Maybe he wasn't thinking. Maybe the situation was more severe than he thought. But as things could go, nothing could escape Tanah's eyes.
He was fairly certain that Petir was going the extra mile to make his death look unintentional, that he had fallen in battle and not committed suicide in a room with a razor in his hand.
He'd known Petir ever since they were children. He knew when he was hurting, laughing or even crying. He just didn't want to tell him.
At the time, when they were still fourteen, Daun had gained his second tier on a tight mission. Though it went unnoticed by the electrical elemental, Daun's increase in power was significant and visible, even able to overpower Petir in hand-to-hand strength.
Gempa realized that's the exact same time where Petir's self-abusive routine started. He skipped meals to prevent himself from growing excess fat. He shut himself out from the rest of the elementals and entertainment. It was what devoted him into training himself to the absolute limit, despite having no progress due to the limit set on his powers.
How can Petir think Gempa won't notice? Did he really think he could hide the fact that his muscles were burning with agony after every day of extensive training? Did he think he could ignore the guilt that was eating him alive when the rest of their team accomplished a mission flawlessly after Petir suffered a pathetic defeat?
No.
He can't.
It was a mission to subdue to rival gangs. They were having a shootout in a public area, and Petir had slipped out to deal with it by his own. If it wasn't for Api browsing through his phone and accessing the live news feed, they might not have known.
Tanah had managed to arrive in time, just as he witnessed Petir being the mutual target due to his interference. But unlike usual, he just stood there, frozen like a statue as the bullets came flying down.
The saviour of the day was Cahaya, who obliterated the bullets before they could hit Petir. The lightning melee seemed surprised at their debut, but said nothing more. Perhaps even harbouring disappointment at his foiled suicidal attempt.
Tanah had chided him out for being so absent-minded, but what he didn't realize in the past was Petir's mental state was worse than he had presumed. Yet he had actively ignored it, forcing partnership as if he was a toddler. Not only did he harm Petir indirectly, he had turned a blind eye against his sudden abnormal attitude in battles.
What could he say?
He's a failure of a leader.
* * *
"I can't summon Halilintar," Gempa forced through. "We had him eradicated. Deleted. Thrown off the face of existence. Is there any other way? Even if we could, is there a safer way?"
Solar glared straight into Gempa's eyes. "It's the only way. There's no method to extract a form permanently. It's either you directed the energy somewhere else or you just forced him back, and only a certain trigger can reactivate it. The second factor might be the key, but we just need to find the trigger."
"He's Anger, right?" Blaze said. "Well, making him angry doesn't work. I tried it and it failed miserably."
His elemental equivalents turned to him, expressions equally bamboozled. Leave it up to the prankster to agitate everyone and live.
"I know you said Halilintar was created first," Solar started. "But from what? Anger? You said he turned into a, quote on quote, 'mindless drone.' What does that mean? What actually happened?"
Blaze faced Gempa, align with Solar. It was the history lesson that Gempa would never share, no matter how desperate or curious they were. Heck, even Thorn attempted to pry some sort of information from him, but a rock is a rock, he wouldn't budge one bit.
The golden-eyed elemental sighed in defeat. There was no choice anymore. He explained everything to them. How they were in a small task to deliver cocoa and how Petir was abducted by Adu-du. Other than that, they had no coverage on what actually occurred behind closed doors. After a brief search of the island led by Yaya and Ying—who were now captains of TAPOPS alongside with their predecessor Boboiboy, his best friend Gopal and the alien Fang—there was no avail. Halilintar soon returned, but with a task to murder them.
The two listened intensively, eyebrows arching at the mention of the name Adu-du. The alien had been specially infuriating at the worst timings. There was a turn where they were settling in for a movie night with chocolate, popcorn and other fluffy stuff but Adu-du busted in, then promptly got blasted out the house by Gempa with a chair.
But knowing such a weak alien managing to kidnap Petir? That gave them a new spectrum regarding Adu-du's impression. Knowing him, whatever he did to Petir back then wouldn't be too lethal and will most likely involve whip cream and pure stupidity. Thorn would be smarter than him by a mile in his sleep.
Blaze raised a finger, but he was rendered speechless.
"But to activate it, won't it require Petir being actually awake?" Gempa pointed out.
Solar looked down. "I don't know. So far, the only person who's linked to all our powers and mindsets is Boboiboy. But as far as I'm concerned, he's somewhere on the other side of space."
"... can we call him?" Blaze suggested.
"Don't you think I tried?" Gempa snapped. "I did. Tens and hundreds of times. Wherever he is, there's no reception!"
"I'll try to study his condition," Solar murmurs. "Thanks to Retak'ka, I managed to uncover more secrets about the elemental powers than I can read."
He left the cafeteria and returned to the library, where the others swear that he was nesting in there. An exaggerated claim but an accurate representation of his behaviour.
"There's nothing we can do, Gem," Blaze whispered. "We can't do anything."
* * *
The light outside scattered into the infirmary like silver droplets. Gempa could barely keep count of the time he spent by Petir's side, holding his hands and crying on his bed in regret.
He could barely think anymore. His mind was occupied by all the moments he shared with Petir, from their young selves to the present. They started out as a trio, without a care in the world. As time progresses and they grew older, they began to drift apart. The true rift was created when they accepted new additions into the team, starting with Blaze, then Ais, and the rest. Taufan hung out with his troublemaker trio, Gempa spent his time with Ais and Solar, while Petir turned his back on everyone.
How foolish of him to even think that Petir would be fine. How stupid of him to think that it was for his own good. Why can't he just open his damn eyes and see how Petir really felt?
Please
Don't take his sunshine from him
Gempa sat on the front porch, the morning sun greeting him along with a warmth of the wind brushing on his face. His golden eyes reflected the day breaker clouds, displaying a colour of pale gold and liquid silver.
He laced his hands around a crimson cap, feeling the untouched fabric on his skin. The scarlet crest had long faded into black, the streaks reduced to grey.
But he was still here.
Petir was here with him.
Just... not the way he intended it to be.
Hiding a smile, he placed the cap on the grass, ruffling against flowers and flora alike. He turned towards the house, allowing a faint smile to play on his lips.
A destroyed house greeted him, along with the crimson figure who wielded a blood red blade. He glared straight at Gempa, red eyes flashing murder. His bushy hair ruffled in the wind, his expression blank but deathly.
"What does Adu-du want this time, huh?"