Warning: minor Boboiboy Movie 2 spoilers
The start of a new story. This idea's been in my head for a good while, but I didn't really get around to writing it till summer vacation. It's the longest one yet (8 parts!!), so for those of you who like long works, enjoy!
Also, for those who saw my announcement, I changed the timeline a bit. It's now two years instead of two and half.
***
Taufan kept his hands in his pockets and his head bowed as he walked down the quiet street.
Sure, it wasn't like him to be walking sullenly instead of riding on the wind or taking photos of the sunset at his back. It wasn't often that he chose to be alone instead of hanging out with his brothers or friends. But then, today was hardly a normal day.
Exactly one year since the first. Seven months since the second.
Taufan sighed and absentmindedly kicked at a pebble on the sidewalk. It skidded across the empty road, bounced off the side of the pavement, and fell into a storm drain. Gone, out of reach, just like...
He abruptly shook his head to derail that train of thought. He'd gone on a walk to clear his head, not to wallow. He needed to be at the top of his game at all times, because otherwise - well, he wasn't sure he could take another repeat. He wasn't sure any of them could.
He kicked another pebble and watched as this one bounced into the tall grass of the neighbor's lawn.
Suddenly, he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up straight. He whirled around, wind at the ready.
It was too late. He didn't even have time to blink.
***
Ten months later:
Ice stretched in his chair, smothering a yawn, and glanced at the clock on the briefing room wall. Seeing that there were only a few minutes before the designated meeting time, he contemplated going back to sleep, but ultimately decided it wasn't worth it. Instead, he leaned over to peer over Solar's shoulder.
Unsurprisingly, the workaholic was muttering to himself and scribbling advanced mathematical formulas in a notebook at a dizzying speed. Put off, Ice instead leaned towards Gempa, who was sitting on his other side.
One glance, however, at the bundle of intergalactic newspaper clippings and old mission reports was enough to tell him exactly what his elder brother was doing.
Unnoticed by Gempa, a clipping slid off the edge of the table and fluttered to the ground. Ice bent to pick it up. And then, despite already knowing by heart what it said, he read it anyway.
ANOTHER TAPOPS CADET GOES MISSING - COINCIDENTAL OR PLANNED?
Early this morning (Standard Intergalactic Time), TAPOPS sent out a notice stating that another of their cadets, Blaze bin Amato, has been reported missing while on leave. Strangely, while MIA cases are not unheard of for this organization due to its nature, it is exceedingly rare for an employee to disappear outside a mission. Indeed, the only other such case in over a decade happened just five months ago, when cadet Halilintar bin Amato also disappeared without a trace while on leave. Interestingly, Halilintar and Blaze are brothers, work on the same team at TAPOPS, and disappeared in the same area. There is a strong possibility that the two cases are connected.
TAPOPS currently has search teams scouring the galaxy for their missing cadets. Anyone who may have information relating to either case is requested to call the following number immediately: XXX XXX XXXX. Pictures and descriptions of both are included below.
The date in the corner was almost seventeen months ago, but every time he reread the article, it felt like only a day again.
Unable to bear looking at it any longer, Ice slid the clipping back to Gempa, who gave him a small smile and placed it back on top of the stack of papers. Ice caught a glimpse of the sheet beneath it - a poster dominated by blue and white, with the words MISSING emblazoned in bold red letters across the top.
It was no surprise, not when Gempa had for months been compiling every little clue that could help find their missing brothers. TAPOPS was still searching, of course, but due to intergalactic laws, now any participants had to be volunteers; needless to say, after ten months with no new leads, there weren't many.
Ice was still lost in thought when a hologram of Admiral Tarung popped up in the middle of the table. The shout of "CADETTT!!!" almost had him falling out of his chair.
"Yes, Admiral!" He hurriedly stood and saluted with the rest of his brothers and friends.
"Next time, pay more attention to your surroundings! Now sit down!"
"Yes, Admiral." He repeated, smiling sheepishly as he did as he was told.
"Now, let us start your briefing," The Admiral adopted a more professional tone and pulled out a binder, "Your mission will be at a small fuel station in outer space, not far from Earth. We received an anonymous tip a few days ago, and, upon following it up with some investigation, found that there indeed seems to be a Power Sphera hidden somewhere in the station. Your mission is to retrieve this Power Sphera and deliver it to TAPOPS, with as little structural damage as possible. Be careful, however; our spies report that there may be a villain guarding and misusing it. Overheard conversations indicate Retak'ka-level powers."
"Retak'ka-level?!" Solar repeated incredulously.
"Indeed. We selected you for this mission due to your past experiences with Retak'ka himself, which will help you in your planning. However, we understand that this may be an issue emotionally, in which case we will assign the mission to another team."
"We can do it, Admiral," Gempa said firmly, "It would be wrong to endanger the other teams when we have such a tactical advantage. We won't let lingering fear distract us."
"Excellent. Mission data is now being sent to you. Dismissed."
***
"Everyone know the plan?" Gempa asked again as their spaceship touched down on the landing pad.
"Team A distracts the employees, Team B sneaks into the back. Team A joins Team B as backup as soon as possible." Gopal recited in a monotone, having apparently heard it one too many times on the ride. If the boy hadn't been shaking with nerves, he probably would have added a sarcastic comment at the end, too.
Outside, a neon sign cheerily flashed the words: 'Fuel! Snacks! Spacecraft parts! Camping stuff! Get it all for only half the price! You won't find an offer like this anywhere else!'. Nothing hinted at the fact that there was potentially a threat to the galaxy residing within the station's walls.
"Is this place giving you guys Bago Go vibes, or what?" Ying muttered as they exited the ship.
"Discounts for no particular reason, flashy advertisements, excessively big and extravagant building?" Fang snorted, "Seems like him, alright. Too bad it isn't actually him, or we'd have this mission in the bag."
They parted ways then, Gempa, Duri and Gopal continuing to the front door of the store while the rest made their way around to the back. Next to the ship, Papa Zola had struck up a conversation with an employee as he refueled their ship, hopefully buying them some extra time.
***
Due to the abnormally large size of the station, circling around to the back took more time than Ice was comfortable with. When they neared the location the mission data indicated had a back door, they slowed and gathered behind a wall. The air shimmered as Solar commanded the light to bend around the corner and into his eyes, allowing him to see the entrance without being seen himself.
"I see the door. No visible technology securing it, but there's a guard." He reported in a low tone.
"A guard?" Yaya repeated curiously, "That's a bit excessive for a fuel station."
"But just about right for a villain," Ying reminded her. Admittedly, with the generally cheerful air about the station, Ice had also almost forgotten what they were dealing with.
Just then, the sound of a door being quickly pushed open came to their ears. Solar's eyes flashed as he refocused his attention.
"Another employee's talking to him. Something about..." Solar squinted, no doubt trying to lip-read, "A difficult customer, I think. And how the guard is the only one who knows where the less popular stuff is stored."
"That's probably Gopal not even trying to distract them." Fang muttered.
"The guard's gone," Solar reported, ignoring him, "Now's our chance!"
Abandoning cover, the small group sprinted to the door. Solar teleported ahead and held it open for the others before following them inside, closing the door quickly but noiselessly behind him. They all stopped to survey the space they'd found themselves in.
Unlike the exterior and the front area of the station, this room was dark and gloomy, filled with boxes of what seemed to be junk and lit by a single, flickering lightbulb. There was another door opposite the one they had come through, which Solar carefully opened after ascertaining that the room held nothing of use. The hallway beyond the door was equally poorly-lit, though less cluttered.
Everyone moved slowly into the hallway. Ice warily eyed the many doors along the walls, well aware that any one of them could open at any minute. And even if they didn't, the team would have to open them themselves to find the right way to go. TAPOPS' scout hadn't made it this far, and not even Solar could see through solid metal, after all.
As planned, everyone worked together to search for the Power Sphera. Any locked doors were left to Fang and his shadows (or, in some cases, Yaya and her strength), while Ying used her powers to speed up the search. Whenever an opportunity presented itself in the form of a crack or a keyhole, Solar checked the other side of the doors to make sure there was no one in sight (while for the rest, they just had to listen closely and hope the room was empty). Ice stood by in case of complications, ready to freeze any witnesses (humanely, of course) so they couldn't run or shout and alert the rest of the station's employees.
They mostly found more storage rooms or broom closets, all empty of people, until one previously locked door yielded a staircase to the lower levels of the station. Since the ground floor had already been searched fairly thoroughly, they descended.
Down here, the lighting was even worse. It was so dark that Solar had to summon a ball of light to make sure they didn't misstep and fall down the stairs. Oddly enough, the staircase continued past what had to be several floors without showing a single door; in fact, there was only one other door in the entire stairwell, located at the very bottom. Like its counterpart above, it was locked.
Solar scanned the expanse of metal closely, then shook his head, "I can't find a place to see through. It's too thoroughly sealed."
Fang put his ear to the door, then, apparently hearing nothing, tried to slip his shadows under the door to unlock it. However, it appeared the door fit its frame too closely for even that.
That left their last resort, Yaya. Gathering all her strength, she slammed into the door, which slowly bent and opened, resisting all the way. They filed into the room beyond, which was completely dark.
With a snap of his fingers, Solar lit up the room, revealing blank metal walls enclosing them in a small, mostly empty space. But in the middle, sitting on a plastic stool with his fingers intertwined, was a tall, lanky Kubulus alien. He was looking calmly at them.
"Welcome, team Kokotaim."
***
Thoughts?
I've already finished the drafts and gone through the first round of editing, so expect an update every day or two. Also, a warning: this gets rather exposition-heavy at times. Sorry. Do me a favour and don't mention it in your comments, because I've tried my best to cut it down and now I really don't want to think about it again.
Lola, signing off!