"Do you have any idea how much panic you caused in the mall?" the man started berating, "a smoke bomb! In the middle of a mall! There are normal civilians! People who's skill is lower than yours! Where are your parents?" he demanded and glared down at the four of you.

"We're students-" Blyke started to explain but was quickly cut off.

"Of course you're students!" he shouted angrily, "I should've known. Adults wouldn't drop a smoke bomb in the middle of a mall. They have more self-restraint and maturity. You should be expelled from your school! What school is teaching you to do this?"

"Sir, we go to-" this time, Isen tried to explain but he too didn't get more than a few words in before he was cut off.

"I can't believe your education!" he continued, "such a degenerate school! Raising such degenerate students!"

"Excuse me, we-" Remi tried to get in her own words but the man continued ranting from his soap box.

"I should contact your school! These are not morals and actions that you should have!"

"We go to Wellston!" you shouted, wanting the man to stop berating you for something you didn't do wrong.

"Oh," the green haired man paused, "so you three are Headmaster Vaughn's students." He sounded a lot calmer now, "well, why didn't you say so earlier?"

You couldn't believe this man, and you could practically hear Blyke and Isen shouting in their minds, 'Cause you kept talking over us, a**hole!'

"Sir, if you just review the camera footage from earlier," Blyke explained with a hardened look on his face, "you'll see this whole thing is just a misunderstanding."

"Hm," the officer nodded as he held a hand up to his chin thoughtfully, "I always knew that guy was a snake." You sighed to yourself at the man's actions. "All right," his blue eyes gave the four of you a side glare, "I'll look things over. You kids better not do anything funny before I get back!" he threatened before turning around. The moment his back was turned, Blyke flipped him off with both hands, you and Isen angrily stuck your tongues out at him, and Remi just laughed at your antics.

"A**hole," Blyke grumbled under his breath when the man left the room and you nodded in agreement.

"Are you kidding me?" Isen questioned as he held up his hands, "they really think they can hold us back with these dinky cuffs? I'm offended!" he started wiggling his hands around and playing with the cuffs, "I could break out of this thing easily!"

"Maybe it's a scare tactic?" you offered as you held up your own pair, "it looks like a cement brick."

"Hey cut it out!" Blyke scolded Isen as he kept on playing with the cuffs, "you'll get us into even more trouble!"

"Yeah!" you grinned, "no funny business!"

"Isen," Remi spoke up quietly, "these cuffs weren't designed for people like us."

Isen gaped as he looked at her, "then what's the point?"

"All right, answer me this," Remi looked at him seriously and the atmosphere tensed, "earlier, why did you let yourselves get caught by security? You're clearly stronger than him."

"Well, I didn't want to get screwed over later on," Isen responded quietly.

"Yeah," Blyke added, "he's got the authorities backing him, and who wants to stand against them?"

"Exactly," Remi looked away from the rest of the group and started to glare at the ground, "it's the same deal with these cuffs. They're perfect for restraining mid-tiers, but for us, they serve as more of a reminder." You felt a chill run down your back as Remi continued in a defeated tone, "don't cross the line. You may be strong, but the authorities will always stop you."

"That's deep," Isen broke the cold atmosphere.

"Yeah, you sure know a lot about these cuffs?" Blyke questioned and Remi was slightly shocked at how they didn't seem to understand her meaning at all.

"Uh, so that lady who tracked me and (y/n) down," she quickly changed the topic, "we almost had the two guys, but then she completely distracted us so they got away."

"Sorry about that," you sighed apologetically, "if I had just held her back for a little longer-"

"Isen and Blyke are right," Remi interrupted you, "we don't really want to mess with the authorities."

"5.0," you grumbled angrily, "that guy is a totally hoax."

"Yeah, I think we already established that," Blyke pointed out and you retorted by giving him a light kick in the shins.

"Yeah, she tackled me and pretty much knocked herself out trying to get to me." Remi continued with her story.

"Even after I told her she would get electrocuted instantly," you added, which caused Isen to laugh.

"So I had to help her back here, then, cuff myself." Remi elaborated.

"Oh my gosh you're right!" you gasped in realization, "the other security guard hardly gave you a second glance! He just went after me!"

"Wow," Blyke whistled, "good job team work," he nodded sarcastically.

"Pfft," Isen laughed again.

"I kinda wonder what would've happened if I had kept going though," Remi smiled proudly, "how many security guards would it have taken to stop-" she suddenly stopped and the three of you looked over in concern, "you know, I've been thinking a lot about this lately. I get that the authorities are made up of some really powerful people," Remi started thinking aloud, "but what if someone like Seraphina or Arlo ever decided to challenge them? Both of them could cause some serious damage if they wanted to. It doesn't make sense that the authorities would just let people that strong roam free without some kind of condition. Maybe," she ended quietly, "they don't have as much freedom as we think."

"What do you mean?" Blyke questioned, "those two literally do whatever they want at school. They don't even need to go to class!" he added, somewhat miffed.

"Yes, but don't they also seem a bit obsessive?" Remi continued, her gaze still on the floor and not at any of you, "take Seraphina for example, she's always been bent on being perfect. And Arlo, all he can think about is keeping order. Both of them are so distracted by their 'responsibilities' they wouldn't even think to question the system they're part of."

"Distracted?" Blyke questioned with furrowed red brows.

"It's almost like they've been crippled..." Remi trailed off.

You glanced at Isen who was glaring a hole into the ground, "what's on your mind?" you asked him quietly.

"Anyway," Remi finished, "that's just my theory."

"Now that you mention it, the idea seems pretty realistic." Isen spoke up and Blyke turned his head so fast you thought he was about to break his neck. "If the authorities want to stay at the top, they need a reliable way to keep the strongest people in line."

"Okay, then what about all the superheroes running around?" Blyke questioned with a disbelieving look across his face, "they're all high-tiers, but the authorities haven't done much to pressure them."

"Stupid Blyke," Isen deadpanned, "don't you keep up with current events? Superheroes don't act in compliance to the authorities' wishes, then a mysterious group called EMBER appears and starts killing them off."

Blyke's eyes widened and he balked in shock, "there's no way!" he shouted.

Isen merely shot him finger guns and a smug grin, "that's right, my man!" His grin morphed into a grim line, "when there's an insane threat that refuses to be controlled, you have no choice but to get rid of it!" he turned his gaze from Blyke to Remi, "so Remi, when you asked me to write that EMBER article..." he trailed off to let Remi answer.

"I want the school to be more wary of its existence, and I want you to slowly introduce to them the idea that the authorities and EMBER are connected."

"Wait a second, that's a big leap," you interjected, "what about the bear? These guys here have no idea about it!"

"Obviously you wouldn't want everyone to know that the two are connected," Remi refuted, "it's something that isn't widely spread."

You bit your lip as you thought about it, "I'm convinced."

"What?" Blyke shouted in shock, "it seems so farfetched though!"

"Remi and Isen just connected all of the dots, elite-tiers, power, authorities, Sera, Arlo," you listed off, "we can't just ignore this."

Blyke opened his mouth to retaliate but was stopped by the guard returning into the room, "good news kids! You three are in the clear." The firm look on his face told you that this wasn't the end of the news, "but we've escalated this case to the authorities, so I'm going to need you all to give an official statement."