After staring at each other in silence for a few moments, Steve turned his gaze back to the terrified Boom, whose suit he was still clutching firmly.
"Hey, moron. You can get down on your own, right?" Steve asked.
"Huh... of course I can... what do you mean by that?" Boom asked, confused.
"Good," Steve replied.
Without another word, Steve let go. "Waaaaah!" Boom screamed as he plummeted toward the ground, but "boom... boom," he triggered several localized explosions to slow his descent. He was clearly going to land safely. Steve then turned to look at Erica. Her hair was currently half-silver and half-black, and she wasn't wearing her mask. He let out a long sigh and pulled off his own helmet; there was no point in hiding anymore. Erica remained dazed, looking at him.
"Alright, so... why did you stay quiet about being Grey?" Steve asked.
"And why did you stay quiet about being the Black Paladin?" Erica countered.
The two fell silent again, having run out of words. They simply drifted in the air, staring at one another.
"So for the last two weeks... man, we're both pretty pathetic," Steve muttered.
"Speak for yourself. You're pathetic too," Erica snapped back.
"Are we really going to fight right now? Please, cut it out. Mom and Uncle George are gone... let's not add more problems to the pile," Steve said, his voice rising.
"Wait, you're the one picking a fight! Why are you blaming me? I came here to wipe out any remaining wyverns and see the situation for myself. It had nothing to do with you," Erica yelled.
"My goal was the same, and stop shouting at me," Steve said.
"You could try speaking quietly too," Erica retorted.
"Forget it... I'm sorry. I'm just emotional. Let's go home. We'll finish this conversation there," Steve said.
"Fine... I'm sorry too. I'm just upset," Erica replied.
The two of them shot through the sky back toward their house. They arrived in an instant and floated through Erica's window because she had grabbed Steve's arm just as he was heading for his own room. As they landed, they were shocked to find Nyla lying on her stomach on Erica's bed, casually reading a manga like she owned the place.
"Wait... Nyla? Why are you in my house?" Steve asked, stunned.
"Oh... you guys are back," Nyla replied, glancing at them without even looking up properly at first.
She saw Steve and Erica standing there in their costumes with their faces fully exposed. Nyla did a double-take, then looked back at her book.
"Why are you here? In my room?" Erica demanded.
"Well, didn't you say 'please watch the house' earlier? Oh... crap," Nyla said, suddenly realizing she wasn't a cat anymore.
Nyla instantly transformed into a black cat. "Meow?" She looked at them, but they were both glaring at her.
"So... you're Shadow Cat?" Steve asked.
"Hah... guess the secret's out," Nyla said, speaking even in her cat form.
"So... the cat I've been hugging since the roof of the school... was you?" Erica asked, horrified.
"Pretty much. I was already suspicious of you, so I followed you as a cat. But yeah... finally caught," Nyla answered.
"Ugh, whatever. Too many things have happened today. Let's just talk in the living room," Steve said, heading for the door.
After Steve left and shut the door, Erica shifted back into her normal clothes and walked toward the exit. Suddenly, Nyla—now back in human form—grabbed her hand.
"What is it?" Erica asked.
"Do you... live with Steve?" Nyla asked.
"Yes. My dad and his mom got married... and they died today. Please don't make me explain it right now," Erica said, pulling her hand away.
"I... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for your loss," Nyla whispered, pulling her hand back.
"It's fine. Let's go downstairs. We need to talk... about a lot of things," Erica said.
They finally went down to the living room. Steve had already changed back into his school uniform. They all sat on the sofas, keeping their distance. The atmosphere was stiff and awkward. After a few moments of silence, Steve finally spoke up.
"So, besides the three of us, are the others in our class too?" Steve asked Nyla.
"I... I don't know for sure, but besides Erica, there's one more I'm suspicious of," Nyla replied.
"Who?" Steve asked.
"Dawn," Nyla answered.
"Hmm... figures," Steve muttered, deep in thought.
"You're suspicious of Dawn too? I thought she was your childhood friend," Erica noted.
"Not just her. Rex too," Steve said.
"I don't know about Rex, but from what I remember... Dawn was supposed to have died right before starting the 11th grade," Nyla said.
Hearing this, Steve snapped his head toward Nyla so fast his neck cracked. He stared at her with a deadly serious expression.
"You remember what happened to Dawn?" Steve asked, shocked.
"I didn't really want to talk about it... but this world is definitely different from the world I remember," Nyla said.
"Wait, can I ask you something?" Steve interrupted.
"What?" Nyla asked.
"From what I know, a month before I went into my coma, you and Victor disappeared. Is that right?" Steve asked.
Erica looked at Steve, confused and waiting for an explanation. Then she looked at Nyla, who was looking down at her lap. Nyla's entire body was trembling, and her fists were clenched so hard on her knees that her knuckles were white. Erica shifted closer and put an arm around her. Nyla lifted her head to look at Steve, tears streaming down her face.
"That's... true. My house caught fire. Victor happened to be there because he was actually my boyfriend," Nyla said.
"He... he was?" Erica asked, surprised.
"At first, I didn't think I'd make it. A burning wooden beam fell on me, and Victor fell through a hole in the floor trying to help. But when I woke up in the hospital, they told me a supervillain had tried to kill me because Victor's father was a gangster. They said I was a target who got lucky. But as far as I knew, Victor's dad was just a normal realtor," Nyla explained.
"I knew it. You're from a different world too," Steve said.
"What do you mean by that?" Erica asked.
"Do you remember what happened at that traffic light?" Steve asked.
Erica went silent. she understood exactly what Steve was getting at. She looked at Steve, then at Nyla, then back to Steve.
"When you saved me and that truck hit you, suddenly... the truck swerved and plowed into everyone on the sidewalk—including me. I was the first one crushed because I was still sitting on the asphalt. But I woke up in an ambulance, and the medics told me I'd been attacked by a Minotaur," Erica answered.
"Exactly. That's why I was so confused when I woke up from my coma," Steve replied.
"Yeah, I could see how lost you looked," Erica added.
"Hmm... that explains why you seemed so out of it when you came back to school, and why you looked shocked to see Rex and Dawn. While you were in that coma... what happened to you? I mean... did you... reincarnate in another world?" Nyla asked.
Steve and Erica both looked at Nyla, then at each other, and then back to Nyla. Nyla sighed and looked them both in the eye.
"Fine. Let me tell you what happened to me after I died in that house fire. After that, I want you guys to tell your stories too. I need to get this out... I haven't even told Victor yet," Nyla said.
Nyla took a deep breath and let it out. Then, she began her story of being reborn as a black cat beastman in a world of swords and sorcery called Valandia—a world where no humans existed.