Gyaan ran towards the way other elements had gone. Rounding up a corner, he reached a quiet alley filled with trees and wild shrubs. It was an alley that connected two major roads, but there weren't any buildings or shops in that small area, making it easier for them to hide.

Gyaan sighed in relief to see that the elements hadn't gone too far, and had chosen a perfect place to wait. But his relief disappeared in a second when he noticed what they were doing.

Sameera was pacing back and forth, rubbing Avan's back as he cried bitterly on her shoulders, while Neer had his bowed head, and one of his legs bent in a way that his foot touched the tree as he stood there with the support of the huge tree.

Walking near them, Gyaan asked them, "What happened? Were you not able to contact Ravi and Maanvi?"

"What happened to Ahana?!" Neer asked with fright, ignoring Gyaan's question altogether.

Gyaan was not able to see from afar, but now that Neer turned he could see Neer's red, teary eyes.

"Is didi alright?" Avan asked in a hoarse voice, looking concernedly at Ahana's unconscious form.

"Don't worry, she is okay. It's just loss of energy, nothing else," Gyaan reassured, before making Ahana sit on the ground, carefully letting her head rest on the tree trunk.

Gyaan made sure she was okay, before turning towards others and asking them about the reason for their condition.

"Everything is over," Sameera whispered in a broken voice.

"What?" Gyaan looked at her confused.

"At first we were being hunted down for experiments, but now we are 'wanted'. They have turned us into criminals," she replied, wiping off her stray tears.

"What?"

"Do you not know any other word than what?" Neer bursted out, glaring at the parrot who kept repeating the words.

"Not the time," Gyaan said with gritted teeth, glaring back at Neer, before turning to Sameera, "Explain what happened entirely."

Sameera opened her mouth to speak, but closed it as a new wave of tears appeared. "Sorry," she whispered, before putting Avan down from her arms and turning away from the guys.

"I will tell you bhaiya," Avan said, before telling them what they found at the only shop that had a PCO booth.

"Sameera aunty went into the shop to call Ravi uncle, while we stood outside waiting for her. There was a T.V in the nearby small shop where everyone was smoking," Avan said, remembering the scene vividly.

At first, he was so shocked to find so many elements with Ahana Didi's and Sameera Aunty's power. In fact the power of those men was stronger, they were creating fog from their mouths while Ahana Didi and Sameera Aunty had to join powers to create the fog.

"Neer Bhaiya, see they have powers just like us," Avan had said excitedly, pulling Neer's jeans to gain his attention.

Neer chuckled at his innocence, "They are smoking, and not creating a fog," he informed, before letting him know what smoking was.

Avan had face-palmed at his stupidity, but still looked at the smoke creating men in wonder. However, his wonder didn't last long when he saw his mother and her colleagues on T.V.

"Yes, you are correct, we were together in that village. And we also took their help in creating the technology that helped save the world," Reyansh, the team leader of researchers' team, said to the multiple reporters surrounding him.

Lots of questions and angry shouts sounded when he uttered those words.

"However," Reyansh shouted, raising his hands in surrender position, "However, I can swear on my daughter's life that we didn't know that they had powers. We weren't aware that they weren't humans."

"Sir is telling the truth," Payal, Avan's mother came forward, "They never told us how they were able to make something that could sustain the disasters. We were told that it was advanced technology, but as they hadn't patented it, they couldn't show us how they made it.

"We didn't have much time to investigate as the world was dying, so we ended up blindly trusting them.

"Yes, I agree we worked with them, but trust us, we aren't the villains you all are making us to be. We were fooled by them just like everyone else."

"What about their good work that was shown before in the news? Many people had come forward to sing their praises," a reporter yelled his question to be heard over all this noise.

"It is obvious. Every bad person does some good deeds to hide what he actually does. Humans have been using this tactic for so long. Using charity and social work to show how great they are to the world, while they hide their heinous works. The Villains used the same way. They saved a few to show that they are superheroes. We sang praises and prayed for their well-being, and they laughed at our stupidness as they tried to destroy our world."

Avan repeated everything just as he had heard, not forgetting even a sentence. Those words and the curses that had followed after had been engraved in his small mind. He would never forget them.

"Who said those last words?" Gyaan asked, barely managing to hide the hurt in his voice.

"Leave it, Gyaan, who cares who said it. What matters is that we have been backstabbed by the ones we had once trusted," Neer said in a somber voice.

"Who?" Gyaan repeated his question in a firm and deadly voice.

"Tej Bhaiya," Avan said, looking down at the ground.

Gyaan couldn't make sense of it. Out of all, Tej was the one who was closest to him. How could he? Wasn't he the one who called Gyaan during the school fiasco to help him? Then what happened in just a few days for him to turn his back?

But then it wasn't that impossible. After all, if Avan's mother can go against him then what can't a best friend of two years do.

"All said and done, there was nothing that showed us off as villains. What was the thing that turned our image like this?" Ahana asked, from her sitting form, having been awake for a few minutes.

"Are you okay?" Everyone asked in unison.

Neer knelt down, checking her forehead and cheeks. "I am fine," Ahana shrugged his hands away, when he moved to check her legs.

She stood up to face others, and Neer followed suit. "Something major must have happened for us to turn from superheroes to villains," Ahana spoke.

"Aren't you curious to know why the researchers went against us?" Gyaan asked with raised eyebrows.

"They are just saving their asses," Ahana replied, snorting at those losers she once considered a family.

"What?" Gyaan asked.

"And the parrot returns," Neer commented, making Gyaan glare at him.

"If you two are done, can I explain?" Ahana asked with narrowed eyes.

Both of them immediately gave up their stance not wanting to raise her temper.

"Good," she muttered, before explaining her theory.

"We are being termed as villains and the word of them working with us has also got out. Probably because of those villagers who claimed that there were more elements with us in that breaking news.

"Now there are so many eye-witnesses so they cannot deny that we worked together. So they are acting as victims to get out of the scrutiny of the world."

"You are saying that they conveniently threw us under the bus to safeguard themselves," Sameera said in disbelief.

She couldn't believe they could do that. Not after what they had faced together. The ups and downs, the fights, the stupid celebrations, the bond. How could someone just let all this go down the drain at first sight of trouble?

"May be, may be not. Who knows?" Ahana shrugged, "this is something I am assuming. For all we know that they have been held on a gun point to say all these things."

"Is it possible?" Avan asked, as hope emerged in his eyes.

"They are being forced, aren't they? Of course they are, or else they wouldn't speak ill about us," Avan ranted excitedly, making the other elements pray that his new found hope didn't get shattered when the reality came forward.

"Yeah, that must be the case. They must not have any other choice than to do this," Sameera said, feeding his small hope as she didn't want to ruin his childhood.

Ahana, Neer, Sameera and Gyaan, they all had lost their childhood in one way or another. The twins being thrown out of their house and called monsters by their own parents. Sameera being captured by the scientists because of signing a document in her foolish wish to find new parents. Gyaan always living in guilt because he tried to revive his dead mother instead of healing his father, losing both of them in the process.

Except Avan, they all lived with burdens in their heart. And she didn't want that for the sweet child. Even if it took thousands of lies, they would make sure that Avan would never live a life resenting his mother. Although she deserved every bit of it, Avan didn't deserve a life filled with hatred.