Chapter 40
Lia widened her eyes at what Boboiboy told her. "What? Are you kidding me?!" She then furrowed her eyebrows, "You think I did this to myself? He was right here guys! I fought him!"
All of a sudden, Lia got blasted by her own sound waves. She gave a scream as her body contacted the ground again. She looked up then saw the red masked figure, who shoved his hands to her neck and started choking her.
"This will be the end of you." He told her, intensifying the grip on her neck. She was panting, trying to catch her breath. "No, it won't!" She did the sonic scream that blew out the red masked figure away from her. She continued doing it so she can implant serious damage on him.
A huge thorny vine was suddenly launched to her and wrapped around her body and mouth, binding her. Lia was surprised, she turned to the one responsible for it - Boboiboy. He sighed, "I'm sorry. You might destroy this ship."
A growl was heard from her as she started wriggling out, the sight of that broke his heart but he was firm on restraining her. "What's happening to her? Has she gone mad?" Leizel worriedly asked. "And why does she keep on saying that she saw someone?" Yaya added on.
"We need to conduct tests on her. She must be stressed out with what's happening lately." Fang proposed. "How are we going to do it? She doesn't even want to listen to us." Gopal said. Leizel prepared the energy in her hands, "I say we knock her out."
Boboiboy, who was struggling to keep Lia on hold, grunted. "No! You're going to hurt her!" Leizel sighed, "And she might end up hurting herself more and possibly us with what's happening to her. We need to spring into action now."
All of a sudden, Lia used her powers to break free from Boboiboy's thorny vines. She was breathing heavily with her teeth gritted, "W-What is wrong with you all?!?! Forget about me, just attack the guy!"
The moment she said that, pain rushed to her head all of a sudden. She screamed in pain as she fell down on her knees, gripping on the sides of her head. Her sudden reaction alarmed the rest.
With no words, Boboiboy dashed to her and tried to assist her, "Li... Sayang, come on. We'll take you to the infirmary here." He was about to bring her up but she swatted his hand away. She looked up at him, straight in the eyes, and Boboiboy could swear he saw a different side of her.
Her menacing expression says it all, along with her irises that have become red, which even surprised the elemental hero. "W-What happened to you...?" Despite the surprise, he didn't take any steps back.
As a response, she stood up and outstretched her right hand toward him. Her powers are already warmed up while she kept her glare at him. Everyone else got shocked at what she did.
"Huy! Are you out of your mind?! Do you know what you're doing?" Leizel yelled out in disbelief. Ying shook his head, "Hey Lia, what are you doing?! I know you're stressed out, but don't do this the hard way!"
"Get out Boboiboy! We'll just strike an attack then-" Fang was cut off by Boboiboy stretching out his hand to him, motioning him to stop. Boboiboy kept his soft eyes on Lia - he was surprised and confused at the same time.
With her eyebrows furrowed, she spoke out, "Prêt à servir, maître."
Boboiboy raised his eyebrow, "I'm sorry? What did you say?" Gopal groaned, "Great. She just spoke a different language. Does anyone have a translating device here?" He earned a slight smack from Fang, "And you have time for that, huh?!"
The red masked figure, who was way behind Lia, chuckled upon seeing what Lia is doing. "Well done, Lia. Now, I want you to finish all of them! Now!" Lia let out a heavy sigh as she kept her eyes on Boboiboy, "And you think I'll let myself be devoured?"
She turned her back on him and faced the masked man, "Sonic Blast!" A stream of magenta sound waves was released toward him. He responded by doing a high jump to dodge it. Then, he does a flip before landing on the ground.
"What is this?!" The masked man is surprised at how Lia just attacked him. "Your mind is under me! You should obey my orders!" Lia chuckled, "I can defy that with the power of vocal mind control... Stop this now!"
The moment she said now, she dashed to him with her powers warmed up. Magenta-colored energy wreathed her body, "Merge!" With that, she merged with her sound waves that traveled across the way to end up behind him.
Reappearing, she clenched her fists then cast shock waves toward the masked man. However, he simply turned around and counterattacked with his version of shock waves, only better and stronger.
With a grunt, he ended up overpowering her that plowed her against the wall. He went to her and gripped her neck that pinned her against the wall, "Not so strong now, huh? You little prick!"
Lia is having a hard time breathing - with both hands against her neck, she struggles to catch her breath and even speak. The man continued, "Once I finish you, I will finish the rest of your friends including your pesky boyfriend, Boboiboy!"
"N-No..." She said in between pants. "I-I won't allow that!" She then did a shriek that generates powerful sound waves, knocking off the masked man. "The only one who'll be finished is you!"
Standing up, the masked man chuckled, "Well then. I'd like to see you beat me in combat. Or... I guess it's too manly for you to win." Lia scoffed, "Not to mention you're a sexist... Bring it on!"
With that, the two engaged themselves in an intense combat fight. Lia, being the determined girl she is, kept on throwing punches which the man simply dodged. He managed to seize her wrist causing her to yelp in pain.
He added a strong punch to her face that made her step back a little since she got dazzled. Now gaining the upper hand, he charged at her and delivered a kick that forces the wind out of Lia's lungs.
"Oops, my bad." He generated a shock wave in his hand then cast it on her, pushing her off to the wall. She was able to do a counterattack by planting her feet against the wall for her rush back to him.
However, before she can make good on it, one booted foot slashed through the air and came down on her chest that smashed her against the landing. Despite being frazzled by the attacks, she gripped on the boot then used her free hand to sonic blast the man away.
Everyone else who was watching her was confused about what's happening. They couldn't even explain how much confusion they are feeling - it's on a whole different level. They all didn't know what to do, except for Yaya, who used her gravity power to restrain her in a pink bubble.
"What on Earth?!" Lia realized it was Yaya's doing. She glared at her, "What are you doing?! Help me out now! I'm being beaten up here!" The bruises became evident in her face and at some parts of her body since she also crashed against the wall earlier.
Ying looked at the others with confusion, "I-I don't understand what's happening to her... Where is she getting the thought of having a villain here?" Gopal sighed, turning to Lia, "Dey! What's with you? We didn't see anyone here except for you!"
"What if she's right all along?" Sonobot arrived at the scene, surprising all of them. "Eh? How did you get here?" Fang asked in confusion. "Duh, Ochobot did it. He said Lia was in trouble so I came here."
"Lia is having... some issues right now. She kept telling us there is someone else in this room right now. Could she be seeing someone that we can't see?" Boboiboy asked. Sonobot turned to Lia and saw her state, with that, she heaved a sigh. "I have an idea,"
Turning to Leizel and Ying, she called them out, "I need you two to come here. I'll be doing something. No questions, just go." Despite the tension the two have, they complied with the command.
Sonobot started to glow white then concentrated power to the two girls. A mini flash happened, blinding the rest of the gang. Once it went away, the two girls are seen having another set of power bands.
"Ying, this power band can grant you the ability to see through her eyes - shared vision, in short. I want you to do it to her." Leizel raised her eyebrow, confused about what's about to happen, while Ying just nodded then went to a restrained Lia.
Yaya, who was still holding onto her power, grunted. "Be careful, Ying! She's trying to get out!" Being suspended inside Yaya's gravity bubble will restrict your movements, but Lia is trying to use her powers to get out.
Ying arrived by the bubble. She started to concentrate on the powers while Sonobot is instructing her. A mist form generates then sends its way straight to Lia. "Lia, let me see through your eyes. Open them."
Grunting because of the mist form, she opened her eyes. Lia's eyes have changed to Ying's since she is seeing through her eyes. "Hey, there's no one here at all. Lia, I think you're just-"
All of a sudden, the masked figure came back and attacked with sound waves, that ended up releasing Lia from the bubble and blew her straight to the wall again. It also took effect on Ying as she was thrown away as well, "AAH!"
The rest of the gang gasped at what just happened while Yaya cried out, "Ying!" She rushed to help her up but...
"I saw it!" Ying exclaimed while jolting up. Yaya looked at her with disbelief, "Really? Are you sure?"
Ying returned a sigh, "She's right, guys. She is battling someone we can't see. I saw it with my own eyes. I don't know how this is happening but... someone else is here."
At the same time, Lia groaned in pain as she tried to stand up, "Stop, please... Don't hurt me..." The masked figure chuckled, "Giving up now? You sounded so confident earlier." He releases a pack of soundwaves that plows her against the wall again.
The sound waves were still being released as Lia falls to the ground, she tried to get up but she couldn't. She just covered her ears with how loud the sound is; tears are forming in her eyes. The figure continued, "Open your eyes, Lia. Look at me. Show me how brave you said you are!"
She growled then opened her eyes, "I will!" She does a screech that counterattacked the figure's sound waves. She stood up with anger in her eyes, "I am brave. You're just scared because I might overpower you!"
She lunged at him while generating powerful shock waves toward him. However, he disappeared. Confused by the sudden disappearance, she stopped. "What the freak."
The red masked guy reappeared behind her, "Looking for me?" Turning around, Lia growled and charged to him. He ducked underneath her punch and raised one hand in front of her, forefinger poised behind thumb as if ready to flick something away.
Sound waves flashes from the fingertips and the flick comes with enough force to throw her backward.
The rest of the gang tried to formulate what in the world was going on with Lia. They couldn't see the masked figure Lia was battling, instead, they saw Lia using her powers against herself that's making her vulnerable. The intense combat they saw earlier consisted of Lia doing all the attacks to herself.
"Dey, if she's battling somebody we can't see, why is she hurting herself?" Gopal asked in confusion. Fang slowly widened his eyes, realizing what's happening to her, "Crap, I think I get it."
"Care to share?" Leizel asked with crossed arms. Fang sighed, "The injuries... they are all self-inflicted. She's hurting herself violently while thinking it was someone else doing it to her."
Boboiboy sighed heavily, terrified at what Fang just said. "He does have a point. She could be hallucinating - she sees someone doing it to her but to us, it's her doing it to herself. Something or someone might have caused that."
"But why was she about to attack you earlier?" Leizel asked Boboiboy. He shrugged, "I... I honestly don't know. But she did mention the power of vocal mind control... I think someone was controlling her earlier."
"You think it's Aisha?" Yaya asked worriedly. "That's something that we'll figure out later on. But right now, we have to put an end to this. She might end up hurting herself even more." Leizel replied firmly.
"Eeeh? But how? Does she need an antidote?" Ying asked. Sonobot floated, "No. But Leizel could do something about it since I granted her another power. But we have to restrain Lia to be able to do it." The rest nodded at the plan, agreeing with it.
Boboiboy and Fang looked at each other, then they sprang into action. "Shadow Grasp!" Fang released whips of shadows to restrain Lia. Boboiboy used his ensnaring thorns again to add on to the restraining.
"I'll help out with this," Yaya said as her hands were glowing pink. She does a leap and slams the ground, causing the gravity within Lia to increase, pulling her down straight to the ground.
The three held on to their powers so she can stay restrained. Lia growled as she tried to wriggle her way out but the three intensified their powers so she could stay where she's at.
Leizel sped up to Lia followed by Sonobot. "This is telepathy... I want you to communicate with her. She can defy the mind control with her own powers." With a heaved sigh, Leizel focused on Lia. "Gosh, I hope this works."
With her eyes closed, she started to concentrate on the power. Her hands started to glow pink, her hands then released powerful waves that did something on Lia. The soundwaves served as communication to Lia's mind, in which Lia started hearing Leizel.
"Lia... This is Leizel."
"L-Leizel? Wait, h-how am I hearing you?!"
"Hey, hey... Relax. Listen to me... It's all in your mind. You can defy this, use your powers. Scream it out or something, just release it. Release the stress you've been having about it. Let it out!"
When Lia heard that, she inhaled deeply then yelled out loud that released soundwaves everywhere. The other two who weren't restraining her went out of the room because of how loud it was. They also covered their ears. As soon as she stopped yelling, she exhaled deeply.
The three who used their powers on her released her afterward, then Boboiboy rushed to her to help her up. She was crying in fear; her boyfriend held her close to him. "It's okay, I'm here. We're here. You're safe."
When Lia looked at Boboiboy, he could see her irises went back to their original color - dark brown. He sighed in pity, softly caressing the bruises on her face. On the other hand, she was still crying.
"I-I don't know why did that happen... I saw him and... He hurt me." She choked on her tears, making Boboiboy sit her up for her to breathe slowly. "It's alright... We'll get to the bottom of this." He leaned over to kiss her forehead. "You're safe now."
Fang walked to Leizel to check on her, who assured him she's alright. "It's okay... I'm okay. It was weird using a new power, good thing this is just temporary." Fang chuckled, "You did great."
Ying peeked inside and saw that it was over, gesturing the others to come in. They were surprised by what Sonobot did. Gopal gaped at the power sphere, who turned to him and giggled. "I'm great, huh?"
At the infirmary of the ship, there were sensors hooked to Lia's forehead. She was sitting down on the bed, with Boboiboy beside her. The others were looking at Kaizo and Fang who were both at the screen, looking at Lia's results.
"A chemical substance that affected your nervous system. It made you hallucinate about the red masked man you were saying." Kaizo reported. "About the mind-controlling thing you were saying, you're right about that. When you hallucinated about the masked man, you also hallucinated him controlling your mind."
Yaya sighed, "Goodness. That was a complex thing to solve. So it justified the fact that her injuries are self-inflicted." Leizel nodded, "Yes. She thought that the man was the one hitting her but it was her own doing all along."
"I'm trying to think on how could I encounter that kind of substance. I've never been to a lab before. For sure Boboiboy Light is not making an experiment on hallucination, right?" Lia turned to Boboiboy with raised brows.
"Babe, forget about that experimentation," Boboiboy replied, talking about what his elemental form did to the other two elementals - Leaf and Fire. When he did an elemental split, his Light form acquired a hardworking and intelligent personality to the point he could work on some experiments. "You know I won't do that to you."
Lia chuckled sheepishly, nudging his slightly annoyed boyfriend, "I know, hehe. Sorry." She did a peace sign with a cute smile. Boboiboy sighed, "Gosh this girl... Can stay bubbly after a fight... So cute." He thought.
"I remember Aisha attacking us before, she had this mind manipulation thing that affected me. Maybe when Lia encountered her, the effect of her powers stayed with her." Ying proposed with crossed arms.
Gopal raised his eyebrow, "But that was 4 years ago... How come the effect took in only now?" Leizel crossed her hands as she tried to think. "Uhm... Well, she could have set a time on it. Like when it would take effect."
Boboiboy shook his head, "I don't know, Leizel. I don't think Aisha would do something to Lia that will only take effect 4 years later."
"Well, it is possible... but we can't conclude with that. If it was Aisha, why did Lia see another figure instead of her?" Yaya asked while leaning on Ying's shoulder.
"The red masked figure... I've seen it back then... It was at..." Lia stopped and glanced at Kaizo who got what she was going to say. He motioned her to continue. "I saw its picture at the TAPOPS-U station. It really frightened me."
"I know what you're talking about... the portrait room of villains." Boboiboy confirmed her statement. "Eh? There's a room full of that? Dey, why didn't I get to see it?" Gopal asked.
"Because I said it should be top secret. The higher ups only showed it to me then I requested for it to be a private room, just to maintain the confidentiality." Boboiboy replied.
"So why did admiral show it to me? On my first ever day at the station?" Lia asked in confusion. Yaya chuckled, "Aish. That's Boboiboy's doing, huh? Head over heels since day one indeed."
Boboiboy raised his palms, "Hey, I didn't have anything to do with that... Aish! But you're right on the head over heels part." With that, the others gave out an "oooh".
Fang, who is looking closely on the screen, gasped, "Hey, hey... I found something... The chemical substance isn't from Aisha." His announcement took the rest aback; he continued, "It came from another person, but the scan couldn't identify who is it from."
Sighs are heard from the rest of the gang.
"I don't know if it's the monitor that has the problem, or the villain we're up to is very secretive. The one behind this must have planned this to happen, which is why the source of the substance couldn't be tracked." Boboiboy stated.
"It could have been from Orangpina. Maybe one of the minions has invisibility and secretly shot her with a laser beam that had the substance. It was invisible enough for Lia not to notice them, and not to feel it." Gopal theorized with a grin on his face.
Yaya raised her eyebrow, trying to comprehend what Gopal just said. Ying sighed, "Aiya... I don't think that's possible."
"Maybe it's from Aisha. She must have manipulated the substance so that it won't reveal her." Gopal added on, making Fang groan. "Aish, it's not like that. You can't manipulate that kind of substance for it not to show where it came from."
Gopal scoffed, "Okay, well then why can't we figure out who gave the substance?" Fang grunted, "Are you mad at me?! I'm trying my best here!" Leizel sighed, "Hey, stop fighting. We have a problem here."
"Maybe it's not about someone giving her the substance." Kaizo started, earning the attention of the others. "It could be something she encountered that gave out the substance. And when it gave out, she didn't know."
Boboiboy cleared his throat, "Well, the portrait room in TAPOPS-U couldn't be the one that gave it out. If it has the capability to do so, admiral and commander would've experienced the hallucinations firsthand." Fang nodded, "Yeah, I agree with him. She must have gotten that from somewhere else."
They all tried to figure out where did the substance come from, but they couldn't arrive at a conclusion. They all decided to call it a night.
"This will go through a thorough investigation. It's not something we can find out immediately," Fang stated while walking toward the bed where Lia and Boboiboy are at. "But the scan says you're all clear now." He told Lia.
"And what's important now is that you're now okay, Lia. I hope you sleep well tonight." Yaya smiled at Lia, who sighed as she removed the sensors from her head, "I hope as well. Thank you, guys. Sorry for the misunderstanding earlier. It must have been confusing for you all to see me hitting myself."
Leizel made her hand pinched, her thumb and pointer are in close proximity, "Slight. Hehehe." Ying scoffed at Leizel's gesture while Yaya sighed, "Hey, it isn't just slight. We were all drop dead worried for her... and frightened."
"Girls, relax." Lia chimed in before an argument can spike up between the three ladies. "I understand, really. And Leiz, no need to sugarcoat or anything... I know you got scared." She gave a sly grin to her.
"Well, duh, little miss bunso! We were all scared earlier." Leizel replied. Lia sighed, "Bunso... What the... Anyways, thank you guys again. I owe you all." She then gave a small smile.
"It's no problem. We'll get to the bottom of this. For now, let's all take a goodnight rest." Kaizo said, exiting the room. The others bid their goodnights on Lia, Boboiboy, and the two power spheres as they left the infirmary.
"I'm sorry for what happened earlier," She apologized while keeping a soft look at him. "I know how surprised you were earlier." Boboiboy slowly nodded, "I was, but it doesn't mean I was scared. You noticed how I didn't step back earlier when you stretched your hand?"
"Yes, I did see that. How come? If anyone else was in your place, they would've backed off." Lia replied. "Your eyes said a lot already. The substance attempted to infiltrate you but you didn't allow that. Great job with that, love."
He motioned her to go near him which she did. Lia sighed softly, nuzzling against Boboiboy's muscular figure. No words but just pure silence happened between the two which made Sonobot chuckle.
"Hey, I'll go out for a while. I just need to do something," Sonobot told Ochobot. "Do tell me if something happens to Lia." Ochobot nodded, "Yeah, of course."
Sonobot rushed out of the infirmary leaving a confused Ochobot."Looks like she's in a hurry." However, he didn't mind that.
Sonobot entered the spaceship's pantry since no one is there. Without any hologram, she contacted someone and waited for a response. When the call got answered, the power sphere ranted to the callee.
"I need an explanation about this... What?! How?!"
"Are you insane?! She had so many bruises! She could have died with the overbeating!"
"I had to... She almost-"
"But I can't do this anymore. This is too much... I would like to-"
Little did the power sphere know that someone is outside the pantry, listening to the conversation. A recording device is being held with one hand.
- - -
A/N: Oh gosh, it's been a while. College is really getting on me, so I do hope you understand! ^.^ Thank you for the wait! Keep safe always, readers ~
Time to do more requirements lol. Gotta run 🏃🏻♀️