Chapter 6
"Where's Api?"
Blaze froze from under the blanket he had been hiding in the entire day. He had been so focused on writing in pure secrecy on a notebook he had stolen from Solar, that he didn't notice how much time had flown.
He was also pretty sure that was Ice just right outside his room, asking for his whereabouts.
A few days had passed since the incident. His brothers and friends had fully recovered from their bruises, sprains and burns, which was also thanks to Thorn and his healing herbs. Meanwhile, Blaze decided to lay low, trying to figure out how he can prevent their meeting with RevBot.
He realized he had to be serious about this and do everything he could to avoid that unfortunate end.
But more specifically...
"As soon as RevBot had hit one of us, TAPOPs was already doomed!" Solar yelled, eyes filled with angry tears, "It doesn't matter if it was Gempa! All it takes is for one of us to turn Reverse for everything else to fall apart!"
He had to avoid RevBot from hitting one of them. No matter who it was. Or else...
He shook his head and quickly hid the pen and notebook under his pillow just as the automated doors open.
"Api? Are you—oh, there you are."
"I'm sleeping. Leave me alone."
No sooner did he feel the bed dip next to him, "You don't sound like someone who's supposed to be asleep."
With an annoyed huff he pulled down the blankets and pouted at Ice. Said brother smiled fondly at him and grabbed his arms to pull him up into a sitting position.
"Does your head still hurt?" He asked running his hand through his hair to check the injury.
"No. I'm good." Blaze answered truthfully, letting the other check in on him. Despite hating having his brothers worry about him, Ice was always the exception to that. When it was him, it wasn't annoying or embarrassing, it was just... Ice being Ice.
His brother then smiled in contentment and gave him a gentle noogie, causing Blaze to snicker and push the offending hand away.
"Are you excited? Today's the day you finally get to use your powers again."
And just like that, he finds himself full of energy as he jumped on his bed and on to his feet, "Heck yeah! I've been itching to get some training done! Will you spar with me!?"
Ice nodded calmly before reaching out to grab his hand to steady him, "Of course. But we follow through what Tanah says. No heavy sparring."
"Ugh... I keep telling him I'm fine now." Blaze collapsed back to sit on the bed, his legs crossed and his hand rubbing absentmindedly on a familiar spot at the back of his leg, "Ochobot showed him the figures and everything!"
"You have to be patient with Tanah. He's just worried about you." Ice said in a soothing manner, "We all are."
"I'm fine now. And it won't happen again!"
Ice frowned, he looked like he wanted to say something but immediately held himself back as he opted to bring up another topic, "By the way, our plans on going back home to Earth had been postponed."
"Oh... we're still doing that?" Blaze tried not to look back at the pillow where Solar's notebook was hidden.
"Of course. I think we all need the break." Ice said, though he looked at him with a knowing stare.
"Okay, so why the postponement then?"
"There's... a mission." His brother sighed, he looked very much unhappy and surprisingly annoyed- a rare emotion from the usually calm teen, "And... unfortunately... despite our protest- you have to be a part of it."
Blaze perked up feeling even more excited, before letting what the other had said sink in, "Hey—wait! What do you mean "protest"?! You guys don't trust me enough to be a part of it?!"
"It's not that. Blaze, you're still recovering—"
"I keep telling you I'm fine—"
"—Last week you threw up blood and had a dangerously high fever. Days later, you almost got kidnapped by Adudu and got caught in an explosion—"
"Hey! You guys got caught in it too!"
"What I'm trying to say is... we're worried that you can't seem to catch a break." Ice held both his shoulders, "This is why Tanah wanted to push through for us to go back to Earth."
"I want to help with the mission!"
"I know you do- but-"
"Whatever your reason is, it doesn't change the fact that you guys obviously don't trust me."
"Api..." Ice's attention then went to his hand that had been continuously rubbing his calf, "Why do you keep doing that? Does it hurt?"
He froze and quickly crossed his arms in front of him, "Just a bit of cramp. Stop changing the subject!"
"I'm not-" Ice couldn't help but let out a frustrated huff as he let his hands fall back on his lap, "Why do I feel like there's this wall between us? Where did it even come from?"
"What? What the heck are you talking about?!"
"This! Api!" Ice said, arms gesturing between them, "We usually don't argue like this. You usually tell me things that make me understand what's making you so frustrated. But every time I think you're about to tell me, I end up hitting this brick wall."
"What wall? There's no wall!"
"It's a figure of speech, Api."
Blaze frowned as he looked at his brother who continued to look back at him with the same amount of frustration, "Well, I don't know what you want me to do! There's nothing to talk about, aside from the fact that you guys can't seem to trust me just because I got hit in the head!"
"Stop shutting me out."
"I'm not! It's you guys— my own brothers, who keep shutting me out!" Blaze exploded, "How do you expect me to tell you guys anything when you won't believe me?!"
Silence.
Blaze then took this cue to stand up and was about ready to walk away just to emphasize how annoyed he was, when Ice grabbed his arm.
"I'll hear you out."
Blaze froze, "What?"
Ice adjusted the pillows behind him and sat in a comfortable position. He then patted the space next to him with a pillow prompt up as well.
Blaze narrowed his eyes and the other patiently tugged his arm, "I'm serious. I won't make fun of you nor will I try to challenge you about your knowledge of this future you saw. I'm not Cahaya nor Angin nor Daun."
"...but..."
"You were right. I should trust you a little more... and I guess everything that has happened had clouded my judgement for a bit, but only because I care and worry about you." Ice said, tone filled with sincerity, "So... won't you do the same and trust me too?"
"Did... did they put you up to this?"
"Tanah still believes that we shouldn't talk about this, because it'll only stress you out more. While Cahaya believes that you should tell us everything just so he can prove to you what you're saying was not real." Ice explained, his eyes never leaving his, "While I believe that you can tell me anything you want. You don't have to tell me everything. Or you could. I just... I just want to be there for you. That's all."
Blaze hesitated, "Will you believe me?"
"I won't lie to you. The whole time-traveling is a little farfetched." Blaze opened his mouth to protest but Ice immediately held up a hand, "But that won't stop me from hearing you out. Okay?"
Ice then turned his hand as an offer for Blaze to take, "Just talk to me, and I'll listen. Simple as that."
Blaze was quiet, unsure if he should take up Ice's offer. He knew his brothers meant no harm. They always did what was best for their family and had good intentions.
Ice... Air had always been one of his closest brothers. He always knew what Blaze needed and acted as his stabilizer when things would get out of hand and out of control.
And yet...
"Before I turned back time, it had only been you and me." Blaze started, he continued staring at Ice's hand before deciding to focus on his brother's face instead, "Everyone else had already been shot and became the bad guys. The Reverse version of themselves."
Ice slowly let his hand down, confusion and worry now apparent as Blaze suddenly reached towards the pillow next to him to grab the notebook and pen he hid. His brother was about to ask what it was but he cut him off before he could.
"We were the only ones left. But you wanted to go out there and fight them on your own just so I could escape." Blaze could suddenly remember the chill he felt from the cold... from the horror, "I was too weak to stop you. And at that moment, I wish I had the energy to just punch you in the face because no matter how loud I get... no matter how much I shouted at you to come back... you wouldn't listen."
"Api..."
"You were always there for me..." Blaze scowled at him, letting the anger, frustration and betrayal overcome the feeling of hurt, "...until you weren't."
Ice seemed to be lost with words as Blaze continued looking at him in anger for a fault he knew he wouldn't remember.
It was pointless, of course, to have this misplaced anger. And he knew he shouldn't be. Not with someone who couldn't remember anything- who didn't even do anything.
But that's the thing. He knows this Ice would still do it again if they were forced back to that situation.
"I'm gonna go look for the nerd to have my watch check." Blaze eventually decided as he turned away with the notebook in his hold.
"Api, wait-"
The door to their room opened, revealing Halilintar, "Alright, Blaze. Time to-"
He froze as he noticed the atmosphere between the two. He didn't even bat an eye at the stolen notebook in his hands and merely turned away as he cleared his throat, "Let's go, Ochobot and Solar are waiting."
"Right." Blaze mumbled as he followed the eldest septuplet out the door. Not once looking back.
As soon as they were a good distance from the room, Halilintar then spoke up, "You and Air had a fight? That's rare."
"We're not!"
Silence again. Blaze glared at his brother's back, always hating how he felt intimidated by him whenever he got this contemplative air as if he was ready to judge who was wrong and right.
"If you have something to say, just say it!"
"Like what?"
"I don't know! Stop acting like you're cool!"
Halilintar could only sigh, "You're getting worked up for no reason."
"I know you've got loads of questions just like the rest of them-"
"And I do." Halilintar suddenly stopped and this almost caused Blaze to collide with him, "But I..."
He watched as the other's shoulder tensed before he turned to him, eyes hard, "I'd rather you don't talk about it."
Blaze didn't expect the sudden cold that clutched his heart as he heard those words.
Something must've shown on his face because Halilintar froze and sighed, "It's not what you think. I'm just... scared. I guess."
The hurt was immediately replaced by surprise as Blaze stared at him like he grew a second head.
From an outsider's perspective- it was always assumed that Halilintar was the least scaredy-cat out of all the septuplets. But amongst the brothers, they all knew that behind that stern and scary façade was actually a person who gets easily spooked by balloons popping, horror movies, haunted houses, and roller coasters.
He just tries to hide it through anger and never ending denial.
So having the Halilintar admit that he was scared over something... it was new.
"I heard from the others about this future you believe you came from." Halilintar continued, his eyes drifting as if he was thinking of something, "And to me... it doesn't matter if the whole thing is made up or not. The fact that a "future" where we had to fight each other is a scary thought and it's something I'm hoping doesn't exist."
"But it does." Halilintar turned to him sharply and Blaze finds himself shutting up.
"I'd rather fight a hundred versions of Vargoba than fight my own brother." He said with finality before turning and proceeding to walk away. Blaze frowned and followed him without any further comment.
He wasn't sure if Halilintar had said that as a message that he doesn't believe him, or was a form of comfort in his own tsundere way.
It didn't really even matter since whether he liked it or not, that future had happened. They became the villains and had fought each other. A battle of desperation for the good side to win, only for Blaze to be left alone to be mocked and hurt by his own flesh and blood.
He may have gone back in time, but all of it was real.
And not even RevBot can reverse that.
"Why do you have Cahaya's dream journal? You know he had been looking for it this whole morning." Halilintar suddenly asked, tone annoyingly even.
"I'll give it back to him! I just needed something to write on! The nerd has loads of this anyway." Blaze looked down at the notebook, almost forgetting that he had been holding on to it.
It had been a spur of the moment as he remembered from one of the time-travelling comics he read- about how the protagonist tries to write down the timeline of events that eventually lead to their doom.
But in Blaze's case, the day that Gempa- that one of them turned to Reverse.
At the moment, he only managed to write down the first day of their mission trying to look for RevBot, and now that he thought about it. Maybe he should go back further than that so that he could line up the series of events that led to that fateful day.
But first, he had to figure out what important event was about to happen soon.
"You should really be nicer to Cahaya. Even if he gets a little... stuck up." Halilintar then turned to him and Blaze automatically looked away at the sight of his red eyes, "He vouched for you to join this mission we have to do before going back to Earth... even though it was for personal reasons."
"He did?" Blaze frowned, he was pretty that he wasn't currently in the timeline where Solar had to vouch for him because of Gempa's personal issues with him being part of the mission team. And especially not because of personal reasons. Solar would always let him join a certain mission when he believed it would be more beneficial to the team.
It was always for logic. Never for personal gain nor because he felt any form of pity for Blaze who always had to be benched back then.
But there had been that one time... before they went home to Earth.
His eyes widened as he slowly remembered that one mission that changed everything.
"BLAZE! Go save the others now!"
Where it had all began.
"I won't make it in time! But if I go get the power sphere-"
"Is it a power sphere?" He numbly asked.
"Blaze! NO!"
"Yeah. As usual." Halilintar replied before stopping in front of the door to their meeting room. Blaze clutched the notebook tighter, realizing how stupid he was for forgetting about that one power sphere he had mentioned to Angin before.
No wonder he could remember it out of all the countless of power spheres they have saved.
He watched as the door opened to reveal Solar, Nut, and Ochobot in a heated discussion. Instead of joining them however, he finds himself looking at the huge holographic screen in the middle of the room.
He could feel his heart beat faster as he saw the familiar brown power sphere in the center of it all.
"MUDBOT!" Blaze snarled at the small bot with a huge ball of fire hovering above his head, "Let them go or I'll burn you into crisp!"
"You, Gempa, and Thorn will be in charge of retrieving a power sphere called MudBot." Halilintar said as he handed him a tablet, "Of course, with Fang and the others coming along too."
Blaze gulped nervously.
.
.
.
This was the mission where Gempa had lost all faith in him.
.
.
.
.
End of Chapter