Strain: Rebel's Rise

We Could've Been Heroes

Lana's House

Keyan stood tall, but his expression made him seem belittled. Regardless of what he's learned, he can't bring himself to act like the mantle he wears. He looked Mama Lana in the eyes. "Why did you lie to me..?" he cried out, his voice cracking between his words. He was hurt more than she could ever know. "Boy, what are you talking about? Are you high-" "STOP LYING TO ME!!" he screamed. A chill wind blew through the house. Only the news could be heard on the TV for a moment, talking once again about Keyan and the others being vigilantes. If only Mama Lana 

"Son. Listen–" "Don't call me that," Keyan muttered, his eyes glowing bright orange. Mama Lana scoffed and backed away from him, no longer recognizing the little boy she once knew. "So because you have powers now, I'm your enemy? I was the one who took care of you even when I didn't give birth to you! I didn't regret it either, not once did I even question it!"

"Mama Lana paused and sighed, knowing she had just revealed and confirmed the secret she had meant to keep from him all these years. In his mind, Keyan knew very well that she was right. No matter what had happened, he couldn't deny that she had fed him, clothed him, and protected him. A mask of hatred and sorrow mixed on Keyan's face, tears running down his cheeks. "Why didn't you just tell me the truth?"

"How did you even find out? Did the vanguard come back to talk to you? What did crimson tell you?!" She raised her voice, and echoes of her rage flowed throughout the entire house. Keyan came to realize something just then. Something scary.

"That's why you wanted her gone," he muttered. "She knows about this too. Just like everything else... WHO IS SHE!?" Keyan cried out, and Lana finally broke, revealing the secret that she'd kept so long for her and her husband.


Keyan stood there frozen, without even having to activate his powers no less. He couldn't believe his ears when Mama Lana said it. Mama Lana covered her mouth as tears fell from her face, staining her Caribbean dress. Keyan walked over to the family portrait, the same one Crimson was so mesmerized with months ago when they showed up on his doorstep.

Mama Lana nodded slowly, hurting herself trying to swallow the truth through the thick air that blocked her from approaching Keyan at this very moment.

"This is too much. This is way too much, I can't- All these secrets. All this lying and deceiving. Why wouldn't she tell me? Why didn't mom tell me?"

Mama Lana's neck snapped in the boy's direction. "Yuri is alive?"


Keyan turned around, his fist balled up. He softly spoke. "She came to see me last night. There's a lot you don't know, Tonya. Something we now have in common." Hearing her name come out of her stepson's mouth like that hurt. More than anything in the world. Like a piece of faith was stripped from him. 

"Listen, we can talk about all of this...I can tell you everything you want to know. Just please, sit down and listen to me Keke.. please." He hesitantly sat down on the couch, Mama Lana joining him.

Back at Ash's House

"HE JUST THINKS WE HAVE TO FOLLOW HIM EVERYWHERE HE GOES BECAUSE HE SAYS SO!!" Zane screamed, throwing stones out into the mini pond behind Ash's house. Dustin leaning on the wall, leg crossed and arms crossed just sighed.

"In a way, little brother, he's right. Without him, we'd kind of be lost right now. Aye, we all aren't cut from the same cloth, but that's what makes us special. We're all different, yet when we fight we're in sync. We're like the teen team- no, like Young Justice. Just, you know, no one's dying." Zane looks back at his big brother and rolls his eyes, tossing another stone into the lake with his air abilities. He grunts as he tosses It but completely misses the lake, Resting his hands on his knees too.