Mighty investigated the plane as the flames had begun to die down. Little of the aircraft had held together when it crashed into the pine forest in which they were now standing. He sighed.

"So? Can she fly again?" Vector asked.

Mighty shook his head. "The plane's completely totalled." He replied. "Even if we could fix it, we'd have no fuel anyway."

"W-Where are we?" Ray asked.

Mighty turned over to him "Well, we're definitely in the Dragon-Lands now, but I'm afraid I have no idea where the nearest city is from here."

"I would suggest we set up camp soon." Espio said as the sun began to disappear over the horizon. Everyone darted their heads to it as well.

"But we don't have the tent-stuff though." Charmy buzzed.

Vector scratched his head as he looked up to the darkening sky.

"All we need is a warm fire." Mighty smiled. "I don't see any sign of rain; it should be a nice night."

"Well, I guess we're gonna need some organizing then…" Vector said, somewhat surprised by Mighty's weather-telling skills. "Mighty; you make a clearing here for camp, Charmy & Ray; I want you two to collect some wood for the fire, and Espio; we need you to keep a lookout for anything suspicious – thieves, monsters or people that could help us out." He then clasped his hands together "I'll go catch us some grub."

The group nodded and went off to begin their tasks. "Will you guys be alright on your own?" Mighty called to Charmy and Ray.

"Don't worry about us!" Charmy replied. "I can sting anyone who messes with us!"

Mighty just chuckled to himself in response.

Espio scaled the tallest tree he could find. Using invisibility, he scanned the environment for potential threats. So far it appeared to be a peaceful evening; the sun was half gone over the horizon. He could see birds returning to their nests to rest for the night – their good-night calls was his company.

The sun had nearly disappeared once all was done. Crickets were chirping and the fire was crackling as the five friends lay down, with bellies full of Vector's hand-caught boar, watching the stars.

"I don't think I remember ever having a meal that good in a while." Mighty exclaimed.

Vector laughed. "Back in my home town, I used to chase things like those all the time."

"Whereabouts was that?"

Vector suddenly became quiet as he tried to think of something to say. "Uh y'know…just some countryside area – I lived on a farm and stuff."

"O-Oh! What d-did you have on it?" Ray asked excitedly.

"Was it an Alligator farm?" Charmy added.

"Funny…" Vector snarled at the bee. "It…it was a small farm…er…but we had some cows, pigs, chickens…and a patch of alfalfa for the rabbits and stuff…"

Mighty scratched his head. "Hey, isn't that from a book or something?"

"Er…no. No – it's probably just a coincidence." Vector quickly tried to change the subject "What about you guys? Where're you from?"

"Well, my family and I travelled around a lot and stuff." He replied.

"Oh, so is that how you learned all your skills and stuff?"

"What are you talking about? I don't have any special skills."

"Oh yeah? You just 'read' the sky and then just knew what the weather was gonna be like. You hot-wired and flew that plane! And back at the airport – you were completely in character; I've never seen anything like it!"

"It was certainly most impressive." Espio added.

"Yeah man, you can't tell me that you just up and did those things first time just like that.

"It's a long story…" Mighty began poking at the flames with a stick.

"I like stories!" Charmy grinned.

"Leave him alone Charmy." Espio said. "It's not nice to pry into people like that."

Vector continued however "Well, how'd you learn all of that stuff then? You seem pretty young – like eighteen, nineteen…?"

"Sixteen…" Mighty said.

Vector seemed shocked. "Well, tell me how a sixteen-year old learns all of this stuff."

"Well…" Mighty began. "I was born to a family of…well, my family was poor…we were very poor. We lived in a horse-pulled carriage and travelled a lot. In order to get our necessities, my parents were…thieves – well-known thieves, which is why we were always on the move. My father, from when I was young, tried to teach me everything he could – how to pick locks and pockets, how to hotwire cars and even fly small planes. He also showed me some of his best escape tactics and his tricks and acting in how to con people in the streets. I guess he figured that it was the only life I could ever lead afterwards, and wanted me to be the best I could be…I can see that now…" Mighty then cracked a faint smile; the memories were all flooding back to him now. "We never had much. I never made any friends. But we were happy – Me, Mother & Father and…little Tilly; my sister."

"'Were' happy?" Vector noticed. "What happened? I'm guessing you had a fight and ran away or something?"

Charmy's eyes widened at that moment. Fighting with your parents and running away was definitely something he could relate to.

Mighty continued to poke at the flames. "Heh, it's funny how life turns out sometimes…" He cleared his throat. "We only stayed in a village for a few days – we laid low too; no-one got suspicious and no-one could trace the crimes back to us. I never liked our lifestyle – I didn't like having to steal to live; I knew it was wrong and that it was gonna come back to bite us. I tried warning my parents, but they would never listen…" He took a slow, cleansing, breath. "One day, I guess we stayed a little bit longer than usual – it was a nice village, it was very old-fashioned. I guess my parents just liked it. Tilly and I were playing in the nearby woods. I was ten at the time and she was five. I was showing her the autumn leaves when mother called us back to camp. She seemed worried and was trying to rush us into the carriage so we could leave."

"What-What happened?" Charmy said, leaning in.

"We were surrounded. The-The villagers found us. My father was chased back to our camp when he stole the village's treasure. He tried explaining our situation – even offering to return it…but they wouldn't listen. They scared off our horse and beat my father right in front of us. Then…then they…they set the camp on fire and tied him down!" His eyes began watering.

They saw Mighty's distress. Charmy was especially impacted.

He continued his story "He told us to run – not to look back." The words rang in his head, the sound of the growing fire – his father's screams of pain. "Mother grabbed hold of us and ran into the woods. Two horsemen chased after us. She knew we couldn't outrun them, so she told us to hide. They got her and dragged her back to camp. Tilly started crying and one of the men spotted us. I-I told her to run!" He could hear her terrified shriek as if he was there again. "I should've held onto her!" He lamented. "I should've just pulled her with me and maybe…maybe she…" A tear tricked from his face, evaporating in the campfire. He pushed his face away from the flames, his eyes shut tightly.

Charmy and Ray were even tearing up at that point.

Vector felt terrible. "Gee…Mighty, I'm sorry…I should've just-"

Mighty's innocent smile returned. "Don't worry about it man." He said. "It's my past. No matter where I go or who I meet, my past will always be there. There's no use hiding it – it's your experiences that make you, well, you."

"Well…" Vector replied. "That's an interesting way of putting it."

"On the topic of experiences…" Espio said. "I'm curious…er…how did you get your powers?"

"Now who's pryin'?" Vector said.

"Sorry Mighty…I've just never seen them before – I assume they're enhanced chi?"

"Heheh." Mighty chuckled. "Don't worry about it. And yeah – that's right. The power of my inner self was increased to greater levels; I'm stronger, faster and more enduring than ever before. Heh, that's why I glow – it means I'm using my chi and that's why my attacks become so powerful."

"Interesting. Well, how'd you get it? I know from experience that you can train your chi to become stronger and faster – but nowhere near to what we've seen you do."

"Well, it wasn't long after I lost my family when it happened. I wandered for weeks, or maybe months and I soon found myself in Chun-Nan. A martial-artist master, I think, found me passed out on the streets. He took me to a temple up in the mountains where he fixed me up. I guess he saw something in me, I don't know, but he wanted to train me to become a better me."

"Well how'd he do it? Was it a special exercise or fruit or-"

"Just training at first. He trained me for a few years – hard training. Then one day, he used this strange jewel – like an emerald, of some sort. It had a strange energy in it and he just pumped it into me. I fell unconscious from the shock, but when I woke up the next day – I woke up with these new abilities. You probably don't believe me though…"

"It certainly is an incredible story – but not unheard of…"

"He trained me some more, until I decided I was done – I wanted to move on."

"Your master just let you go like that?"

"Well, he was hesitant at first, but he let me go in the end – saying something about 'The most important thing in life is to know who you are – sometimes you just have to go out into the world and find what that is.' So I was off travelling again."

"Wait – what about Ray?" Charmy said.

"Oh, well as I was wandering, I soon found myself somewhere in the country of Knothole. And I was picked up by an orphan slaver…"

"A what?!" Vector exclaimed.

"Didn't you defend yourself?" asked Espio.

"Why would I? I was wandering the globe aimlessly and I still felt guilty about what happened to my family. What more could they have done to me? And what else could I have done for myself?" He replied. "Although, I soon found out that things could get worse, and they certainly did."

"What happened then?" Charmy asked.

"Let him speak, Charmy!" Vector yelled.

Mighty continued "I was brought to a slave's camp where orphan children were being forced to mine for valuable gems in all sorts of places. That's where I met Ray."

"I-I-I-I-I was getting picked on by a b-bunch of bullies, but Mighty h-h-helped me!" Ray added.

Mighty smiled. "Yeah, some of the other kids got a bit hostile with, y'know, the bad environment around them. I stood up for him when no-one else did." He tussled Ray's hair once again.

"Alright, well how'd you guys escape then?" Vector asked.

"We made some friends; people who knew how to plan – people with skills. We broke out, and together we chased the slaver out. From then on I found a new purpose in my life – I took in Ray as my adopted little brother. It was fate; he was the same age as Tilly would've been. From there onwards, we've been exploring the globe…or at least hitchhiking through the wilderness and meeting you guys in Metropolis."

"Wow." Charmy said. "That was a great story."

"Hey, what happened to the slaver and the friends that helped you all escape?" Vector asked.

"The slaver was handed over to the authorities, whilst our friend, ran off in search of new adventures I guess." Mighty smiled.

They all sat around the fire quietly after that. What else was there to say after a story like that?

Espio broke the silence "Perhaps we should get some sleep – who knows what to expect tomorrow."

"Good call Espio." Vector replied.

"But w-w-w-w-what about those c-c-c-creatures Vector?" Ray shuddered. "W-w-won't they be coming back?"

"Don't worry about it Ray." Mighty said. "They're long gone."

"Don't be so sure." Vector said.

"Huh?!"

"That's also a long story, but don't worry Ray; Mighty, Espio and I will take it in turns to watch. I'll start."

They all started settling down to rest and bid each other a good night. Their minds were stirring however; all were struck by the events of the day.

Charmy thought about Mighty's parents; Mighty argued with them but he thought it was his responsibility to warn his parents. Charmy wanted to escape his responsibilities and ran away from his parents. Mighty's parents died, what if his parents were dead? What if something happened to them? He'd never see them again!

Mighty was haunted by the ghosts of his family. But he wondered, what would've happened to his life if he had saved his sister or even his parents – stopping the whole event from happening? Would he have met or saved Ray? What would his life be like?

Who did it? Espio thought. He's had little evidence to go off of. Maybe it was suicide – but it couldn't be; why would the Komori be trying to stop them from finding out? But the scan said that the fragment he found was from a Chameleon, but they never found out who. And now they were lost – with no idea on where those Komori Ninjas could've run to. What were they going to do?

Vector felt more lost than he had in a while. Those words that Mighty had told him "No matter where I go or who I meet, my past will always be there. There's no use hiding it – it's your experiences that make you, well, you." Vector has made many mistakes in his life; some recent, others buried back in time. He didn't want to accept them. He didn't want to remember them – he wanted them to go away. This is why I didn't want to come along in the first place! I knew they'd try digging into my past – why can't I just forget? Why did he have to go and say that? Why can't I mould my experiences – why can't I change who I am? He thought.

The group rested, and Vector kept watch on a nearby stump. Above them, the moon illuminated the mountains and the forest around them. They'll need their sleep for what's coming, but with the many questions buzzing through their head, it was going to be a long night.