Yutra typed away on her computer. She had gleaned loads of information, including what weapons and powers the villains had, and she had managed to figure out some of their names and even their ages, but there was something that wasn't right. She couldn't find any details of Shard at all.

She paused the search in Shard and refocused her search in Quartz and the team.

'BR-VSDA-YVUB'

Yutra frowned at the letters her search had turned up. Were they… a code? Maybe for a phone number? She started to grow excited and hurriedly wrote the letters down. But she didn't dare call the number, it could very well be a trap. She'd wait and dial at a public phone. If there were cameras there, then she'd disable them temporarily. After all, she'd spent a great deal of time making sure her computer was untraceable. And no one could find out who the hacker was. Only people she could trust could know of her skills in technology. Arosian was an exception, since he was her neighbour and would eventually find out. That and no one would believe him if he said that she had made breakthroughs in days that other experienced scientists had spent years trying to do.

Yutra briefly thought of whether Hetra even knew she could hack into the most guarded of banks.

After that stray thought, Yutra continued her hacking. This time, she hacked into the bank accounts. She set aside the accounts that were loaded with money, and slowly checked the users. After recognising the users, she then had to further research on the person to see if they had obtained the money from legitimate reasons. If they didn't, well, you had your villain. It was a slow and tedious process.

"Yutra! Stop looking at your computer and at least get ready for school!" Hetra shouted.

"Wait!" Yutra yelled back.

"Don't make me get Aros to drag you out!"

"Wait! Another minute!" The clicks and clacks of Yutra typing on her computer increased in speed.

"Ok, fine, Aros, drag her out." Hetra ordered a weary Arosian. Arosian, not wanting to face the wrath of a furious Hetra, complied.

"Alright, alright, I'm done." Yutra finally shut her computer and glared at Hetra.

"You were the one who wanted me to start hacking in the first place." Yutra accused.

"What? Me? I only said that it was impossible for you to find out the identity of a villain in the first place! I never told you to go and do it!" Hetra shot back.

"But you know that by saying that, you were taunting me!" Yutra quickly retorted.

Hetra sighed and nodded. Arosian, however, shifted around uncomfortably at the word 'villain'.

"So did you actually find out the identity of a villain?" He asked.

"Do you really think that if I did, I would tell you?"

"Say, what are the chances one of our classmates is a villain?" Hetra suddenly asked.

"Hmm, not sure, but looking at the number of intellectually-inclined people, I'd say not much." Yutra joked back.

"Wait, since you are intellectually-inclined, wouldn't that make you a great candidate for a villain?" Arosian decided to add in.

"Me? How could little ole me make a good villain?" Yutra widened her eyes and stared in mock horror at Arosian. She had a flair for dramatics sometimes, Arosian had to give her that.

"Well…" He started with a mischievous grin.

"Don't answer that." With that parting sentence, Yutra landed a heavy blow at Arosian's gut.

Yutra blinked. Not sleeping for several days had started to take a toll on her. She stumbled as she walked, and she would've fallen had Arosian not caught her.

"Yutra, are you alright? I told you you should sleep more." Yutra barely heard what Hetra said.

Yutra blinked hard again and tried to suppress a yawn. After all, she was still human, and being deprived of sleep, and add in the extra usage of her power, her body was starting to fail her. She fainted.

Arosian barely caught Yutra as she fell to the ground.

"Will she be okay?" He asked Hetra.

"Yeah, she'll be fine, just get her to school and set her down, and let her have an hour of sleep. That's why I woke you up so early in the morning." Hetra explained wearily.

"You mean this has happened before?"

"Yeah, always happens, I swear, its like the girl doesn't even value her own life."

"But she managed to build a laser-shooting robot in hours. Hacking takes her days?" Arosian wasn't able to keep the surprise out of his voice.

"You'd be surprised. According to her, it's tiresome."

The duo were quiet as Arosian carried the unconscious Yutra to school.

"I fainted?"

"Yes! I told you that you needed more sleep! You're not a robot you know!" Hetra chided her friend.

"I might as well be, one day, when I'm experienced enough, I'm thinking of replacing some of my body parts with machines."

Arosian choked on the piece of bread that he was eating.

"It was a joke, Aros." Even though he wasn't looking at her, he could still envision Yutra's pointed stare.

"Yeah, I get it. But are you still set on finding the identity thing?"

He saw Yutra ponder over the question. He knew that she was deciding whether he could be trusted or not.

After a moment's hesitation, Yutra shrugged. "Maybe, after all, I already have a lead."

That sentence scared him more than she could have guessed.

Hetra leaned in closer and whispered, "Really? On who?"

Yutra thought for a while. If she said 'Shard', Hetra would accuse her of being obsessed. But if she said Quartz…

Yutra smiled.

"Someone starting with a 'Q'." She hinted.

"Quartz?" Arosian hit the nail right on the head.

"Yup." Yutra replied, popping the 'p'.

"Not bad, but all this aside, what about the talent contest that's starting next month? I'm going to enter, and Yutra, you should too. Arosian, want to give it a shot? The three of us could make a great team." Hetra interrupted.

"Sure." "No." Both Arosian and Yutra chimed in at the same time.

"Yutra, the only person that I gave a choice to is Aros. I'm making sure you compete even if I have to drag you there myself. Besides, the only reason I'm forcing you this year is because I heard that this year, a famous singer who once graduated from this school is judging the contest. And if we win…" Hetra trailed off and let off a squeal that resulted in many people staring at the trio.

"I hate to admit it, but that does sound appealing. Fine, put my name in." Yutra finally decided.

"Yea! Great that the two of you are in on this. But what's going to be our team name?" Hetra cheered and asked her companions.

"We need a team name? But they won't even announce it."

"Yea, but still good to know, if we ever make it big, that's our team!"

"The Trio?" Arosian asked, and was met with stares from both sides. "Ok, bad idea."

"Unique?" Hetra attempted, but was similarly rejected.

"Okay, I don't have any ideas at the moment. Yutra?"

"'Mirage' or 'Garena' ?" Yutra finally spoke up after a moment of pondering.

"Mirage is okay, but what the heck does Garena mean?" Hetra asked.

"Garena is a word from another language. If I'm not wrong, it means 'we', or in our case, a team."

"Mirage sounds pretty, but Garena seems cool." Hetra commented.

"I vote for Garena." Arosian added in.

"Alright! Garena it is then!" Hetra whooped, again attracting the curious gazes of the others nearby.

The three of them were gathered in Arosian's room, with Yutra sitting on the floor reading out the rules of the competition, and the remaining two peering over her shoulder.

"So there are 3 rounds. First is elimination round, second is Semifinals, and third is Finals, we'll only meet the so-called 'celebrity' if we can make it to the third round. According to the paper, we can do anything we want, as long its within the school rules, and does not involve other people who's not in the team. Registration has to be done by a week before the competition. First will be held on the date stated. Second will be held after a week. The date for the third round will only be revealed after the second round. Good luck to all participants!" Yutra read from the piece of paper they were given.

"Sounds easy." Arosian commented.

Both Yutra and Hetra glared at him.

"Sure, we might make it through the first round easily, but second round on, it's going to be tough competition." Hetra chided.

"So what song are we going to use? We have to practise after all. I'm pretty sure I can make the spare room in my house a soundproof room. I just need some stuffing." Yutra continued on.

"Hey Yutra, I meant to ask, but how do you manage to afford all these items? I mean I've never seen your parents before, and at most, I see my dad once a month." Arosian wondered aloud.

Yutra visibly darkened. "They send money to me. The last saw them was when I was ten, and they decided to leave me behind while they go travel abroad and earn more money."

Arosian nodded and was sensible enough not to breach the topic any longer.

"So, anyway, Yutra, since you'll be the singer, I'll be the violinist and Arosian will be the guitarist and the both of us will also do the vocal chords. Yutra, what song would you like? You'll be the one singing after all." Hetra decided to interrupt and dissolve away the tension.

"I've already decided on all of the songs. First will be 'Decode' by 'Paramore'. Second, I'm going for 'Now and Then' by 'Blackmore's Night'. Third will be 'My Heart is Broken' by 'Evanescence'." Yutra replied with her usual detached tone.

"I think those might be great choices, but don't all of them sound slightly negative? Why'd you choose them in the first place? " Arosian queried.

But all he got was a shrug and an intriguing smile.

"I can't believe you barred me from going out on patrol…" Hetra mumbled.

"We can't afford to get hurt so close to the competition date." Yutra ignored her companion and proceeded to hum a tune that sounded curiously close to 'Decode'.

To say that she was nervous would be false. But to say that she wasn't nervous would be yielding the same result. Yutra had her eyes closed and was listening to the other competitors perform. Some of them danced, showed magic tricks and much more, but the majority was leaning towards singing. Yutra wasn't so confident that 'Garena' would make it past the first round anymore. She took a deep breath. The order the competitors were chosen to perform was by luck. A judge dipped his hand into the plastic bowl and drew out another name. It wasn't their turn yet, and there were only five more pieces of papers left in that bowl. With every competitor's turn, the hope of the members of 'Garena' was dropping. The others had been much more spectacular than expected. She counted to five minutes, and the judge called out another name. Another five minutes. Another name. Another drop in faith. Yutra knew she wasn't the only person feeling the stress. Arosian was fiddling with his guitar, and Hetra was gently plucking the bow of her violin. She knew that if she couldn't get the stress off them, 'Garena' might not make it to the finals.

Yutra took in a deep breath. She needed to relieve them of their stress somehow. She slowly walked over to where the two of them sat. "Anyone wanna play a game of Truth or Dare?"

Both Arosian and Hetra stared wide-eyed up at Yutra.

"I'll start first?" Yutra asked to no-one in particular.

Arosian and Hetra slowly nodded.

"I pick Arosian. Arosian, truth or dare?"

Arosian recovered from the shock and mumbled, "Dare."

"I dare you to… I dare you to tickle Hetra." Hetra glared at Yutra while Arosian gaped, before setting his guitar down and fulfilling the dare. Hetra burst out in a fit of giggles before managing to compose herself.

"My turn right? I pick Hetra. Hetra, truth or dare?" Arosian grinned.

"Truth."

"Do you have someone special in mind, like a boyfriend or a secret crush?"

Hetra flushed at Arosian's question.

"Yes, but I'm not telling!"

Arosian gave a seemingly innocent shrug. "At least she answered the question."

"Ok, Yutra, truth or dare?" Hetra asked, with a slightly evil glint in her eye.

Yutra knew that if she picked truth, Hetra would throw something embarrassing at her that she would never be able to live down. If she picked dare, Hetra would probably get her to kiss Arosian. She sighed, and decided to live and regret with the choice she made. "Dare."

"Ok, now… I dare you to kiss Arosian."

Even though that was expected, Yutra still felt her cheeks flame up.

"And last but not least, the next group, group number 35, will you please take the stage." The loudspeaker blared.

Yutra sighed and gave Arosian a quick peck on the cheek, before moving off onto the stage.

Arosian took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, before heading off onto the stage.

Hetra looked at the blushing couple, before joining them on the stage. Well, at least they were de-stressed.

"We'll be singing the song 'Decode' by 'Paramore'." Yutra spoke into the microphone. Then, she took the microphone off its stand and took a few steps back.

Arosian started to play the first few chords on his guitar. Yutra felt the familiar tune wash over her, and Hetra started on her guitar.

Yutra closed her eyes and refused to look at anyone. She opened her mouth and sang.

"How can I decide what's right?

When you're clouding up my mind

I can't win your losing fight

All the time

Not can I ever own what's mine

When you're always taking sides

But you won't take away my pride

No, not this time

Not this time

How did we get here?

When I used to know you so well?

How did we get here?

Well, I think I know

The truth is hiding in your eyes

And it's hanging on your tongue

Just boiling in my blood

But you think that I can't see

What kind of man that you are

If you're a man at all

Well, I will figure this one out

On my own"

Hetra and Arosian: "I'm screaming, I love you so"

"On my own"

Hetra and Arosian: "But my thoughts you can't decode"

"How did we get here?

When I used to know you so well?

How did we get here?

Well, I think I know

Do you see what we've done?

We're gonna make such fools of ourselves

Do you see what we've done?

We're gonna make such fools of ourselves

How did we get here

When I used to know you so well? Yeah, Yeah

How did we get here?

I used to know you so well

I think I know

I think I know

There is something I see in you

It might kill me, I want it to be true"

Arosian then knew why she'd chose that song. She sang it with so much emotion. The raw emotion of a hopeful little girl in despair. It'd fit the song perfectly.

"An amazing performance from the last team. Thank you for everyone who decided to participate and I hope the audience who came to support these people had an enjoyable time. The results will be posted tomorrow."

"That was great." Yutra heard Arosian breathe in her ear. For some reason, that action reminded her of someone she had been trying so hard to suppress into the depths of her memories.

"No! The tune is wrong! Yutra! Why did you have to pick this song?" Hetra wailed, while Yutra merely ignored her.

"As I said, you'll see. Just keep practising. We have two more days, and tomorrow, I'm taking you guys to a special place."

"Argh!"

"Alright, get your instruments and follow me." Yutra announced to the tiny group gathered in the now soundproof room.

"Where are we going?" Arosian asked.

Yutra ignored him, grabbed her flute and walked out, with Arosian and Hetra scurrying to catch up with her.

"A park? Your special place is the park?" Hetra repeated.

"Yes, now hurry up, they're waiting."

"Who's waiting?"

"Those people." Yutra pointed to a few people seated on a few out of the many chairs in a section of the park who were facing the stage.

"No words today, I don't want any lyrical songs. I want a wordless melody that you created. And you guys will have to follow up on me after I play the first few chords on my flute. What the melody is like is up to you. This means that you will have to play your instruments on the spot, right after hearing my tune, no hesitations, no stopping to think, just play."

With that last instruction, Yutra stepped forward and started to play her flute. It was a melancholic tune. Almost immediately, Arosian and Hetra joined in. The trio played. The tune told a story of past regrets, then slowly graduated to a tragic story, which had its happy moments. The tune was like a memory. After the tragedy, newfound hope was found, then it jumped between happiness and sadness. Then slowly, it seemed like the sadness slowly started to dissolve, leaving cheerfulness in its wake. But good things never last, the cheerfulness disappeared, bringing about sadness and anger. Then tragedy struck again. It was like a never-ending story.

The audience had started to grow, and they were entranced by the music. When the trio finally finished, they burst into applause.

"So, how did you feel while playing?" Yutra asked both of them.

"Surprisingly fun and enjoyable." Hetra answered.

"There, that's how you should be playing. Music doesn't just come from sheets of paper, for music, you have to change it to your liking, to make it better. You don't have to follow exactly to the tune, you can change it. Having your heart in it is all that counts."

Both Arosian and Hetra nodded. It seemed that the masters had just been taught a precious lesson.

"The past time so familiar

But that's why you couldn't stay

Too many ghosts, too many haunted dreams

Beside you were built to find your own way...

But after all these years, I thought we'd still hold on

But when I reach for you and search your eyes

I see you've already gone...

That's ok

I'll be fine

I've got myself, I'll heal in time

But when you leave just remember what we had...

There's more to life than just you

I may cry but I'll make it through

And I know that the sun will shine again

Though I may think of you now and then...

Can't do a thing with ashes

But throw them to the wind...

Though this heart may be in pieces now

You know I'll build it up again and

I'll come back stronger than I ever did before

Just don't turn around when you walk out that door...

That's ok

I'll be fine

I've got myself, I'll heal in time

And even though our stories at the end

I still may think of you now and then…"

Yutra heard the final chords play and smile. The both of them had really outdone themselves. If they won the finals, the one that would be chosen…

"Yutra, I'm quitting the hero thing." Yutra didn't turn around, but instead focused on reading her book.

"Hmm?"

"I want to focus more on playing my violin. Sorry for dragging you out and then ditching you, but at least you don't have to go on patrols anymore."

"Mmm."

"What I want now is to become a famous violinist. I got that idea while playing in the park. Thanks for helping me."

"Mmm."

Yutra heard the speaker sigh and walk out.

Yutra felt bad for not answering Hetra, but she didn't dare speak in fear of her voice betraying her. The previous day, when she had tried searching for Shard's identitiy, she had a few leads that scared her. Because that would mean that he knew who she was.

Arosian strummed his guitar. He drifted away back to the competition. Yutra was a great singer. He still felt her song haunt him. He knew why she chose those songs, they spoke of emotions that she had felt before. But the next song… it was about despair, hope and heartbreak. Despair and hope he could understand, though Yutra never showed it. But heartbreak? He had heard Hetra tell him that Yutra rarely showed interest in guys.

He strummed a few more chords. The prize for winning the competition, since a special guest was invited, the celebrity would take the winner under his wing and teach him or her and make the person famous and great. But only one person… They were a team of three. He didn't want that life. That left Yutra and Hetra. To decide between Hetra and Yutra would be a hard choice, if it were not for the fact that Yutra apparently disliked the stage. That left Hetra. If she didn't want the prize, then that meant that they had entered this competition for nothing.

He thought about the matter and continued strumming his guitar.

A/N: Thanks guys for even clicking on this story, but this will be the last chapter from me for a while. I seem to have recurring writer's block, and this is all I wrote last year. Again, please leave some reviews?