Of course Thunderstorm wasn't able to get one moment of peace.
"You should go recharge," Thunderstorm said. "You don't have to avoid everyone with me."
Bellbot smiled. "Of course not. I can still hold up. I haven't been using much power lately, so I can last longer than before. Don't you need to eat? Humans need to."
Thunderstorm shook his head. The residue of Emotibot's effects had been tormenting his sanity every waking second. He couldn't tense up without provoking Blaze or summoning a storm inside. The slightest harsh movement would lead to mass destruction and anger.
Cattus purred softly and curled up to sleep. Thunderstorm hadn't realized that it was night time. He hardly slept, and sleep cycles don't affect him the way it does to other beings. So during the night, he was strolling the hallways when everyone else was in bed.
Despite wearing metal soles, his footsteps made no sound against the iron floor. There's barely a living soul in the dark of night, but the lights were on as if it were day. It looked the same as daytime, but the atmosphere was like night.
Silence, serene, and deathly.
He stopped.
The room to the power spheres was in front of him. With a passcode, he entered it and glanced at the power spheres located within. Glass-like barriers prevented anyone from stealing the spheres, or them escaping.
Emotibot was one of them. He was dormant.
Thunderstorm scanned the room. The security in it was more sophisticated than the outside. Why? Shouldn't they protect them from someone who comes from inside? What were the chances of anyone digging a hole in metal?
He freed Emotibot. The power sphere's face came online, and he switched to a happy face when he saw him.
"You came back!" He hugged him. "Nobody comes back! But you did!"
Thunderstorm brushed his hand against the power sphere's metal skin. "I keep my promises, but I can't let you out. They'll know. The alarms will sound."
Emotibot nodded gleefully. "It's okay! As long as you're not a bad guy, I'm okay with this!"
His heart skipped a beat. Why could anyone trust him? Three people had trusted him to protect them entirely. Cattus, Bellbot and Emotibot.
"Are you sure?" he asked. "I'm not the best 'guy,' in the universe."
"Well, you're not like anyone else," Emotibot said fervently. "You're kind, patient and you think of others! People like you are rare, you know."
Thunderstorm watched as the yellow sphere dispatched himself from him and hovered around the room in excitement. What had this power sphere been through? What life had he had before the hunters invaded?
He didn't know. Ever since he could remember, he was locked up in an alien cell awaiting the next day's torture-like training and experiments.
However, he had to thank those psychopaths for pushing him to the absolute limit. He managed to survive in this crazy world because of them. Who knows? He might send them a gift basket full of Cyanide and explosives later.
Oh wait, they're dead. S2 killed the entire station and blew it up.
Well, there's that.
"So what do you want to do?" Thunderstorm sat on the floor cross-legged. "I'm here all night."
"Are you sure?" Emotibot circled him. Thunderstorm nodded. "Yay! Can I ask your name? I really didn't get it earlier."
Some anger inside Thunderstorm subsided. He managed a small grin. "My name's Boboiboy. I'm a human, and I'm 14 years old."
They spent the night exchanging random topics regarding their favourite colours and their most embarrassing moments. Emotibot had once made someone jump off a ship. Thunderstorm's had to be the one where Adu-du manipulated his personality.
When it turned five a.m., Thunderstorm had to leave. Admiral Tarung and Ciciko had begun their daily patrol. He promised to visit him as soon as he can.
When the admiral and commander strolled by the corridors, he hid by a dead end. They were engrossed in a heated argument regarding the recent capture of an escapee months ago. Turns out the poor guy surrendered after being located by TAPOPS for the second time.
Thunderstorm's bloodred eyes fell on their silhouettes. With a small flash of red light, he teleported to the storage room he'd been to contain his anger.
Cattus and Bellbot were still asleep, which gave him time to meditate in perfect peace. He pictured his elements flowing in a perfect synchronization inside of him, calming him down effectively.
The power of his elements were all equal, but some might be temporarily magnified by his personal emotions and conflictions. For now, three elements had the chance of dominance: Blaze, Thunderstorm and Ice.
Although Thunderstorm was his frequent choice, Blaze and Ice represented his troubled thoughts. Part of him wanted to blast this place into oblivion; the other wanting to turn a blind eye and leave. Thunderstorm happened to be the bridge of the two, the harmonisation of polar opposites.
If he lost every sense of his control and restraint, both of them would engage in a war for dominance. Even if they were the best combat duo, they could be the worst enemies in history. It's sort of a Yin and Yang thing. The highest fences make the best neighbours, apparently.
But then...
There's still the other parts. Each element, each form was a part of his personality, just amplified by tenfold – a hundredfold. They were him, and he was them.
There's Thorn, the suppressed part of him that wanted to believe that everything will turn out okay. Quake, his leader and motherly instinct. And Solar, his wise and mature state.
They were all a crucial part of him.
But none of that mattered. The people here saw them for his power, not for what he is underneath that façade.
He exhaled lightly. Cattus was nudging his head against his arm.
"What time is it?" he asked him.
"It's eight a.m., Boboiboy! We've been trying to get your attention for two hours!" Bellbot exclaimed. "Are you okay?"
He nodded. "Thanks."
The watch on his right wrist blared to life. It was a call from the official TAPOPS com. He accepted it, and was immediately greeted with a champion-worthy roar.
"WHERE ARE YOU, BOBOIBOY? YOU'VE BEEN MISSING FOR WEEKS!" Admiral Tarung bellowed like a champ.
Thunderstorm's eye twitched. Now they noticed?
"NO MATTER. I WANT YOU IN THE CONTROL ROOM NOW!"
The intercom shut off. Cattus and Bellbot gaped at the deactivated watch on his wrist. It was a different one, since he was the only one in the station who refused to link his power watch with the communication centres. They had to give him a spare one.
"Stay safe," he said.
Thunderstorm teleported to the control room. Ciciko and the admiral were already waiting for him. The doors behind him opened with a hiss and the three superheroes of earth entered.
"What is it, Admiral?" Yaya asked innocently. "A mission?"
The admiral grunted. "This morning, we've received news of rogue power spheres at a planet named Planet Circus!"
Thunderstorm had never seen a real circus before, but looking at the monkey antiques in his team served the identical purpose. It was a miracle they were still alive until now.
"Your mission is to retrieve them!" Ciciko announced. "This data has been provided by one of our enemies, who goes by the name Zu. She is a highly dangerous individual who has managed to best admiral Tarung and Kaizo alike. She surrendered earlier this week!"
"She beat the admiral and Kaizo?" Gopal yelped. "Who caught her?"
"No one. She surrendered herself," Ciciko said.
It must be a trick. If what he said was true, why would someone so powerful surrender to a low-time organization like TAPOPS? Tarung and Kaizo were strong, no doubt, but Thunderstorm analysed that they were weaker than him, even with them combined.
So it's someone stronger than Kaizo and Tarung, but possibly weaker than him. Maybe equal in strength. Judging by the cast that Tarung was wearing on his right arm and the bandages on his legs, he was lucky to escape with his life.
"How many power spheres are there?" Fang enquired.
"Unknown; but we can expect a sizable force," Tarung huffed. "They are known as the Bad Dudes, and we have arrested two of them as they were defeated by Zu previously."
Oof. You couldn't go anywhere now without hearing that name. What kind of name was that? Zu? Sounded like the flu.
"The leader's name is Jugglenaut," Ciciko continued. "He has managed to steal three of our most powerful spheres, Firebot, Cemenbot and Balloonbot with the help of Panto and Invisibot."
Thunderstorm wanted to gouge himself. The moment everyone remembers him was the time they needed him for a mission.
"You will leave now," Tarung commanded. "The ships are prepared. Good luck, cadets."
An hour later, they were on the ship. Questionably, Ciciko and Ochobot went with them. Thunderstorm distanced himself from everyone on the ship, especially that power sphere.
He still despised him a lot. Like I-will-fill-your-sinuses-with-your-urine kind of hate.
Of course, Yaya and Ying tried to interact with him. They shirked from him as red sparks started to bounce off his skin. It happened so frequent nowadays he'd gotten used to the fact that he was a walking leaking fuse.
And for the fact that he's annoyed. If the place where they were going was the home of a power sphere hunter, why the hell would they bring Ochobot along? Shouldn't they know by now he's an extremely powerful sphere? What would happen if he fell into the wrong hands?
He wasn't all for restricting power spheres, but this was plain stupid. It was like bringing a lighted match into a leaking gasoline storage system.
"Prepare yourselves, cadets!" Ciciko boomed. "The enemy has our best power spheres to defend himself!"
Gopal whimpered and cowered behind Yaya and Ying. The two glared at him.
They unloaded the ship. The first thing that came into view was an abandoned carnival with ruined tents, smoky air and the cliché abandoned-carnival-look.
The ground had used to be a polished pavement that people trudged through in excitement to visit a circus, but it was now covered in layers of dust and dirt due to neglection. This planet might have once been a popular entertainment attraction, but it was abandoned and forgotten by the passage of time.
"This place is kind of creepy," Ying simpered.
"Look alive, cadets! The future of those power spheres depend on us!" Ciciko motivated them.
Suddenly encouraged, Yaya and Ying both burned with determination so warm Fang and Gopal scooted away from them. This was the worst moment to interfere with their enthusiasm.
Thunderstorm's ears perked. A faint soundtrack was being blared in a location far from them. It was the sort of cheery tune used for comedy purposes.
He looked to the sky. Bursts of neon lights shot from the same location.
He turned to his team and the commander, who were huddled in a circle discussing the details of their plan, completely oblivious to his actions and presence.
Unbeknownst to them, the element manipulator had already vanished into the horizon, approaching a death arena that had once been a colourful circus.
Fang was the first to notice. He looked up from the commander's tablet, about to call the white-haired boy into their plan, but he was already gone.