Within the astronomical plane of the galaxy and the flecks of stars and planets, there lies a trail of stars that faintly lead to a humble white planet at the edge of a dozen broad and irregular bands of light. This white planet speeds within the peripheral, clouds part, continents zoom in and buildings begin to grow into view.
The Kanvas Empire rests within a rift, an expanse of an ocean surrounding the city gleams with pride under the morning light. The skies are empty, save for the fluffy and laid out blanket of clouds. Not a ship in the sky, nor a ship on the sea. The Empire is deathly silent, a contrast to the warm and welcoming view from the polished silver gates. At the heart of the city stands a tall and imposing clock tower. Its intimidating yet regal architecture captures the most attention amongst the smaller buildings and closed stores. The tower's clocks at all four sides tick at a simultaneous pace, slowly coming to one momentous hour.
The hour hand hits seven, and the city stands still. Clouds stop moving, the ocean ceases to ripple and the wind dies off into nothing. The clock's hands don't move, and for a moment, there was a glimmer. Atop the clock tower is a singular floor, windows sleek of dark obsidian glass shine at all four sides and obscures whatever is behind it. But behind the glass is a mechanical and slim hand slowly putting down a glass black pawn and promoting it to a queen.
The sound of the queen clicking on the glass checkered board echoes, and like a key unlocking a machine, the Kanvas Empire is set into motion.
The doors to residential homes open, the wooden or glass tinted windows unlock and residents of different races that lean on humanoid extend across the streets. Merchants open booths, barkers call for customers and kids and families roam the empire with content smiles. Life seems to brew from the corners of the area and the laughter, sound and chatter of residents fill faster than a leak in a ship's hull.
Back behind the black glass of the clock tower, the hand that replaced the pawn for a queen pulls back and waits for the opponent to make their move.
"Your turn." Spoke a robotic voice.
The opponent chuckled, and a young male tenor replied. "You always know what to do with things like these."
"Things like these?" echoed the robotic voice.
The glass black and gold chess pieces glimmer beneath a lit up checkered board of similar material. From one glance, you can deduce the black pieces would end up winning from slowly promoting queens. "Yes. The thing you taught me about power." The male's voice paused, and the silhouette looks to his left where the expanse of the empire greets him below. "When aiming for power, we aim for the abnormal. Because no one would ever expect the unknown and what they don't know—" He begins to move an open pawn to the end of the board, planning to promote it.
"They fear." The mechanical voice finished.
The boy's silhouette puts down the pawn and replaces it with a queen. "You can never be too greedy with power, you especially."
The robotic voice didn't reply, but instead continued on with the game and moved a knight to eat the newly promoted queen of the boy. The boy's silhouette on the other end grimaced. A mechanical chuckle emitted in a beat, "But being too greedy can leave you wide open. Choose who you think would work based on probability, not by sheer brute force… Remember—"
"Don't think brashly. Fight smart, not hard."
"Exactly. Oh, and checkmate."
The boy pauses before sighing in defeat, "One day, you'll see me beat you."
The robot chuckled and it mimicked a mechanical sound wave growling. Amused, the robotic voice replied. "I'd like to see you try."
"Boboiboy, help me!" cried a familiar tenor that bordered on the soprano. Gopal, a dark-skinned and decently chubby teen of fifteen years runs down a slope following a dirt path. His clothes and hair were a mess and his skin was tainted with dirt and bruises. Despite his concussions, his hands cartoonishly flail above his head as he runs off like a man being chased by his worst nightmare.
That in itself wasn't too off from the truth.
As Gopal hopped over a few rocks that were blocking the pathway, a large silhouette hovers behind him and a cynical cackle taunts Gopal to turn around. Like the gullible guy he is, he turned to meet the face of the devil. Gopal's eyes shrink to dots and he couldn't find an even bigger motivation to run away now that he was a few feet away from death.
There, chasing about fifteen feet away from him, was Mole-aroll. A stout alien with the body of a fat man yet with the limbs and head of an earth mole cackles once more, as if relishing in the sight of a scared child. "Cooooome here you! Let me DRILL some sense into that fat brain of yours, tubby!" Mole-aroll rode atop a gargantuan machine that resembled a cross from a tank and a large drill vehicle with the main gun on top. A cylindrical glass cover, which stood as a make-shift turret, defended Mole-aroll on all sides and the drill machine towers and rolls across the plant life and dirt along the way, squishing it to either crumpled up greenery or dust. Despite its sheer size, speed wasn't an issue for it nor was it to chasing a helpless wannabe hero. Gopal could only scream louder and run faster at the horrid sight of his future if he didn't find a way to get out of the mess.
"No no no! Please! You don't wanna drill anything in my brain, trust me! All school information goes out the window once I cram it in the night before! It's no use! Please don't hurt me!"
"What was that Gopal?!" A female voice scolded from afar and Gopal didn't think he'd fear that voice more than the Mole-aroll, but here he was, fearing for his life at both ends.
Mole-aroll perked at the sound of that voice and quickly whipped his head left to right. It was nothing but foliage and more forest life under the morning light. Morning light. He clicked his tongue and whipped his head up and spots the shadow of a hooded humanoid descending from the heavens. A pale pink orb surrounds the humanoid's hands and the figure comes into a view with the face of a Valkyrie.
Yaya is a gentle looking girl of fourteen years. At the moment, she's adorned in various clothes tinting of pink with cute flower patterns. A hijab hoods her head and her kind expression is nowhere to be found. Just like Gopal, she's a bit worse for wear with scratches and cuts, but her determination across her eyes glints with powerful youth. She shoots down from the sky with the acceleration of a bullet, her brows knit and her gaze focuses straight ahead, right towards Mole-aroll. "Gravitational Drop!" Her voice echoes and both her fists close tight. She pulls them both above her head and clutches them together and readies her attack to slam down.
Mole-aroll smirks, catching Yaya and Gopal off guard as the drill machine's tip instantaneously pops out a separate drill going under it and begins digging. "Hurry Yaya!" Gopal cried out in a panic, clutching his head.
"Slow-Mo Speed!" Two feminine hands with outstretched fingers shot upwards and a clock of light flattens itself above the villain like the moon over the sun during an eclipse. The drill machine and Mole-aroll flashed a brilliant yellow and white before they began to move slower than usual; slower than how fast Yaya was going. "Now Yaya!" Came another voice as the source of it came from a girl holding up her hands towards the light clock.
"Nice one, Ying!" Cheered Gopal. Ying winked in response, watching the yellow watch strapped to her wrist and notices the depletion of her power band's energy bar. She furrows her brows in worry, sweat trickling down her slightly dirt ruddied cheek.
Ying is a beanie-wearing fast-talker with the brain of a genius and the patience of a bowling ball dropping to the floor. Despite being a year younger than the rest of them, she's been shown to be either the most mature or the most intelligent of the bunch through sheer hard work and skill. "Hurry!" She yelled out, watching the clock above them tick away.
Yaya roared out a battle cry before slamming her fists down on the metal drill machine. Like a sack of opened flour falling onto the floor, the dirt path was fumed by dust and smoke. The heavy metal machine creaking indicated the powerful contact, and Ying and Gopal coughed and squinted through the obscurity.
"Oh no!" Squeaked Yaya in surprise and fear. The dirt and smoke dissipated, revealing Yaya's work. Small bits of metal gears and plates trail going down into a drilled out hole. "What did I do?" Yaya asked in a worried panic, hovering over the hole that she helped make after forcing the drill to shoot through it.
"You punched it straight out to its escape it dug up earlier! Ugh, no wonder it chased Gopal down here. Mole-aroll made a ton of escape tunnels around here…" scolded Ying as she looked back at her watch.
"Oh no no, I didn't mean to though!"
"Geez Yaya," Started Gopal with a pompous attitude, "You sure messed us up big time. Now we have to go look for him!"
"Hey!" Flared Yaya with danger glinting across her pupils, "If you didn't miss the first shot at it, I wouldn't have—"
"I'm sorry! Y-You're right! I'm sorry, pleasedon'thurtmeYaya! I'm bruised enough as it is! P-Please spare me!"
"I'm out of juice guys… I really thought that would be our last hit." Ying confessed in a slightly slower tone than usual. She shows off her now depleted watch bar and wobbles in place, surprisingly losing her footing and finds herself toppling backwards. Before her butt could kiss the ground, a pair of arms caught her quickly. "Whoa!"
"Ying! Are you alright? Where's Mole-aroll?" Their leader and hard-hitter, Boboiboy, peaks his head over Ying's shoulder after catching her. At least, it was one of the split versions of their leader. The white dressage and gloves gave it away that it was Boboiboy Light.
Ying pushes herself off of him and gives a thankful nod before explaining. "He got shot down, buuuut not in a good way. He's probably making his escape as we speak."
As Ying says this, Both of the pink auras enveloping Yaya's boots flicker and fade. Her body slowly descends from the air and hits the ground with a rough thump. Gopal squeaked in surprise at noticing this, running over to Yaya and offering a helping shoulder. They both noticed Yaya's watch flicker off at the depleted bar and they all groan at the slow realization of what that meant.
The Drillbot Power Sphere got away.
Gopal messed his thin brown hair in frustration and fear, "Admiral Tarung and Commander Koko Ci are NOT gonna be happy with this… I don't wanna sleep out here in the wilderness again! It's too cold up here!"
Another person entered out from the forestation to their left, but with the same face as the boy in white. This boy was adorned in yellow with the face of a man on a mission, "Enough chit-chat." The boy in yellow scolded lightly, making eye contact with his look-alike in white. "Light, let's follow him."
"Could've done it myself, Lightning. You bring the team back to the ship, I'll deal with what's left of that mole."
Lightning's eyes narrowed from under the brim of his hat, "Excuse me? I don't think we have time to deal with your ego, Light."
Before the more egotistical of the two could slap out a retort, another split version of Boboiboy ran out from the forest with rugged gasps of breath and enough dirt on his green outfit to be considered camo. Light and Lightning's words died off and they turned their attention to the boy in green.
"Leaf!" Exclaimed everyone in vicinity.
Looking a little worse for wear, Boboiboy Leaf cleared his throat and put up an index finger, indicating a pause for him to catch his breath. "Hah… Hah… F-Fang's fine, by the way. In case you guys were wondering."
Behind Leaf, two trails of green stems follow behind him, Pitcher Plants float a few heads above them with open mouths. In one of the pitcher's mouth occupied an unconscious teenage boy. His hair is hued to obsidian and he adorned a visor for glasses and a dirtied sleeveless purple coat.
"Fang sure took a beating from that drill…" pitied Yaya.
"That's why we need to move." Light intercepted, turning to Leaf, "Leaf, watch over Fang and the rest. You're just gonna get in our way if you're that tired." His gaze went to Lightning, "Come on, Lightning. Keep up."
Before the yellow adorned Boboiboy could speak, Light zipped into the large man-made hole in the ground with a trail of white particles following behind. Lightning could only click his tongue, "Snob…" He turned back to the gang with a nod and a less threatening tone, "You guys head back to the ship. We'll be there in a bit."
"Boboiboy, take care…!" Ying called out, sluggishly moving next to Leaf.
Lightning briefly nodded before zipping out the same way, the static in the air left the air crackling with faint energy.
Gopal sighed in relief, "Hah, I'm glad I'm drained too. I don't wanna deal with that guy anymore…"
Yaya lightly snatched his wrist and squinted at his power band, "Hey! Liar, you've still got a few more bars on it!"
"B-But I don't wanna run all the way down there—"
"Mind repeating that?"
For a brief moment, Yaya was a second away from snapping Gopal's wrist like a toothpick and Gopal whined in pain, "S-S-Stop! Stop! Okay! I'll go after him! P-Please just let go of my wrist! Aaaagh!" he managed to slip his hand out of Yaya's death grip.
"Hmph. Now get going! Go on!"
"Y-Yes ma'am!"
Ying and Leaf snicker from behind, "What a doormat." They both muttered in unison.
Later, the two splits of Boboiboy hopped through the dark burrow of the underground, and within seconds they gain closer and closer to their still fleeing target.
Lightning side-eyed Light, "With the speed we're going, we'll catch up with him in a few. Why don't we fuse now?"
Light glared at him, continuing to hop through the dirt and rocks across their way, "You think we have the energy to hold it for more than a few minutes? We need to conserve our energy, genius."
Lightning stayed quiet, looking back to their trail.
Light continued to bombard the other with snide comments, "I'm only working with you this well because of two reasons. The two of us are considered to be the best in comparison to the rest of the other splits," Light shakes his head, "And we're one third of the fusions discovered by Boboiboy. We don't really have a choice so don't mess it up." Like light itself, he bounced across the rocky terrain in a millisecond and covered more ground in a blink.
Lightning was still a few yards behind and he huffed in irritation, "Tch, pompous split…"
Lightning flashed across the tunnel and found the trails left by Light. An open expanse started to reveal itself farther in and on cue, he could hear Light's voice from inside. "Lightning! Wear it down for me!"
"At least he tries to work with me…" thought Lightning before pumping both his fist down, the familiar weight and electric pulse that materializes in his hands made his adrenaline pump faster.
The enemy fades to view and from under the brim of Lightning's hat, he squints at the scene.
Light held his position in the air, hovering a few inches off the ground and holding his hands out, prepping an attack.
"I just need to stall time…"
Mole-aroll's fat body cackled in delight as the drill machine does its work, wreaking havoc in the small compact cavern. "So glad of you to join us, Flashy! But no matter how hard you hit, you can never drill through my defenses!" He taunted the two of them by knocking on the inside of the cylindrical cover he was in, then waved.
Lightning seethed and zipped across the ceiling, the floor and the walls. "Don't get so full of yourself, Mole-aroll! Lightning Blade Slash!" Lightning roared out in brewing anger, twirling the dual blades and slicing through the machine with an irritating sound of metal against metal. The machine shuddered with the sound of thunder clapping within the cavern, but the machine stood unfazed.
Mole-aroll faked a scream, "Oh nooo! I'm so scared! What are you, dumb? This isn't normal metal, dingus! It isn't as much of a conductor as you think it is!" Mole-aroll shrugged, pulling out a small remote from one of the dirty satchels adorning his person, "But what do you know, right? You're just a kid!"
"Hn." Unfazed, Lightning chucked the blades at the machine, "Lightning Barrage!" A series of Lighting Blades sliced through the air, whizzing directly towards the side of the machine where dents from Yaya and Ying's carnage lingered.
One, two, five, seven, ten blades pierced the ground next to the machine and some pierced the shell of the metal and crackled with electricity.
"Geez kid, what did I just say? Those things don't work! You're never going to damage me with a little lightning!"
"That wasn't what I was aiming for anyway, Mole." Lightning said, pulling a hand up and waves to his right. "Lightning Chain!"
The blades blinked yellow, and a trail of electricity started a chain reaction, connecting all ten of them and holding the machine in place to the ground.
"What the—?!"
"That'll keep you from scurrying. Light!" Called Lightning, turning his head towards the boy in white.
Mole-aroll smashed his fingers on the remote in a hurry, the motor on the machine whirred from beneath and the wheels stuck to static.
Light opened his eyes and both his hands formed finger guns, the two fingers pointing out lit up white and he sliced through the air and drew out light. "Light Shot!"
Two large white slashes crossed through the air and slammed against the machine with a heavy metal screech. Their ears rang with white noise and the dust and rocks in the cavern blew across the floor and walls, fog engulfed the area and Light readied another weapon as he flew higher up in the air, "Optical—" His eyes flickered a luminous white.
"Drill-Cannon Blaster!" From the fog, a glint of metal and the sound of a cannon erupting echoed within the underground and a missile in the form of a drill shot out from the smoke, aiming straight at Light.
"Light!" Lightning called out, "Lightning Speed!"
"—LightShot,wait!"
All at once, Lightning appeared in a flash right next to the missile, slashing through it like butter. The missile discharged, exploding from the slash. Lightning's delay time to notice the Light Shot aiming directly at him was a second too late as the infused light slammed against Lightning's body. His slightly burnt and half-conscious body flew down towards the drill machine and collided with the glass of the Mole-aroll's cover.
Light's blazing white stark eyes faded off at the realization of the wrong target, "Lightning!"
Lightning groaned, falling off the cylindrical cover and barely catching his footing by the foot of the machine.
"Whoops," Mole-aroll snickered, watching Lightning's eyes blink away unconsciousness, "I thought you guys were on the same team, haha! What a bunch of knuckle-heads!"
That comment alone was enough to boil both Lightning and Light's already pressured anger. Lightning, with refound vigor, whipped his head toward Light. That quick eye contact solidified the same idea and they both nodded at each other, glaring back at Mole-aroll.
Mole-aroll lazily placed his hands on his wide hips, "Oh? What's this? You two planning to admit defeat?"
"No." Lightning growled.
Light adjusted his pose while hovering, "But we think you should."
The two splits shot towards each other in a blink, the distance was enough for them to call onto their second tier forms.
"Boboiboy Solar!" "Boboiboy Thunderstorm!"
With a brilliant flash of gold and scarlet, the cavern erupted with light and static. The machine creaked at the quaking of the ground and the intensity of the air, Mole-aroll could only click commands on his compact remote and watch closely.
The ball of warm colors hovering in the air imploded, then shattered outward like glass. The two splits sprouted out from the ball, Solar with his orange visor and Thunderstorm with his Thunder Spear. Huffing upon landing on the ground on impact, they posed in stance and readied their next move.
"Thunderstorm Slash!" A flash of red whizzed across the room as if the lights in Mole-aroll's peripheral were playing tricks, but with a blink, Thunderstorm was gone and the machine lurked backward in a hard jerk.
"Gah—!"
A spider web of electricity engulfed the machine, but again, it wasn't as effective as Mole-aroll mentioned. "Are you deaf or something? I told you this won't work! You're just wasting your efforts, kid!"
"Tch." Thunderstorm clicked his tongue from behind the machine and looked at his power band, it's battery was depleting rapidly and the thunderstorm logo glitched against the screen. "We'll get through you the same way we do with everything…" He dug his spear into the ground and released his grip from it.
"Sheer power!" Solar yelled out and gave a vague signal with one hand towards Thunderstorm. They both took advantage of the gap of pause in Mole-aroll's lecture and jumped above the machine, crossing each other.
Mole-aroll noticed their faces shift to cocky and he couldn't help but sweat in worry, "H-Hey, what are you two planning?!"
"What else?" Solar conceitedly announced.
Thunderstorm adjusted his cap's bill and smirked, "Your defeat."
The two pounded their wrists against each other mid-air and bellowed with control, "Elemental Fusion!" The air exploded with energy, enough so that the machine began to dig itself into the ground with the sheer force of it. Invisible waves of power thrashed erratically across the cavern, the dirt and rock from the ceiling cascaded down on the floor like an underground hailstorm.
"Another fusion?! B-But you just used that big ice fusion an hour ago! Haha… Haha…!" Mole-aroll's pride melts away and the sweat starts to pour, "No no! No!"
The deafening silence only made the anticipation worse. However, to Mole-aroll's delight, the only thing coming out of the smoke in the air was the same two splits, not fused.
Thunderstorm and Solar reverted back to their first tier forms, Light growled catching a glance at his watch. The battery's up to one bar. "We're too late..." Light's legs gave out and his knees met the floor, Lightning's behind kissed the burnt ground with a weighted thud. They both huffed in frustration and exhaustion but continued to burn invisible holes at Mole-aroll's direction with their gazes.
Mole-aroll bellowed in laughter, slapping his hand on the inside of his cover. "Ohahahahaha! I thought I was done for there! You really didn't think about the AFTER of your brilliant plan there. Oh well," Mole-aroll pocketed his remote after one more button press and chuckled, "It's about time we stop playing." The lightning chain that bound the machine snapped away into the air, fizzling out like a burnt out tiny flame. The large drill twirled, turning towards the two. The glinting metal churns dangerously as the creaking of the cannon slides down, pointing at Light and Lightning.
Lightning clutched against his watch and seethed towards Light, "We're low on energy… What now, genius?"
"I…" For once, Light had nothing to say against that remark. "I don't know… I—" His gloved fist clenched tight, "I don't know, Thunderstorm."
"Hah?" Lightning barely registered the wrong name called, "I'm Lightning, get it right!"
"Huh? Oh, right right. Both of you are similarly edgy so, I don't really see the difference."
"Are you kidding me? I'm wearing yellow! He wears black and red! What are you, color blind?"
Light paused before he retorted, "Wait, who wears black and red? Cyclone?"
Lightning squinted and opened his mouth to reply, but had to pause as well in thought, "Huh… I think. Wait, no? No, I don't think it's Cyclone. Maybe it's Yaya."
"Yaya?"
"Oh, my bad. I meant Mimi."
Mole-aroll broke the silly back and forth with a snap of his fingers and a yell, "You two still have enough energy to talk in front of a cannon, huh?" He twiddled his index finger up and clicked his tongue thrice. "I said it once and I'll say it again. You two really are idiots."
The two slightly flinched at the sound of the engine revving. The faint click and turns of gears from the mechanical vehicle echoed back towards them and the cannon readies, "You two were so close." He pulled out the remote again and aimed for the top button on it, "But yet, so far."
Uncharacteristically, Lightning and Light grabbed each other in a hug. The cannon's muzzle gleamed a bright blazing orange, "Drill-Cannon Blaster!"
The two boys could only hug each other tight, shutting their eyes and waiting for the cannon to fire.
In that silence of anticipation came the crux of the awaited danger.
The sound of impact.
However, the impact of the explosion seemed so far away, so distant, like they were listening atop the surface of the ocean. In the darkness, they felt an additional presence behind them, and their eyes instantly fluttered open in curiosity.
"You're—!" Light gasped in surprise upon seeing the tall and confident figure of his best friend Gopal, holding out an open palm towards the cannon.
A flash of blue dissipated an inch away from them and the fog from the cannon's explosion sets within the ground, Gopal rubbed his nose in confidence and stepped through the dirty smoke, "Did someone order a hero?" His voice was deep, calming and heroic in any sense to the two helpless victims.
"Anand Padhi! You arrived just in time." Lightning greeted with relief.
Gopal choked on air at the sound of that, "Anand-who-now? Hey! It's Gopal! What on earth happened to you two?!"
Mole-aroll slammed his grubby mitts on the glass inside and pointed at him, "You! What do you think you're doing?!"
"Oh, it's simple really—" Gopal pounded a fist on his palm and popped his neck to the side, "I'm bringing the cavalry."
"So it's just you, huh?!" Mole-aroll's cannon aimed towards Gopal.
Regret instantly painted itself clear on his face and the color drained from his skin, "N-No! No, I'm not the cavalry! I didn't do this! He did! HE did! Please don't hurt me!" Gopal ran back into the smoke in a flurry, whipping the smoke around before hiding behind the "HE" in question. Gopal's shield and Boboiboy's savior stepped through the fog, making himself known to the enemy. The man was tall, lean and more precise with stride than the clumsy Creation Manipulator.
He had dark blue raven hair; pointed at the tips and was as slick as a knife's edge. His dull crimson eyes are bereft of emotion, and looking straight at him, anyone could tell that he's seen one too many fights in his prime. He analyses his surroundings, not even blinking back the smoke that blocks his peripheral. Like a predator, he gazes at the machine with tamed bloodthirst and inched his hand onto the hilt of his sword. "Tired already, Boboiboy? I thought you were stronger than this." With a devilish hiss, he unsheathed his sword. The blade showed invisible for the first few seconds before it began materializing into pure concentrated energy in a vibrant hue of azure.
"Captain Kaizo, thanks for the back-up." Lightning thanked him and felt another shock of pain from his wrist, the watch started to blink rapidly. "We need to get out of here."
"This won't take long," Captain Kaizo pulled the entirety of the blade out and slashed across the air, "You just wore it down for me."
Gopal piped in quickly, "Hey, you remembered his name but not mine? I'm starting to question the relationship you and I have, Boboiboy."
"Enough talk," Captain Kaizo intercepted and positioned in stance, "I'll be taking that Power Sphere, Mole-aroll."
The other alien grit his yellow tainted canines and punched a command on the remote, "Come and get it then!"
The newly built spaceship administered by TAPOPS, currently and respectfully named "The Paladin" for its pure white sheen and armor-like exterior, floats within the empty space of the galaxy a few miles away from the recently visited Planet Berlanda. Within the floating ship, a sleeping Power Sphere rests away in a compartment under a dark red glowing power button. The rest of the teens, Yaya, Ying, Gopal, Fang and Boboiboy along with Ochobot watch a step away from it with worry.
It's been a day since they managed to retrieve the Drillbot from Mole-aroll, or more accurately, Captain Kaizo was responsible for the actual capture and retrieval of the Power Sphere rather than the rest of them. Fang groaned, "I can't believe they had to call him for back-up…"
"Hey," Gopal clutched a hand onto Fang's shoulder and shook him, "If Captain Kaizo didn't make it in time, Boboiboy would've been in a coma!"
"Plus," Boboiboy added and grabbed onto the other shoulder of Fang, "I would've lost more memories than usual."
Ochobot shook his body in the air and slapped a mechanical hand on his head, "Please don't say it so proudly." He said disappointedly.
Fang shoved them both off with an irritated growl, "Well first of all, why did you separate Leaf and the other two in the first place?"
Boboiboy rolled his eyes, "Well if someone didn't get himself buried in the ground, I wouldn't have had Leaf save him for half-of the entire fight."
"W-Wait a minute, I wasn't fully buried! I was half-buried! It was just below my shoulders!"
"You were still buried anyway!"
"Guys, be quiet! The Power Spheres are trying to sleep!" Yaya scolded as quietly as she could, placing a finger to her lips in gesture. "We're supposed to leave anyway so go, shoo! Admiral Tarung's gonna have our heads if we don't get there before seven!"
The boys in the room flinched at the word "seven" and if it wasn't cold enough in the Power Sphere lounge, then it dropped a hundred more degrees after that sentence alone. Gopal was the first to react, shoving Fang and Boboiboy out of the way to run out of the lounge, "Move!"
"Gopal!" "Hey, watch it!"
The boys ran out of the room, tailing Gopal, and the girls with Ochobot followed right after.
All five teens hurriedly reached the main cockpit by the front control panels. There, waiting for their arrival, was a still calm and lax Admiral Tarung sipping from an earth juice box. Right next to him was Captain Kaizo, currently engrossed in typing away at the main control panel to notice the others entering the area. From the look of it, it seems like he's typing a message to someone.
"Ooooh, good morning, kids." Admiral Tarung pulled out the juice box and waved with a smile, "You guys slept like logs, I'll tell you that, hahaha!"
Boboiboy tugged a strand of hair poking out from under his cap, "Yeah… We really took a beating yesterday."
"Oh yeah, I saw! I saw eeeeverything!" The striped alien tinkered with the tiny straw on the juice box. "Good thing Captain Kaizo was passing by yesterday or you'd be—"
Captain Kaizo's fingers paused in between typing something and he looked up towards the clock then took a small step to his left. A loud tick reverberated within the compartment, and the clock struck seven am. Like clockwork, Admiral Tarung shifted into his animalistic and strict red persona, crushing the poor juice box in his hand.
"—You'd be crushed! In a coma! Or worse, BLASTED OFF ACROSS THE PLANET LIKE THE WORTHLESS EARTHLINGS YOU ALL ARE!"
"That's pretty severe…" Ochobot muttered, hiding behind Boboiboy with a shudder.
Tarung thrusted a pointed finger at their direction and roared, "What do you think you kids are doing? Where are your manners?"
In a blink, the teens stood straight and saluted. Gopal, a little too hard, smacked his forehead with his hand and yelped.
"This is how it should be." Growled Admiral Tarung, his eyes shone a dangerous red and his chest puffs out in dominance. "Do you children have any idea what could've happened yesterday?" He snaps a look towards Ying and begins to pace in front of them. "Lieutenant Ying, recap."
"Yes, Admiral." She steps forward in salute and pulls her arms back to her sides, "We were on a mission to retrieve Drillbot in Planet Berlanda from the alien renegade Mole-aroll. Fang was the first to encounter him and got overwhelmed in battle, so he not only used his tier-two energy too early but… He got buried in the ground after a few minutes in battle." Fang evidently cringed at hearing the report, Ying continued, "Yaya and I tried our best to level the situation but Drillbot's captor, Mole-aroll, was used to being bombarded with other Power Sphere hunters. His defenses were refined and he knew what to do against hard-hitters like us. He wore us down and he took advantage of it. Boboiboy came in late because of misreading the mission report and he used Boboiboy Leaf, Ice and Quake for the first few minutes after we relayed to him the info about him being defense-heavy. So he called on Glacier." Boboiboy smiled at the comment, but the smile quickly faded as Ying continued the report.
"Glacier managed to get in a good trap using Ice Gargantua but, again, he was used to different people coming after him. Mole-aroll wasn't called in as an infamous target for hunters and protectors alike for nothing." Ying adjusted her power band, "He adapted quickly and took us one by one, more or less, the weakest first." Everyone instinctively looked at Gopal with a deadpan look, he flinched and sheepishly waved.
"Uh, Hi."
"Basically, that's when Mole-aroll began to chase after Gopal for ten minutes straight."
Gopal groaned, "My legs were practically jelly the moment we finished the mission…"
"HEY." Admiral Tarung yelled, getting right up at Gopal's face, "Are you complaining, cadet?!"
"N-No sir! Definitely not!" He answered back, shutting his eyes tight.
Tarung whipped his head away, "Hmph. Doesn't matter, the shame in itself is punishment enough. Now Lieutenant Ying, continue."
Within the next few minutes, Ying proceeded to lay out the basis of what happened: Yaya punched Mole-aroll through a tunnel, Glacier switched to Light and Lightning then they gave chase, they tried to fuse but failed, lost half their memories, then Captain Kaizo came in to save them.
Admiral Tarung stomped his foot in the direction of the children, "Now if Captain Kaizo wasn't there, who knows what would've happened? You kids need to stop being so dependent on people saving you! More or less, you all shouldn't always rely on Boboiboy to save your sad lives!"
"Then who are we supposed to rely on, Admiral?" queried Gopal. Admiral Tarung snapped his gaze so hard at him that the wind within the cockpit shifted in position.
"YOURSELVES! Don't you see? You've gotten too reliant on one particular person." He shifts his eyes at Boboiboy, "You can't always rely on him. Do you know how many times he's passed out half-way during fights?"
"Sometimes he gets into comas too." Gopal added meekly.
His best friend nudged him with his elbow, "Not helping, Gopal."
"Feh," Admiral Tarung continues to pace, shaking his head, "Your cooperation, battle tactics and combat aren't even close to the kids I used to teach!"
The girls perked at the confession, Yaya tilts her head, "Huh? You used to teach, Admiral?"
"Well of course! Not that many aliens out there are capable of training up limp noodle kids to become great fighters." He tilts his chin up, "and what I teach are tricks to learn to survive not only on your instincts but good teamwork in being independent," He raises one hand out, "and being dependent." He raises his other. Admiral Tarung's demeanor shifted to that of a wiser and calming tone, his muscles weren't as flexed out in anger as it was a second ago, and for once, he looked at peace during his savage side.
But within that moment of peace, his muscles flexed again and his voice returned to its natural booming tone, "Speaking of learning things, Captain Kaizo actually has something to say pertaining to why he was passing by in the first place."
On cue, Admiral Tarung gave the floor to Captain Kaizo who was patiently standing by his side, waiting for the Admiral to finish. Admiral Tarung stepped back and Captain Kaizo stepped forward.
The Captain's eyes were never something the team could ever get used to. They were so oppressive, bleak, always so gone of emotion. The only time they ever saw a glimpse of genuinety was when he was amused and exhilarated by their fight back three years ago. It seemed so long ago, both their growth and that genuine emotion.
Formally, he put his hands behind his back and observed their faces. He seemed to always do that, and what was scary was the fact that none of them, and possibly even Fang, never knew what workings were conspiring in his mind, what opinions and thoughts he had for each of them on either a professional or personal level.
His presence alone was equal to that of a courthouse; whether you're deemed worthy to be in his peripheral was up to him to judge.
Then, the judge spoke, "I was right."
Boboiboy's head slightly leaned back and his brows furrow, "Huh?"
"I was only going to pass by your ship to see if my hypothesis was correct, and I was right," Captain Kaizo's eyes narrowed and they all swore they saw revulsion within the scarlet, "My hypothesis was such: If I passed by your ship, would I get a transmission or a distress call asking for back-up?"
Captain Kaizo shook his head in inkling irritation, "And you did call, much to my displeasure." He gave a deep sigh, "Quite quickly in fact. It was very disappointing."
"I'm curious, Captain." Fang spoke out of turn but Captain Kaizo showed no sense of distaste to it, "What was that hypothesis for?"
Captain Kaizo moved his arms to his front, crossing them over his chest, "It's mostly because of the fact that you, pertaining to what Admiral Tarung said, always rely on help from others. Too much in fact that you'd become dependent on each battle, at the very least, ninety percent of the time you all would rely on either the strong-hitters or people from outside your group." He closed his eyes and angles his head down, "You can't always rely on another set of lives for your own. It's selfish and dangerous."
"As harsh as ever…" Boboiboy muttered under his breath, feeling the words themselves materialize to slap him across the face. The rest of their team felt it too along with the faint tingle of guilt and irresponsibility.
"But I didn't come all the way from the Eagle Nebula just to lecture you on your faults," His eyes slowly open and his first action was to adjust the cuffs of his sleeves, "I have come to advise you of a way to control your tides in battle," he puts down his hands and looks right at the team of children, "With training."
"Training again?" Ying mumbled in question.
Unfortunately, Kaizo caught that whisper and looked at her direction, "It's different this time, Lieutenant. This time, I'd advise you all to actually have experts in your type of fighting styles to teach you."
"Like Tok Kasa?" Boboiboy asked, the faint memory of the crystal element ruler passes across his mind. "Will the training be something like what he gave us?"
Gopal shivered at the more frightening memory of that along with the past ventures within the deeper tunnels of the planet, running away from those demon sloth vermin from underground. Now that Gopal thought about it, he never was lucky with anything relating to the underground, but then it occurred to him he was never lucky in anything combat-related anyway.
"Something similar, yes." Captain Kaizo affirmed, "You'll be having professionals teach you. People who work 24/7 with the craft."
Fang tilts his head, "Wait Captain, are you going to be part of the people teaching us?"
"No," His answer came bluntly, "I'm not the teacher type."
Instinctively, the thought of him in a teacher outfit rushed across the teens' minds. In the canvas of their imagination, he had on subtle square glasses so thick and so large his eyes bulge and he taught basic mathematics with a tall ruler. A soft smile played across Imagination Kaizo's face and he taught with the gentleness of a morning ocean breeze.
The thought instantly breaks when Imagination Kaizo snaps the ruler in half and rips the glasses off of his person in anger, "Pay attention," the illusion dissipates out into a puff of cloud debris and the real Captain Kaizo stares the children down.
He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Let's just hope the people I'll recommend are the type."
"Do you know them personally, Captain?" Asked Boboiboy curiously.
He wished he could've taken that question back after the look Captain Kaizo had on his face. He looked more disappointed than a while ago if that even was possible. His brows stayed furrowed, and his shoulders froze tense. With this silence, you could hear a pin drop from a mile away.
Thankfully, Captain Kaizo continued, "Unfortunately," he said, barely managing to grate out the word, "From my time at school."
"Time at school?" Gopal echoed, now forming a different version of Illusion Kaizo in his cloud thoughts. Now, he adorned school shorts fit for an elementary student and hair so parted you could see the hairline. Boboiboy, Yaya and Ying couldn't help a snort, and even Fang held in a smile.
Captain Kaizo, the real one, snapped a harder look at them with a growl and they instantly destroyed the thought of Illusion Kaizo in elementary brown shorts and a clean-cut hairdo.
Fang cleared his throat and tried to save the conversation from derailing, "F-For your information, the school Captain Kaizo went to isn't a normal earth-like school like you're all used to." He pushed his glasses up with the aura of a proud bragging brother, "The Supreme Intergalactic Academy is a high ranking organization administered by a council of powerful Admirals, and in that school, they train only the best future space soldiers known to alienkind. Even I got the chance to attend for a while."
Boboiboy was about to add a sly comment about him probably wanting to be popular in their class as well, but was interrupted by an additional pair to the group attending the cockpit. Two familiar faces walk inside with sacks over their shoulders; presumably, luggage from the tags stuck on them.
"Ah, Sai. Shielda." Admiral Tarung greeted them with a nod, "Just in time."
"Just in time? Wait, is there seriously something important going on here?" Gopal exclaimed, looking back at Sai and Shielda.
The twin young adults exchanged confused and silent glances to each other, then looked back to the gang. The woman in the hood, Shielda, stands straight in place with a lacking weapon in hand, "From the message we received a day ago, I suppose it is since it came from Captain Kaizo."
Admiral Tarung nods, "Hm, I see. But wait a second," He gave a curious eye at their direction, "While we're on the topic, didn't you two go to the Supreme Intergalactic Academy back when you were younger?"
In unison, both their eyes lit up with nostalgia. A soft and alien smile came about Sai's lips as he nods, the lack of him with his conical hat made his eyes more genuine than when he had the shadow over his eyes from before. "Yes, Admiral. But we weren't really—"
A slight jab of Shielda's elbow towards her brother stopped his sentence midway, she continued for him, "We were alright students. " She gave a quizzical look to Kaizo, "Captain, you were part of it too, yes? Your unit team number was… Hm, I don't quite remember it."
Captain Kaizo kept quiet at the trailing question, his arms unlinked from being crossed over his chest and he turned his attention to the control panel with his back to them, "I don't need to say—"
Like a chain reaction, from the arrival of the twins to Captain Kaizo's sentence, a familiar hologram transmission blips to life and expands on top of the main panel, the static picture of it leaks blue across the main cockpit and the picture of a green alien flashes on the screen.
"Unit 1276, isn't that right Captain Kaizo?" finished the small green alien. The recognizable station from the screen was evident that it was the temporary hideout for the TAPOPS team, the TEMPUR-A space station.
The green alien in topic had three noticeable features, the first was his small stature where he was sitting on a high chair from what they could deduce on the screen, second was the fact that his size didn't match the bass of his voice, and lastly was the ever so evident large sunglasses covering his eyes. Those three possibly made the Commander title work so well on him.
"Commander Koko Ci." Captain Kaizo acknowledged, giving a curt nod towards him and a salute.
The teens behind him give bewildered looks, Gopal shook his head, "Seriously, now Commander Koko Ci is here? What the heck is going on? Why is everyone here?!"
Ying groans, "I don't like the idea of having so many important people here. Something must be up…"
Admiral Tarung roared out for their attention, "Quiet! Even I haven't been briefed about the going-ons of Captain Kaizo's plan. But knowing him and his plans, I'd assume only the best. Now Commander, go ahead."
Koko Ci nods his head, "Captain Kaizo, I've received your message about you wanting permission for something vague, what did you need me here for?"
Captain Kaizo turned his body to face back at the rest of the team, now glancing at each person at attention. He inclines his head up a tiny bit before announcing, "I'd proposed to Boboiboy and his team that they'd need teachers, specific experts in the field of their type of fighting styles, to hone their skills and alleviate their need for back-ups and miracles. They can't explore their powers all on their own as we did in our time, it just wastes too much time." He peeked his gaze over his shoulder to take a quick glance at the Commander, "We need people who know the craft."
"Teachers?" Commander Koko Ci asked, "Got anyone in mind already? I'm assuming you do." Koko Ci adjusts on his high chair, leaning closer to the screen.
"Of course." Kaizo turned his head away from the screen, looking down and closing his eyes, "The unit you just said."
Like a hammer breaking against glass, a few people within the group listening cracked in emotion. A distant record track skids to a halt and the first to react was Commander Koko Ci; slipping from his high chair and falling out off-screen. The second was Admiral Tarung, his reddish skin pales only for a millisecond and his harsh exterior seemed to have been replaced with that of a deer caught in the headlights. Sai and Shielda, on the other hand, dropped their luggage along with their jaws. Meanwhile, Fang reacted the most emotional out of the rest. A mix of fear, surprise and worry swirls within his expression, it didn't seem like he could pick an emotion so he frantically looked back and forth to Kaizo and back to the Commander.
Boboiboy and the rest of the team share equal expressions of confusion at the reaction, Boboiboy took a small step forward and asked in a small and curious voice, "Uh… Who exactly are the uh… Unit 1275?"
"1276." Ying corrected.
Captain Kaizo could only reply shortly, "People who can get the job done."
"C-Captain?" Fang interrupted in a hoarse tone, "You don't mean—"
Commander Koko Ci managed to hop back on his high chair in time to ask in a more weighty tone, "Captain Kaizo, is that what you think is the best option? We do have other more suitable people for it."
"Suitable candidates," Kaizo replied quickly, "but not a good team. My old unit did teamwork well once; they can do it again in the form of teaching it." He turns to the Commander with a determined look, "I've made up my mind about it, Commander. This is an important mission and we need to act rationally and quickly, especially after the other details I'd sent you with the request." He waves a hand dismissively, "Whatever happened, forget it. We need them for Boboiboy."
Boboiboy tenses at the thought of something big happening with him corking through the middle of the chaos. His throat dried and he couldn't help but gulp within the silence.
Both the Commander and Admiral look at each other, their expressions were painted aghast and their voices came short to nothing. In the end, they seemed to share this one connecting thought and it translated to their posture.
They shifted in a more professional stance, Commander Koko Ci coughed and adjusted the collar of his small outfit, "If that's what you think is best, then we have no qualms against it. Go ahead and punch in the coordinates once you're ready. I'll send it to them immediately."
"Yes, thank you Commander. However, we're not visiting them ourselves. We are not going to ask them directly, not to their face."
"So just send them a letter? Where should we see them then?"
"There. We'll meet them at TEMPUR-A space station, if that's alright."
Commander Koko Ci hums in thought, then nods, "It's fine, is that all?"
"Yes sir. I'll send the coordinates at my ship in a moment. Your cooperation is greatly respected, Commander."
"If it's for the sake of Boboiboy's training, then I'll put in the extra work for it. He hasn't failed me once yet."
"Thank you, Commander." He salutes quickly and turns to face a still surprised Sai and Shielda, "You two, you'll be around to keep an eye on Boboiboy and his friends. Who knows what would happen once we meet… Them."
Sai and Shielda nod stiffly and look at their team awkwardly.
Boboiboy, standing right next to Fang, shifts closer to whisper a question, "Are these people dangerous?"
"It's not them you have to worry about." He side-eyes Boboiboy with a knowing look, "It's when they meet Captain Kaizo. That's the dangerous part."
Captain Kaizo, without waiting to be dismissed, turned down to a platform ledge and stepped off, walking out to the docking area to most likely go back to his respective ship, his back disappears down a hallway off to the left and the cockpit is cold with tension, it was as if his absent presence sucked away the remaining warmth building within the room.
Yaya pulled tight fists to her chin, "That was pretty tense."
"Wasn't it?" Ying agreed meekly. "But the last time Captain Kaizo felt that dark was when we first met him back on earth, right right?"
"Yeah, but even when he's on our team, he's still pretty terrifying when he acts like that." Gopal scratched behind his ear and turned to Fang, "Hey, Fang. What was that about anyway?"
Fang's boiling point seemed to pop off the lid as he shot a finger at Boboiboy, "Argh! Boboiboy, this is your fault!"
"Huh?" The boy in the cap flinched, his eyes side glancing the other people present and pulled his hands up half-way in defense, "What the, wait, again, why is this my fault? I don't even know what I did!"
The only thing he could deduce from the situation was that from the look of it, Captain Kaizo didn't even want to fathom the idea of meeting these people.
"Who are they anyway?" He thought to himself, watching Fang's expression turn solemn.
Fang sighs grimly, "Unit 1276. I haven't heard of them for…" Fang stopped himself, his head perking at the realization as he turns to the rest of the gang who were listening to him intently. Fang could only growl and slap a hand across the air towards them, "Tch, forget it. Forget I said anything. I'm going to my room to rest."
"But Fang—" Yaya reached out a hand towards him but was stopped by a large hand settling on her shoulder, she turned to see Admiral Tarung quietly look at her then slowly shakes his head. Her shoulders deflated and her hand goes to rest by her side.
They could only watch Fang disappear to his own room down a hall. The transmission of the Commander fluctuates, the image ripples and he speaks, "It's best if you don't pry, kids. When the time comes, the Captain will tell you something about it."
"Don't hold your breath though," Admiral Tarung adds with a grunt, "Him even fathoming the thought of his unit is few and far between." With the little bit of hope he crushed for the teens, he saluted towards the Commander before turning off the intercom.
"We can't even have a hint to it, Admiral?" Ying shyly asked with a creeping smile, and as a response, Admiral glared at her.
"NO." He looks up at the clock and sighs, "It's getting late. Head back to your quarters immediately after a few minutes." Tarung puffs his chest out and proceeds to walk down the hallway towards his resting quarters.
The rest of them were left to their silence, and standing within that silence made it feel heavy on their body as if they were standing in the ocean that reached neck-high. Finally, Gopal spoke. "Geez, what's with all the secrets today? What's next, we find out Yaya's cookies were actually space rocks the entire time?"
Yaya smacked Gopal on the shoulder a little too hard and he barked out a cry, "Gopal! Are you seriously trying to make me mad?"
"I'm not trying to! It just comes out naturally!"
"It's been natural for the three years we've all known each other!"
"Wow, it's been three years with you guys already? It's a wonder how I haven't gotten sick of your faces yet." Gopal said teasingly with a smile, Boboiboy could only laugh.
"I wish I could say the same to you."
A foreign laugh came from the side of the team, and to their surprise, once they looked, it was Sai who was laughing. It was more of a gentle chuckle than a loud laugh, but it was enough to catch their attention. He'd usually be more quiet or stoic, but to be fair, he wasn't Captain Kaizo. Sai held this emotion of a young adult, and it showed with the smile curling on his face. "You kids really do remind me of them."
"Them?" Boboiboy asked, then his eyes lit up, "Do you mean, Captain Kaizo's unit?"
Shielda and Sai looked at each other, unsure. But they transmitted this look to each other unbeknownst to the teens, then looked back at them. Sai spoke first, "Yes. But, just like they said, it's not our place to say anything about them."
Shielda continued for him, "But we just don't want you going into this mess blind. You need to know at least two or three things. No names, just… ideas of what they're like."
In a blink, all teens ran up towards Shielda with wide eyes and enlarged nostrils, huffing out an excited gust of air. Shielda grunts in surprise, her shoulders rising at the attention. She then cleared her throat, gathering herself to confess the information she knows.
Gopal slept in the bunker below Boboiboy, snoring away like tomorrow wasn't anything special. But it was, and Boboiboy knew that. He had his hat off, resting at their work table by a corner. His eyes remained open, his thoughts awake and his mind kept reeling at the words Shielda said to them. He closed his eyes and recounted the three important things he needed to remember.
"First, you need to remember that they haven't seen each other in over five or six years. So don't be confused when they're a bit off when they meet. Especially with Captain Kaizo."
"Six years?! That's insane!" Ying shouted in disbelief but was quickly hushed by Sai, he gestured for her to keep down her voice and she quickly slaps her fingers on her mouth and nods.
Shielda continues, "Second, there are five people in total. But the two you really need to be careful of are the puppeteer and the fighter. Whatever you do, don't put them in the same room. It might trigger something so just try to keep them away from each other."
They look at each other in confusion but nod anyway, leaning in to listen to the last rule.
"The third is," She puts out her three fingers then forms a fist, "Try to make them laugh."
"Laugh?"
"Yeah, laugh or… Happy. Make them smile," She quickly snaps an additional note, "But don't overdo it, it might tick them off. So, as kids—"
"Kid-teens." Gopal interrupted,
"—try to do your best with making them have a good time while they're here. Follow their orders, and listen to them. Unlike us, they've been through w…" Shielda's voice trailed off as Sai settled a hand on her shoulder, he shakes his head.
Shielda couldn't help but sigh at the sight, "Forgive me, that was too much information. Just, remember the key details, alright?" She picked up her luggage from the ground and Sai followed suit, they prepared to turn to leave but stopped, Shielda's head turned ever so slightly to look at them past her shoulder, "and if anyone asks why you're trying things on them, you didn't hear anything from us."
"Agreed." Added Sai before they both walked back to their own quarters, Sai to his shared room with Fang and Shielda to a lone single room near theirs.
Boboiboy's eyes slowly opened and remained to stare back at the cold metal ceiling a ways from his face. He thinks about the three things again and realizes how sad those three notes of information are, "Don't mind the awkwardness," he started, "Be careful of the puppeteer and fighter… Then," his eyelids began to feel heavy as the final detail fluttered off his mouth, "Make them smile…"
Boboiboy's eyes lulled back and he didn't notice himself fall heavy into sleep, unaware of the catastrophe taking place tomorrow.
N/A: For writing's sake, we'll just call Boboiboy as B3 or Bbboy. Which name would you prefer me to use for faster writing? And do tell me your thoughts on the chapter in the comments below. Thanks for reading and look forward to the meeting!