Chapter 24
Blaze took a deep breath.
He looked around his shared room with Ice cautiously. He was pretending to be asleep when his brother had woken up and left surprisingly early.
He was pretty sure he wasn't part of the MudBot mission this time though.
So, it probably meant Gempa needed something from him before they leave (since Gempa is the only one capable of ordering Ice to wake up at a forsaken hour).
Blaze then shouldered the duffel bag he had packed and hidden under his bed and stuffed some pillows underneath his blanket. Trying to make it look like it was him still sleeping.
This would buy him some time.
Once he was sure it was an acceptable decoy, he quickly made his way to the door and headed for the corridors.
Trying to get to his destination-
"-wonder if Api's awake."
Abort mission! ABORT!
Api looked around before spotting the mop closet and throwing his bag inside it. And just as he did so, Taufan pops out from the other end of the hallway.
He, of course, immediately caught sight of him, and waved excitedly.
"Api! Just the man I'm looking for!" Taufan said cheerfully before freezing and tilting his head in confusion.
"You're... in your mission outfit?" Blaze stiffened as he continued to eye him suspiciously, "Don't tell me you're... planning to sneak in the spaceship so you could join that mission!"
He tried not to sag in relief as Taufan laughed, "Seriously? Just let it go, Api!"
"I still think they should've let me go instead of the nerd." He couldn't help but grumble only for Taufan to swing an arm over his shoulders.
"Better luck next time, bro. And as much as I would love to help you sneak in, I believe the spaceship already left not too long ago. Try waking up earlier next time, huh?"
"I'll keep that in mind." Blaze chuckled uneasily. He really needed to leave. Maybe he could-
"Anyway, since you're already all dressed up-why not join me for some training?" His brother suggested, eyes wide and hopeful.
"I was planning to go get some breakfast- I'll go catch up after!"
"Breakfast isn't til' an hour or two." Taufan frowned, he could possibly sense something was amiss, "And you know we shouldn't be training after eating! It'll give us indigestion! Or worse- appendicitis!"
"You do know that's not true, right?" Blaze scowled impatiently, as he reluctantly followed Taufan towards the training grounds, "It's just a myth!"
"Look who's doing his research,"
"The nerd wouldn't stop lecturing me about it last time I said that!" He defended which earned another laugh from the other.
"Speaking of..." Taufan said in a careful tone, "Have you made up with Cahaya?"
"Of course I have!" He rolled his eyes, "I'm not that mean. I know when I have to own up to my mistakes too, you know."
He really did feel bad for exploding on Cahaya like that. Especially when he realized how much he had done to help him get better. Meanwhile he had been snippy and short-tempered every time Cahaya was just trying to help him.
He was surprised that the light-manipulator didn't laser-shoot him for being difficult.
"That's good to hear. It's bad enough that we already have Tanah and Petir at each other's throats, we don't need two more brothers fighting." Taufan gave him a wry look which he returned with a confused one.
"What? They're fighting? What for?"
"Seriously? You haven't noticed the glares?! The sniping?! And how they just can't seem to stand each other?!" Taufan then shook his head before he could say anything, "Wait- no, you were barely there during those interactions. I guess I can't blame you for not noticing."
"How long had this been going on?"
"It started when you got sick. I guess the stress got to them." Taufan said before immediately adding, "But it's not your fault. So, you don't have anything to worry about."
"That's reassuring." Blaze rolled his eyes, but he knew better than to take comfort. For the past few days, he noticed the changes in their dynamic and he worry that Ice's confession about having a very accurate description of their previous timeline was not exactly a fluke. It made him realize that he may be running out of time.
He shuddered at the idea of meeting them again.
No.
He wasn't going to let it happen.
So he had to act fast.
And that's why today he was supposed to-
"We're here!" Taufan summoned his hoverboard and zoomed around the open area, "Alright, Blaze gimme all you got!"
"Angin..." He groaned, "I really-"
"Wind Spheres!"
Blaze immediately dodged the sudden attack and summoned his chakrams with an angry scowl, "Hey! What gives?!"
"Come on~ do you really not want to train?" Taufan deflated and floated down to the ground, "You used to- eep!"
A pair of chakrams had almost sliced through his head if he hadn't ducked in time.
Taufan pouted as he turned to him, "You'll pay for that!"
"You started it!"
And it was on!
Before Blaze knew it, they were exchanging blows, each one more powerful and intense.
He tried his hardest to knock Taufan off his hoverboard, but unfortunately, the latter was quick and light on his feet. Going as far as doing a headstand on it just to irk him.
"Can't catch me, can you?" He laughed as he dodged another flaming fist.
"Maybe if you would hold still!" Blaze took a deep breath, "Fire breath!"
"Wind drill!"
The wind spun around Taufan into a huge drill as he shot forward and pierced through the waves of flames, heading straight towards Blaze. But the latter wasn't done as he summoned his chakrams and spun them in front of him, "Blazing shield!"
"Wait- what!?" Taufan yelped as his attack was deflected by the twisting flames that surrounded Blaze's weapons, "Since when-"
"Ready to give up?!"
"You wish!" Taufan threw his arms up, "Cyclone spin!"
A whirling vortex surrounded the two and Taufan watched in satisfaction when the chakrams were pulled away from Blaze's grip as he struggled to keep his footing.
"Want to go for a spin, Blaze?!" He laughed as he rode the winds, trying to get it to pick up speed.
"Sure!" Blaze cackled even when he almost stumbled, "Let's make it more exciting! Fire breath!"
Taufan only realized his mistake too late when the entire tornado burst into flames and he hastily tried to stop it when something hot wrapped around his torso and pulled him away from his hoverboard and into the arms of a snickering Blaze.
He managed to catch sight of the radiating rope-like flames wrapped around his torso before it disappeared, leaving scorch marks on his shirt.
"What was that?!" He demanded as Blaze let him down.
"A flame whip. Though I didn't think I could pull it off! Hah! I knew I could do it!" Blaze cheered, practically jumping in joy.
"I-I've never seen those new moves before! Since when did you learn them?!"
"I've been experimenting." He hastily cleared his throat, "I didn't think they'd actually work, I always had a hard time trying to keep them in form, but I guess someone attacking me was all the encouragement I needed!"
"That doesn't sound safe-wait!" Taufan turned to him, eyes wide, "You're copying our moves!"
"What- pfft! Where'd you get that idea?"
"Come on. The shield? The whip? Sounds familiar?"
"Well, everyone's got similar moves if you think about it-"
"And remember that time you did that fire tornado when you got sick and delirious?! That used to be our combo!" Taufan said, still looking at him in disbelief.
"I mean, with enough wrist movement I could redirect-"
"Who are you and what did you do to my brother?!" Taufan grabbed him by the shoulders and started shaking him.
He tried not to wince at the joke, since in all seriousness- he definitely wasn't the Blaze they used to know and instead shrugged the other's hands off.
"You should try and do your own experiments if you're that jealous!"
"I'm not!" Taufan paused before scratching the back of his head, "Okay, maybe I am. I wish I could make cool, new moves like you too."
Blaze was surprised by the admission and felt a little bad as he saw that longing look Taufan always had whenever he felt like he was being a burden to the team.
It definitely sent a twinge of sympathy in his chest, remembering the old times where Gempa would always bench him and basically making him useless.
"You can! Uh-" Blaze tried to brainstorm the moves future Taufan had, "Wha-what about 'Sonic Boom'!"
"What?" His brother turned to him in confusion, "What's that?"
"You know how I can control fire-based explosions?"
"You can control explosions too?!"
Right. Wrong timeline.
"Something like that! I'm still testing it out!" He lied, "But anyway, you can do the same too! By using the wind and making them compact or something then... boom?"
"You mean... by controlling the air pressure and releasing it into a shockwave creating some sort of explosion?"
"...err, yeah?"
Taufan's face scrunched up, "That sounds complicated- but interesting! I'll try it out now!"
Blaze definitely didn't want to be around for that. He remembered having hearing problems for a whole week when he stupidly volunteered to be Taufan's opponent for the move.
And he wasted enough time as it is. He had to leave.
"I think I'm going back to bed." He quickly said before his brother could summon a wind sphere, "The fight took a lot out of me."
"Oh crap! I'm so sorry, Api! I'll help you back-"
"I just said I'm tired. Don't treat me like an invalid!" Blaze scowled, his temper getting the best of him before he knew it.
He just-he really hated it when they act all-concerned!
It makes him feel weak.
"Okay, fine..." Taufan held up his hands and stepped back, expression sad, "I was just trying to help..."
Silence.
He watched as the other turned around, and Blaze knew this was his chance to finally leave... but-
He sighed heavily and rubbed his arm, "I'm sorry... I should be more grateful that you went out of your way to spar with me."
If anything happens to him, he doesn't want this to be their last conversation.
Taufan looked at him in surprise, "Huh?"
"Please, I know that you know sparring is one of my favorite past times like how baking is yours."
"And playing soccer!" Taufan hastily added with a puff of his cheeks, which made him snicker.
"Sure it is."
"I just... wanted to make sure you were doing well. I know how frustrating it must be always having to sit around and do nothing while everyone's out there doing some important mission." His brother smiled softly before looking down, "And maybe I needed this too. It's been difficult lately. Everyone's been so weird. And I feel like we've been getting into more arguments instead of just sitting and talking it out."
"Err... you did say everyone's been under a lot of stress... but, who knows? Maybe when we get back to earth everything would go back to normal." Blaze said trying to sound reassuring. Though he couldn't tell if he was doing a good job, this was usually Gempa's role.
"Yeah, probably..." Taufan mumbled making Blaze frown at the other's uncharacteristic pessimism.
There was nothing more in the world that Blaze wanted than for everything to go back to the way it was.
And it will be...
Once he gets the job done.
"Anyway... I should go..." Blaze said slowly backing away.
"Ah, wait- are you sure you don't want me to-?"
"Yeah, I'm sure!" He turned and ran, "Good luck, with your experiment!"
Taufan seemed to have said something but Blaze didn't bother asking what it was, he already wasted enough time as it is.
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He had to get to the headquarter's brig.
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"Why are you taking so long, you idiot?!" Adudu hissed at Probe who was pulling out the wires from the inside of the cell that held them.
"I'm sorry Mister Boss, but they really upgraded the security since the last time we were here!"
"Well, do something about it!" The green alien demanded, "Those brats are on their way to capture another power sphere. We need to get it before they do-"
"Aha! Mister Boss, I've found a solution!" Probe turned to him and pointed at the scanner he had dug up from the wires, "It's a biometric type of lock. Quick! Put your fingerprint here so we can reconfigure it as the key!"
"Good job, Probe! With this we can-"
"Oh good, you guys haven't gotten out yet." The two yelped and turned to the prison door to see Blaze grinning at them.
"Quick hide it!" Adudu whispered at the robot who immediately tried to block the mess of wires from view, "Err... hehehe, what brings you here... uhh Boboiboy Blaze?"
"Quit trying to pretend. I know you're trying to bust out, I can see the wires sparking from here." Blaze said with a roll of his eyes and Probe quickly turned to try and fix it before it set something on fire.
"Came here to mock us, huh!?" Adudu scowled at him, "You may find our situation amusing Boboiboy Blaze, but mark my words! When I get out of here-"
"I'll break you out."
"-I'll defeat you and your tiny gang- wait, what?" Adudu stammered while Probe gasped in surprise.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I need your help." Blaze said, his voice lowering as he crouched in front of them, "I need someone who's an expert in dealing with power spheres."
Adudu looked at him suspiciously, "What is your deal here, Boboiboy Blaze?"
"You're coming with me on a mission." Blaze's eyes burned with intensity that it made Adudu sweat.
"W-wait a minute! What makes you think I'll help you to begin with?! You break us out and what? You think you have our undying loyalty?!"
"Yeah! You tell him Mister Boss!"
"Or I can beat you to a pulp right now!" Blaze slammed the bars and the two jumped back in fear.
"I-I take back what I said!"
"We will do whatever you want, Mister Blaze!"
"Probe!"
Blaze sighed for the umpteenth time that day before forcing himself to calm down, "Look, we don't have much time. My brothers have no idea that I'm here and it's only a matter of time before they do."
"Maybe we should hear him out, Mister Boss." Probe said, "At least breaking out will be easier!"
"Fine! What do you want us to do?!" Adudu grumbled, seeing that he really had no choice.
If they don't agree with the human, they might end up in the deeper parts of the prison cells- where it would be harder to escape.
And anyway, at least it wasn't the smart Boboiboy, so they could just backstab him when-
"Try anything funny, and you'll regret it."
He looked up about to deny his assumptions when Blaze stood up and slammed a flaming fist through the controllers, effectively disabling the bars-
"Prison break in progress. All staff to secure positions immediately."
-and effectively tipping off the entire TAPOPS headquarters.
High-pitched alarms rang out and Adudu screeched, "You idiot! I thought you were trying to break us out!"
"I am!" The teen flashed him a toothy grin, "But with this, you won't have a choice but to follow me or you'll get caught. So, let's go, losers!"
With that said, he made a beeline to the exit, the two following him reluctantly.
As soon as they got to the corridors, footsteps started heading their way and Blaze quickly pressed them against the wall, holding his breath when mop aliens ran past their hiding place.
"Where are we even going?!" Adudu hissed as soon as they were sure the coast was clear.
"To your spaceship. I overheard Gempa saying it's at an impound facility. We're going to have to use it so that we don't get tracked." Blaze said as he crossed the hallway with quick steps, checking on them as well to make sure they weren't planning to do anything funny.
"Uh... Mister Blaze, where exactly is the location of the mission you keep talking about?" They watched as the fire manipulator opened a closet door and took out what looked like a duffel bag.
He turned to them eyes filled with fiery determination.
"To Rhadamanthus."
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End of Chapter
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Would you look at that... Even Blaze can use his brain ᕙ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ᕗ