The shrill whistle of a kettle wakes Tony wake up. 

He finds himself in a bed. I wasn't in...my bed? He gets up, spreading his hands over the soft blue sheets. It's his bed. He looks around, gasping when he recognizes his room. Posters of superheroes cover the walls. A lot more Electros than he remembers.

"Tony," a voice calls. He freezes, it can't be. He turns to see a lady stand by his door, her brown hair tied into a sloppy bun, her petite figure covered by the baggy overalls, her ebony eyes bloodshot by two full night shifts at Heathrow Clinic.

Tears flood Tony's eyes, his mother has never made an appearance in his dreams.

"Tony, are you alright?" Her voice is a hundred times better than Nicole's.

"Yeah, Mom," he says, his voice shaky.

"What happened?" she asks, stepping in. "Nightmare?"

Tony blinks back his tears. He nods. Yes, it is Dr. Pearl Banks, my mom approaching me, breathing, alive...

"Can I get a hug?" he asks, shifting forward.

"Of course," Pearl answers, sitting on the bed. 

Tony sobs as his mom wraps her arms around him. This is real. Her jasmine and roses scent. Her comforting warmth.

"It's alright," she says, stroking his head.

Then all that was a dream. Tony moves back after the hug, the widest grin appearing on his face when he sees his mother.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asks, wiping off the remnant tears from his cheeks.

Tony opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. If it's not true, then he shouldn't say it. Not even think about it.  

"No, Mom. But it was really long, like I was actually living it."

Pearl frowns, placing her hands down on her lap. Her son notices her fingernails glowing a soft blue. She hasn't taken her cancer medications yet.

"Mom," he says. "Isn't it time for your meds?" 

Pearl looks down, covering her fingernails under the sheets. "Doctor Cass told me not to take it anymore, since there's a better one coming up soon." She looks away, glancing at the small bookcase near the bed.

"Want me to read the-"

"Pearl," a gruffy voice calls from the other end of their home.

Tony straightens. It's his dad voice. He didn't expect Jasper Banks to be here, he rarely stays at home.

"Coming," Pearl says. "I'll be right back." She smiles, leaving the door open as she walks out of the room.

Tony sighs, rubbing his forehead. "It was all a dream." 

He checks his hands, no scratches. He lifts his shirt to check his abdomen, nope, nothing at all. He squeaks in joy, clasping his hands together and looking at the neon star-studded ceiling. 

"Thank God," he says, burying his head in his hands. "Thank God it didn't happen."

"I'm afraid it's not the case," a voice tells.

Tony glances around, agape when he sees the owner of the voice. General Suzanne Banks. Not in any mirror. The real, life-size, breathing figure. She's much taller in person, her head just a few feet from the fan attached to the ceiling.

He slams his eyes shut, this must be a hallucination. She can't be here....ghosts aren't real. He takes a  minute to open his eyes. Yup, she's here. "How- What-"

"I know," Sue says, approaching him, panic written all over her face. "Tony, all of this is not real."

"What?" He says.

"You're unconscious," she says. "You fainted a minute ago."

Tony shakes his head. "No."

Sue frowns, nodding. "You're in your head right now."

Tony's gaze drops, then all this, his mom...but Sue wouldn't be here in his room.

"I wish I could explain," Sue says, checking her golden pocketwatch. "But we're pressed for time. I don't know how I long I can maintain this sync."

"Sync?"

"I've combined your and your brother's memory. You need to find something that would help you get out of this mess."

Tony furrows his brows, recollect the last incident. Yes, his brother... and Diselhock. "That's why we need you to come back. You weren't responding."

"I can't," Sue says. "The mirror's been out of my control since the first contact with the Covert."

She takes a step forward. "Anthony, we don't have time. Let's walk and talk."

Tony gets off the bed, his small feet landing on the plush purple carpet. He begins to notice what he's wearing; white polka dot pajamas, not a hand-me-down from Tom. His mother made sure of that, well until that night.

When he walks out of the room, Tony turns back. Why can't this be real?

"You said this is a memory," Tony says as he and his grandma walk down the wide polished staircase of the Banks Mansion. "What is today?"

"It's 8th April 1980," Sue says. "9 PM"

Tony stops on the landing. Of course his dad is here...today is his brother's 11th birthday. He wouldn't miss it for the world.   

"Keep walking," Sue says. "I'm starting to lose your brother's part of the memory."

They reach the living room, which is smaller than the one in No. 62, but more cozy and friendly with its furnishings. Tony bites the inside of his cheeks, he won't be able to see this room after tonight. Not when it's going to be his parents' last night.

He looks at the kitchen, opposite to the living room, when he hears voices, angry voices.

"Fine then, do whatever you want!" Tom bellows, throwing his birthday cap off. It lands on the pile of gifts arranged neatly on the side table. The main one is covered with plates and a huge butterscotch cake...Tom's favorite. Half of it's gone already.

"As if you cared about Tony and me," he mutters turning back and heading toward the door where present-day Tony and Sue stand.

Tony is startled. He's never seen the Golden Boy shout at his parents.

"Tom," their mother Pearl calls, standing near the countertops. "Hear what your dad has to say."

Tom exhales slowly, stopping just a foot away from Tony. His hair is ruffled, his navy pajamas crinkled at the folds. The present-day Tom looks like a grandpa in front of this eleven year old.

Tom glances over his shoulder to see his dad seated at the main table, his grey hair glinting under the kitchen's soft lights. "How-How can you decide on your own?" He points to his mother. "You didn't even tell Mom."

"It's only for a short while," Jasper says, fidgeting with his fingers.

Tom scoffs. "Yeah right". He points to his father's wrist. "So you got branded with the Triquetra to show off?"

Tony flits his gaze, eyes widening when he sees the black mark engraved on his father's wrist. What in the world?

"Tom," Pearl says, her arms crossed. She steps forward, closing the distance between him and her. "Mind your manners."

He sighs, shaking his head when his father is silent and looks down. He storms out of the room.

"Tom," Pearl calls, heading out. But she's stopped by Jasper, his hand holding her. 

"Let him be," he mutters, exhaling slowly as she gets her hand out of his grip. 

"Come on, Anthony," Sue says, gaze on her pocket-watch. "We need to follow your brother."

Tony glances once more at his mother, her face firm and rigid, the calm before the storm, before heading out. He and his grandma Sue follow Tom as he storms to the back end of the mansion.

They stop when Tom enters the garage, passing by his Mom's Ford, the sole vehicle parked there. He scrunches his hair. "I have to stop this. Can't let him go there." 

His forehead creases as he thinks of a way, his wandering gaze landing on the large grey box affixed to the far wall, containing the mansion's main circuit breaker panel. His face brightens. 

Jasper Banks won't be able to go if there's a power cut. That would shut down his resting chamber, an electric bed that would restore his abilities at a faster rate. The only reason he ever visits them. 

Bingo. A lopsided grin appear on Tom's lips.

Tony glances at his grandma. "How can I hear his thoughts-" He stops, reminding himself the fact that this is a memory sync between him and his brother.

He watches him drag a step stool, place it under the circuit breaker box and stand on it, checking how to open it.

"Oh, we have company," Sue says,marking Tony follow her gaze on the room window. A hooded figure stands on the empty street before this house, staring at them, more specifically at Tom.

Nothing except his glowing indigo eyes is visibly clear from here.

Tony shudders, the Xenoxian who killed his parents.

A loud strike makes him look back. He rushes to his brother, who's collapsed on the floor, wincing in pain. The open circuit breaker box produces a huge spark. "Tom!"

Sue clutches his arm. "Don't. He can't see you."

Tony exhales slowly, watching his brother get up, rubbing his elbow.

"Ow," he cries, flinching when another spark initiates from the circuit breaker.

The next moment, the lights go out.

Tom rushes out of the room, finding darkness. But a light emanates from the far end of the corridor. A dim orange.

"Cheeseeggs!" Tom rushes, heading to the source of the light, Tony and Sue following. 

"Tony, I need you to pay attention to something,"Sue says. "That is the only thing that can help get out of this mess."

"Yes, Grandma Sue," Tony answers, his head swirling when he notices the smoke in the air. He squints his eyes, trying to concentrate.

The glowing indigo eyes appear before his. I know you...I've seen this before. 

But not in the Xenoxian, he remembers. He was a pyrokineticist, so he eyes would glow a yellow, or orange. Red at the most. This is completely the opposite.

He stops, gasping when he sees huge flames burst out of the dining room.

"Mom!" Tom cries, looking into the fire. He never expected this. "Dad!"

"Tom," a voice cries in response. "Take your brother and get out now!"

Tony sighs, his eyes glistening with tears. It's their mother's voice.

"No," Tom says, heading toward the ablaze room, his figure transforming into a much taller and older boy, his nose longer and crooked, his skin caramel instead of peach, a mole at the tip of his left ear.

"Nathan Brooke," Tony mutters, glancing at the fifteen-year-old. He's only seen him once, during his brother's orientation six years ago. What was his power again?

His jaw drops when he sees the transmuted shapeshifter shoot a huge stream of water into the flames with his right hand. The black smoke accumulating in the house begins to clear up, as it's being sucked by his left hand.

Right, Nathan's an elementalist. A combination of a Pyro, Aqua, Aero and Geokineticist.

The flames die down in an instant.

Tom hurries into the room, gasping as he sees his unconscious parents on the floor, their clothes completely burned like the rest of the room. "Mom!"

Tony blinks away the tears eyes, seeing his mother in this awful state. But for a moment, a white light flashes before him.

"A minute left," Sue gasps, quietening her ringing pocket-watch. She sniffs. "Anthony, look there, quick."

Tony wipes off his tears, tracing her grandma's finger to the cabinets above, all charcoal black from the fire.

His eyes widen when he sees a insignia glowing on it. A blue lightning bolt. He has never seen this before, even Tom.

He recognizes the symbol. The official mark of the House of Parloc. The fifth house that was shut down when its last heir died ten years ago.

 Tony bites his lip as the surroundings suddenly go bright and dark at the same time.

The indigo eyes.

He knows who it belongs to.