Midas ran through the night streets, refusing to allow thoughts of his captured teammates to fill his mind. The only thing that mattered was delivering the items to Insomnium.

    Suddenly, the sound of footfalls and labored breathing reached his ears. Someone was following him. Midas quickened his pace. He couldn't afford to get caught now.

    "Midas! Wait, please!"

    Midas found himself stopping in his tracks upon hearing Sam's voice. He didn't turn around as Sam continued to run towards him; He stared off into space, unsure why he wasn't still running.

Sam stopped when she was beside him, gasping for breath with her hands on her knees.

     "Oh, God," she managed. She wiped her brow, straightening out to talk to Midas. "Please tell me you have a plan."

    "This was the plan," Midas said in a monotone, still looking straight ahead.

    Sam stared at him, shaking her head. "No. No, it wasn't. We need to go back for them. We can think of something between the two of us, we can-"

    "They're gone!" Midas exploded.

    Sam flinched. "What?"

    "We're never going to see them again," Midas said, a bit calmer. "They'll be taken to a holding facility where their memories will be destroyed. They won't remember you or me or any of this. But they'll be safe."

    "Safe?" Sam yelped. She kicked viciously at his shoes, tears finally streaming from her eyes. "You call that safe? If you wanted to protect them, you had every opportunity to do that back at ISH! And you left them behind!"

    "If they didn't like their chances, they shouldn't have volunteered to do this!" Midas shot back. "And neither should you have."

    "They're your friends, Midas," Sam pleaded hopelessly, her shoulders sagging. "Please. Do something."

    Midas looked at her, his expression dark and haggard. "Villains don't have friends," he said.

    Sam, looked away from him. "White Flame isn't a villain."

    "White Flame is dead."

     "I don't believe you. I never believed White Flame was dead."

    "Well, believe it now!" Midas shouted, two nearby street lights suddenly bursting and going dark. He stepped towards Sam. "If you had even the slightest idea of what I endure every day of my life, you would understand. This would all make sense to you. But you don't. You don't know anything about me!" The ground beneath them began to shake.

    Sam took a step back, her palms facing away from her. "Midas, stop this," she said, her voice trembling.

     "I might have been White Flame at one time," Midas went on angrily, "But I'm still the same person that I was when you met me. That other life is impossible for me now. And for what? So some maniac can do what he likes?"

    "You're not making any sense, Midas! Snap out of it!" Sam commanded. Cracks began to appear in the pavement, spurred on by Midas' jumbled thoughts.

    "I have to do this!" Midas seemed to shout to nobody. "If you think I'm awful now, you just wait! You hear me? You just wait and see what happens if I don't do what he says!" The ground seemed very close to breaking or bursting now and quivered violently.

    "Midas!" Sam practically screamed. Impulsively, she grabbed both his hands and held them tightly. The shaking in the ground stopped instantly. Midas looked back at Sam in surprise.

    "What... what did you do?" he asked. The second she'd touched him, it was as if his destructive power had simply vanished.

    Sam let go and stepped away from him. She had rarely looked angry, but now she was furious. "You're right, Midas," she spat. "You are a villain."

    Midas watched her back away from him warily, too dumbfounded to say anything.

    "Oh, and another thing," Sam said, taking off her backpack and unzipping it. She took something out and flung it at Midas. The item soared towards Midas and took a dive at his feet. "I quit!"

    Then she stormed off into the night, a bundle of tears and nerves. Midas carefully bent down and picked up what she had thrown. It was the black spiral notebook- the one for villain autographs- that he had signed and given to her. He held it in one hand and watched her go. Something made him want to call out to her, to just explain everything and for once, just once, be understood.

    He pushed that feeling away. He had a job to do. He didn't need to be understood. He only needed to be feared.

    He turned around and continued his trek home.

<><><><><><>

Sam made no effort to muffle her sobs as she trudged her way through the suburban neighborhood towards her sister's home. She didn't think she'd ever cried so hard in her life. All hope was gone from her. How could she help her friends on her own? She didn't even know where to begin.

Her thoughts raced but came up with no solutions. Suddenly, the sound of police sirens shook her out of her thoughts. She quickly hid behind a tree in someone's front yard, waiting for the police to pass.

Am I a criminal now? she wondered suddenly, not moving from her hiding place until the cars had been gone for a minute. She glanced at her bright costume and cape, now wishing that she was wearing something less conspicuous.

With a sigh, she stepped back out into the street and began walking again.

"Sam?" someone called from behind her.

Sam angrily wiped away her tears. "Get out of here, Midas!" she shouted without stopping.

"It's not Midas."

Sam stopped in her tracks and turned around slowly. "You," she said.

Asher, who had once been known to her as White Flame, was still in Midas' form. He watched Sam without emotion, waiting for Sam to speak first.

    "Stay away from me," Sam ordered, backing away with one arm outstretched.

    "Just hear me out, Sam," Asher said, stepping towards her.

    "I've heard quite enough, thank you," Sam snapped.

    "You trusted me once, Sam," Asher said. "I need you to do that one more time and just listen to what I'm about to tell you."

    "How can I trust you when I don't even know who you are?" Sam asked, still unnerved by his appearance.

     Asher sighed and held up a finger. "Fine." Sam watched as his face began to shift completely. His spine extended, his eyes became wider-set, his hair color changed to brown- He was completely transforming into someone else.

     When he was finally done, Asher groaned and stretched, his bones crackling as he did. "Good to be back," he muttered. He stood before Sam as he was, a stubble faced, somewhat heavy-set, young man. He had a very serious and professional air about him. Gone was the awkward and friendly White Flame who Sam had thought she knew.

"Now will you listen to me?" Asher asked, walking towards her. Sam blinked hard at the sound of his real voice.

"What do you want?" Sam asked, not moving.

"I need your help."

"I'd never help you," Sam said.

"Then don't help me. Help the rest of the world. We can't let Insomnium get those items. Life as we know it will change forever," Asher said. "This is your chance to be a hero, Sam. Isn't that what you always wanted?"

Sam's eyes narrowed. "You work for the highest payer. What's in this for you?"

"Well-"

"A paycheck, no doubt," Sam said without letting him finish. She shook her head scornfully. "Go tell that story to someone else. Someone more useful than me." She began to turn to leave.

Asher's eyes widened, sensing he was losing this battle. "Sam, you're more useful than you think. You honestly have no idea that you're a-"

"I don't want to hear it!" Sam stated, exhausted. She began to walk away. Asher made no more effort to stop her.

Sam buried her face in her hands.

How had she lost all of her friends in a single night?