Rewind

Mornings

Ice just chalked it up with the strange illness and how his stamina wasn't how it used to be, thus needing more rest than he usually gets.

But he kept observing if anything else was bothering him (just in case it wasn't just the stamina). Fortunately, his brother was still his same old, annoying self.

"Yeah, I got hungry after strolling around Thorn's greenhouse to kill some time." He admitted.

After Ice had checked on Blaze, he had also decided to go for a walk instead of joining his brother for another round of peaceful slumber, despite his aching head. He... actually wasn't looking forward to sleeping. Not with Halilintar reminding him of his previous nightmares.

"I'd probably get some food for Blaze afterward. You know how he gets when he's hungry." He said while grabbing a tray.

"Oh yeah, especially after all that sparring we did earlier."

Ice's hand froze just as he was reaching for the strange looking porridge (he wasn't sure, but it looked like there were scales sticking out) lined up in front of him, "You guys trained earlier? As in this morning?"

"Yeah." Taufan gave him a funny look, "Did I do something wrong? I know we're supposed to be more cautious about his health, but you know he doesn't like—"

"No. That's not—" Ice took a deep breath—calm down, just because something doesn't seem right doesn't mean Api's in trouble, "Around what time did you guys meet up to spar?"

"Oh, we didn't exactly meet up. I just bumped into him while he was trying to sneak out of your room." Alarm bells were ringing in his head when a bad feeling settled in his gut.

He stands corrected.

Taufan continued to explain, "Can you believe it? He was trying to go sneak in Fang's spaceship so he could join in on the mission. Which he didn't of course! I got to him just when I received your message that Tanah and the others already left. So we- h-hey! Where are you going?"

He ignored his brother's calls for him as he hastily left the cafeteria, leaving Taufan no choice but to follow him in worry.

That didn't make any sense, he checked on Blaze after Gempa and the others left. If what Taufan had said was right, then he wasn't supposed to be in the room when he checked in on him.

And if that were the case, whatever Ice saw in there was a decoy. Not really a strange occurrence when you have a trouble-maker brother who loves to pull pranks— but the reason was obviously not for that.

It was a diversion.

But... for what?!

"Prison break in progress. All staff to secure positions immediately."

This time, literal alarms bells blared all over the headquarters and mop aliens were rushing out of their rooms in panic.

Ice winced as the shrill noise pierced through his still aching head.

"This must be Adudu and Probe!" Taufan exclaimed- quickly, he summoned his hoverboard to avoid getting trampled by the sudden crowd, "They're basically the only prisoners we have at the brig."

Ice pressed himself against the wall looking to where his shared room with Blaze was- which was not too far.

"I just hope this isn't connected with Api... but... Taufan-go and get Halilitar. Help the mop aliens capture Adudu and Probe." He quickly unstuck himself from the wall once the crowd had rushed off, "I have to check on Blaze and make sure he's not in trouble."

"Roger!"

He bolted towards their room and barged right in, only to see everything the way it was since he left. He rushed across their shared space towards the bed and pulled the blankets, revealing the stacks of pillows hidden beneath.