The world didn't wait for the truth.
By the next morning, Kai's name was everywhere.
Every screen. Every headline. Every conversation.
"Teen with dangerous abilities sentenced to 20 years for attempted murder."
They didn't call him a hero.
They didn't mention the Dragon.
They didn't talk about how he saved Axel… or how he stood his ground.
To them—
Kai was just a threat that had been contained.
Rain fell quietly outside the courthouse as Kai was led away in handcuffs. No powers. No resistance. Just silence.
Axel stood behind the barrier, fists clenched, eyes filled with anger. "This isn't right! He was protecting people!"
Leo held him back. "Not here… we'll fix this. But not like this."
Kai didn't look at them.
Not because he didn't care—
But because he couldn't.
At school, the atmosphere was different.
Too quiet.
Too heavy.
Zara sat alone in the classroom, staring at her desk. No smirk. No teasing. No confidence.
Just guilt.
A student whispered nearby, "Did you see the news? That Kai guy… he really lost it."
Zara's hands tightened.
"They don't know anything…" she whispered under her breath.
Her eyes filled with tears.
She remembered everything—
The way she mocked him.
The way he stood there, holding back.
The words he said.
"When you've been having bad times… we were always there for you…"
A tear rolled down her cheek.
"I didn't mean it like that…" she said softly. "Kai…"
But he wasn't there to hear her.
Days later, inside a cold prison cell—
Kai sat on the edge of a metal bed.
Still.
Silent.
The world outside moved on without him.
No powers.
No freedom.
No second chances.
Just time.
Twenty years of it.
Footsteps echoed down the corridor.
Heavy.
Deliberate.
Kai didn't look up at first.
Until the cell door opened.
He slowly raised his head.
A man stood there.
Older.
Tired eyes.
But familiar.
"…Dad?" Kai's voice was barely a whisper.
The man stepped closer, his expression unreadable.
"You've grown," he said quietly.
Kai frowned slightly. "Where have you been…?"
The man hesitated. Then spoke.
"Your mother… she's missing."
Kai's eyes widened slightly.
"What?"
"She's been gone for over 18 years," his father continued. "And I've been looking for her ever since."
Silence filled the small cell.
Kai's mind raced.
Eighteen years…
That meant—
Before everything.
Before him even knowing the truth.
His fists tightened slowly.
"…And you're telling me this now?"
His father looked at him seriously.
"Because you're not here by accident, Kai."
That sentence hit different.
"You think this is all connected?" Kai asked.
"I don't think," his father said. "I know."
Kai leaned back slightly, the weight of everything crashing down again—
The powers.
The Dragon.
The government.
His arrest.
His mother.
For the first time since losing everything—
Something new appeared in his eyes.
Not anger.
Not power.
Purpose.
"This isn't over…" he said quietly.
And in that cold prison cell—
A new story began.