the room.

"Hey. Me and Molly whipped up some chow." Topher said to us, everything looked fresh.

"So this is why you left? Explain the little remodelling job upstairs." Gert said to us, it had been a little while before we'd found them.

"We assumed you were gone for good. And by 'assumed', I mean 'hoped'." Chase said to him, I was hoping he was gone as well.

"You showed me kindness, amigo, I'm showing it back. Had to get past your 'guard dog' first. What's this?" Topher said to us, the only person who'd shown him kindness was Molly.

"My guard dog." Chase said while holding the Fistigons.

"You people are muy interesante. Is there something going on here that I need to know about?" Topher asked, couldn't he tell what was going on.

"I think you know too much already." Nico said while looking at Molly.

"Sorry...but he might be my relative. Isn't that nuts?" Molly asked us, that was nice and all but about the food.

"Where did your relative get all this food?" Chase asked while looking he table.

"It's called urban foraging." Molly said to us, that was no different from stealing.

"Is that like artisanal stealing?" Alex asked us.

"Because it sure does look like it." I said to them while looking at how much there was.

"No, man. Stolen goods? That ain't me. I asked permission first. Go ahead, make yourself a plate. No? Look, I can see you guys aren't...sure about me." Topher said to us, there was no way I was touching that food.

"You're right. We aren't." Alex said to him, at least he said what everyone was thinking.

"So I'm gonna be honest. I know who you are. You been all over the news. Pretty hard to miss, you ask me." He said to us, so what did he want with us. A bounty.

"You should leave." Chase said while getting his Fistigons ready.

"Oye. Cálmate, hombre. Think about it. You know why you can trust me? Because I don't need you. I've already got this whole street-life thing wired. You guys? You need all the help you can get." Topher said to us, he wasn't talking about me surely. I'd stolen at least $100 since we'd been out here.

"We're doing fine, thanks." Karolina said to him, we truly were and we had a mansion.

"We have money and a house. A mansion may I add, we're doing fine." I said to him while crossing my hands.

"Are you? You can't even say yes to good food. That kind of pride is just some rookie shit. Us street kids, we stick together. We give and we take...and that's how we survive. I have skills, knowledges you can use- -" Topher said to us, like what exactly.

"Oh, yeah? Like where to dumpster dive?" Chase asked while looking at the food.

"Damn right. This ain't Brentwood, you fool." Topher said to us, I didn't trust him at all.

"Ok, so what's in it for you?" Alex asked him.

"Claro! I like sleeping indoors...in a bed." Topher said to us, that wasn't much of an offer.

"Thanks for the offer. We'll think about it." Nico said to him.

"Look, I'm just saying. Rich kid runaways...you gotta be extra careful. You're like house cats out in the wild. I remember this one dude- -good-looking, deluxe family...but when folks on the street found out that there was a reward on him, they didn't hesitate to collect. He just...hasn't built that loyalty out here, you know? Not that I would do that, you know? It's just, not everyone is as trustworthy as me. Enough of all that, please. Who wants quiche?" He said to us, I still wasn't trusting him. I used my mind to get me a pastry.

"I think this ones gluten-free." Gert said before walking away.

"I saw him eat one of these. It's not poison." Karolina said before I walked out with my pastry. It was all I needed and I didn't need to be around him. I then walked back in once he left.

"You're not hungry either? There's something about that guy that makes me lose my appetite." Chase said to us, seeing all this food made me hungry.

"Maybe you're just jealous...or threatened." Chase said to her, he didn't have a reason to be.

"What? Why would I be jealous?" Chase asked while looking at Karolina.

"Because he's handsome and street smart, and a really good provider." Karolina said to him.

"As much as I love a guy like that. Chase is the only person I want to be with. Is anyone going to eat that pastry?" I asked before taking it as I didn't get a response.

"We should all feel threatened. He's hiding something." Nico said to us, after I ate the pastry I sat on the counter that Chase leaning on.

"Whatever he's done, it's nothing compared to our parents." Alex said while looking at the board.

"Guess someone couldn't sleep last night." Gert said as we all took it in.

"You ok?" Karolina asked him.

"As long as Pride pays for what they've done, I am." Alex said to us, they never would.

"You put your hair back." Nico said to him, I looked at him. He really had.

"I lost my focus. But I'm back now, and we still have an earthquake to stop." Alex said to us, I didn't want to think about that.

"Yeah, except now we got a new distraction." Chase said while motioning with his arm out the door.

"Molly thinks he's her long-list brother." Nico said to us, this was never going to go down well. After a while I went to my room and tried to discover more of my powers. After a while we were all gathered up. We were running.

"Where are we going?" Chase asked Topher and Molly.

"Are we jogging to Brentwood?" Gert asked us.

"I'm to tired to run." I said to them before we saw 3 cars.

"Awesome!" Molly said loudly.

"Wait. Three cars? We don't have the money for this." Chase said to us, not at all. We barely had enough for one.

"You don't need any. I got a gang of free vouchers from a Hollywood Hills party I crashed. Alex, you and Gert get in the first car. Chase you go with Molly and Y/n. And Nico you're with me. Come on. Your girlfriend isn't here anyway." Topher said to them all. I got into the car and immediately fell asleep on Chase's shoulder. When I woke up we were at school. Alex and Gert looked over the wall.

"Ok. We got 15 minutes while everybody's in all-school assembly." Alex said to us, that was one thing I never missed.

"I even miss all-school assembly." Gert said before they both got off the boxes they were stood on.

"Once you're inside, straight down the hallway. Then go up to the second floor." Alex said to us, I had someone I needed to see.

"Take the main staircase." Gert said to us, he'd get caught then.

"Shouldn't he take the side stairs?" Nico asked that seemed like the better option.

"Then he'll run into the Vape Team." Chase said to them, they were irritating but nice people.

"The kids with vape pens." Gert said to him.

"They're so annoying. 'Sick clouds, brah'." Molly said to us.

"When they're not vaping their alright people." I said to her.

"You guys, stop. First door to your right is the computer lab. Back of the room there's a wood cabinet. Inside is a safe. 19-3-26, right, left- -Give me your phone, I'll write it down." Alex said to him before Topher offered his phone. He then write everything down. "Do not speak to anyone." Alex said to him while handing the phone back.

"Not that anyone here has anything to say." Nico said to him, that would be true.

"It's not that bad, Nico." Chase said to us.

"It truly is." I said to him.

"It's not that good, either." Gert said to him.

"Got it?" Alex asked Topher.

"I survived foster care, no? I think I can handle a bunch of fresas." Topher said to us, I think he was underestimating how bad these people are.

"Fresas. It means spoiled rich kids." Molly said to us, he was with some and I don't see him complaining.

"Like us?" Gert asked them.

"Like we used to be." Molly said before Topher left us. He climbed over the wall and went on his way. We all watched. When we felt another earthquake I immediately held onto Chase.

"Another earthquake?!" Molly got out unfortunately yes.

"Is this is? Is this the one?" Gert asked us.

"This can't be it. We haven't been able to do all that we can yet." I said to them all.

"I've got you. Stay calm." Chase said while putting his arm around me.

"Nobody move." Nico said to us, I wasn't planning to.

"Topher's stuck in there!" Alex shouted, the rumbling then stopped. What a relief.

"Ok, that...wasn't too bad." Nico said to us, it really wasn't.

"You bit ok?" Chase asked Gert and I.

"I wasn't even scared." I said to him trying to brush everything over.

"Not even in theory." Gert said to us, she was scared still.

"I loved it." Molly said to us with a smile.

"That alarm means we got about two seconds before earthquake protocol kicks in." Alex said before it kicked in right on cue.

"All students proceed to the parking lot for a mandatory head count." The P.A. System went off, we had to go.

"There's Topher!" Molly said to us, we had to do something.

"We gotta get that computer." Alex said to us, we did.

"We gotta get Topher!" Molly said to us.

"Ok, come on, you guys, we're going in. Keep your heads down, we'll disappear into the chaos." Nico said to us, this was going to be easy.

"Chase, Y/n and I will head to the lab." Alex said to us, I was down to go to the lab.

"Molly, we'll go to the parking lot. And Gert..." Nico said, we then realized that Gert was gone.

"Gert?" Molly asked. She had probably gone to get her meds. When we got inside we ran straight to the lab.

"It's locked. There's no other way in." Alex said to us, there was. They had me.

"I knew I should have brought the Fistigons." Chase said to us, we had to pick the lock.

"I would use my powers but I'm drained." I said to them both.

"We agreed everybody's going civilian for this one. Okay, even Nico. It's Atlas Academy, remember?" Alex said to us, we had no way to get in.

"I know someone with a master key. They stole it freshman year and have had it ever since." Chase said to us, and I knew exactly who I meant.

"But everybody's out in the parking lot." Alex said to him.

"Eh...not this person. And I know right where to find 'em. Come on." Chase said before we ran to the girls bathroom. Which was now gender neutral.

"No way am I going in here without consent." Alex said to us.

"I give you permission." I said to him with a smile.

"It's gender neutral now, thanks to Gert's petition." Chase said to us, Alex could go in anyway.

"Sorry. I love Gert, but only girls use this bathroom." Alex said to us.

"Just guard the door. We're goin' in." Chase said before we entered. And there she was. Vain as ever. "Hey." Chase said to her.

"Are you serious? I thought you both were, like, a fugitive from justice. Which doesn't me that Y/n was one of them." Effiel said to us, Tod did I hate her.

"In your dreams." I said to her with a smile.

"Not anymore." Chase said to her,

"It's too bad. Outlaw was a good look on you. Why are you back here, anyway? This place is so boring." She said to us.

"Just like you." I whispered under my breath.

"Did you say something?" Effiel asked me.

"No, not at all." I said to her with a dame smile.

"I have a new appreciation for Atlas Academy. And boring." Chase said to her.

"Hm. What do you think about hashtag EarthquakeBitches? Is that too much?" Effiel asked us, I truly did hate her more than anything.

"Not at all." I said to her sarcastically.

"I think you're gonna throw massive 'likes' up on the scoreboard." Chase said her, I get that they were friends. But did he really have to be friends with her.

"I think so too!" Effiel said before taking pictures of herself.

"Um, hey...I need a favor." He said to her, more of we needed a favor.

"Aiding and abetting two former murder suspects? Sure. But I'll need something in return, obvi." She said to her, of course she needed something. I rolled my eyes. "I saw you roll your eyes." She said to me.

"Good, I was trying to make it obvi." I said to her with a smile.

"Name it." Chase said to her. I wasn't doing anything. We had to take a picture with her and then we got the key.

"Bye, Chase and Y/n! Hi, Alvin. Other person." Effiel said while leaving, I realized that Gert was here.

"Come on, let's go." Alex said before the 4 of us went to the lab.

"Our parents are here!" Molly shouted as she and Nico ran to us.

'They just rolled into the parking lot in their motorcade of evil." Nico said to us, we had no time.

"This'll take one second. Hold on." Alex said while unlocking the door.

"Too late." Gert said to us, shit we were cutting it close.

"They're in the building." Chase said to us as Alex opened the door.

"Run! Run!" Molly shouted.

"Shiny." Alex said before we all took off.

"Wait, Molly. Over here. The secret stairs." Nico said to her before Molly tried the door.

"It's locked." She said to us.

"Alex!" Chase said before Alex went to the door.

"I got it." He said before unlocking it. We then waited for them to pass. When the coast was clear we then fled.

"Come on." Nico said to us as we all climbed over the hedge.

"Ay, dios. Where were you, fam? Mission accomplished." Topher said as he held up the drive.

"I thought we weren't supposed to say that anymore." Gert said to us, I don't think Topber really cared.

"How did you get this?" Alex asked him.

"I walked into the computer lab. Dialed 19-26-3. And here you go. You're welcome." Topher said while handing it over to Alex. Maybe we could trust him.

"That's amazing. You rock, cuz." Molly said before we started to go.

"Nice work, man." I heard Chase say to him.

"Not bad." Nick said to him.

"You did good." I said to him with a smile.

"Chase, you coming?" Molly asked him, I looked behind and saw he wasn't following us. Once we got home we all started eating.

"The best thing was when we finally get over the wall, and there you were, holding the computer." Molly said to Topher, that could have been anyone of us.

"It was all Alex. I was just following directions." Topher said to us, I was glad to see he could follow them.

"Sorry I gave you such a hard time. You totally came through." Chase said to him while walking over to me with some food.

"It's ok, I know how it is. Who can you trust, right? How's the hotspot working?" Topher said while walking over to Alex.

"Game-changer. I've already started flooding the security at the dig site with multiple spoofed addresses." Alex said to him, I had no idea what any of that meant.

"Keep the phone. I can get another one. No problema. Consider it rent." Topher said to us, at least he was paying rent

"Thank you. Seriously, we couldn't have done this without you." Alex said to him, we couldn't at all.

"I told you." Molly said to us.

"That's how we roll, right, hermanita?" Topher asked Molly.

"Sí, hermano." Molly said to him as they fustbumped, he then walked away.

"Do you think we can go back to Atlas Acdemy and maybe this time we break into the nurse's office?" Gert asked us, I looked at her.

"It's too dangerous." I said to her.

"One thing I'm still wondering about. How come your eyes turned yellow?" Alex asked him before it went silent.

"I think it maybe runs in my family, I don't know." Topher said before leaving us. Something still was right about him but I didn't know what. All I knew was Karolina had gone and I didn't know where. And of course Effiel was going to be posting my picture around for all of her minions to see.