<<<>>>
"I can explain~"
"Yes, BoBoiBoy," I growl, my arms crossed over my chest. "You sure have a lot of explaining to do!"
The noon sunlight shines behind the two now-identical boys, shimmering on them like some spiritual sunsets. At this point of view, I know how one of them is speaking. I just can't tell who. Light or no light, I won't be able to tell if the real BoBoiBoy is speaking anyway.
When one of them begins to speak in a much different tone, (a more thunderous tone) my hands tighten, coursing through the power of my gravity. "Please don't hurt me..." the one BoBoiBoy says. Both of them take off their caps in unison. And the contrast is distinct. One with that stark white streak, the other without.
I glare at the one at the left. The madman. "IT'S YOU!" I yelp, harnessing the pull over at him. It brings him down the very instant I let my fingernails grip unto my palm.
I watch his knees bend to the ground over a loud thud. It's still strange to see it. One BoBoiBoy fine as he stands beside his menacing clone, being dragged to the ground by my power. Tok Aba and BoBoiBoy watch him sink into the maple wood flooring with nothing else but the force and my mercy. I only dither over BoBoiBoy's sudden voice. "No, Yaya! Stop! He's a friend now...!"
"I'm sorry, BoBoiBoy...But I can only manage to do this!" I shout over the reverse's painful grunting, his arms planted on the ground perpendicular to the rest of his body. I watch him struggle to maintain balance, but I shift my energy stronger.
Footsteps tread behind my ears, ones belonging to BoBoiBoy's 'parents', emerging from what I assume is the kitchen. "What is going on here?" Uncle goes.
I don't look over my shoulder to know Auntie is starting to shake. "Wait, are you~?"
I speak over my power. "Auntie, it's okay. I can handle this...He's completely harmless like this..."
BoBoiBoy screams, "He is harmless! No one gets hurt if you just let me explain...please!"
His words bounce into my eardrums, a plea asking me (us) to listen to his unbelievable explanation to this unbelievable situation. The entire game of listening to a friend or pursuing a tormenting torture unto a demon is troubling at best. My hairs stand on edge, acknowledging the fact letting go would possibly mean sending an evil free even for just one second into this world. Whatever explanation BoBoiBoy has on hand, he could still betray, he can attack, he can run off our grasp. Yet his face continues to tease me, showing me what BoBoiBoy could possibly look like under my mercy.
My mind begs me, Listen to BoBoiBoy. He's your friend.
He won't hurt you.
Tok Aba, Uncle, Auntie, and BoBoiBoy watch me loosen my grip on the ground to let him go. I can only imagine their astounded faces on my decision. Still, I've pacified the enemy just enough for him to not go anywhere. I watch as BoBoiBoy aids him to get up and for a second there, I don't regret listening to him.
BoBoiBoy pants, introducing us. "Guys...it's okay...this is Ree..."
Oh, great. He's given the bastard a name. Perfect.
His father doesn't take long to scowl. I understand how a mere introduction could be a waste of time for a situation of war. "You said you'd explain why he's here?"
"Yes," BoBoiBoy replies.
"I'd want to hear it," Auntie urges him on.
And so we do.
.
The story takes him straight to the point, and it does the trick. He doesn't flounder around with details he's not obliged to tell. Under a span of ten minutes or twenty of storytelling, we begin to understand why he never answered any of our good morning calls and why he kept his door locked shut.
He snuck out last night to begin with.
Ree (what a strange name) clarifies some details from his own bedamned mouth. "I knew where he was from the very beginning. It's common knowledge, a person in seek of refuge always evacuates to his place of origin. Ultimately meaning you could be in Earth." Smart guy, just like BoBoiBoy. "I just never told Master-the Emperor that..."
"Why?" Uncle interrogates.
"Because I wanted to see for myself what made this...other version of me so worthy of the death the Emperor brainwashed me to remember. I want to clearly know what this man has done to deserve a kill from me. I want to know, why his friends begged for him, cried for him, fought for him, if the Emperor told me he's a piece of trash. And I wanted to learn all that without his bickering voice telling me what to do."
How is this story so understandable, but so doubtful at the same time?
BoBoiBoy pushes the story onward. "So he asked me to meet him, a few nights after the...big introduction. I honestly hesitated at first but then I thought, If I can meet him just this once, I can end this war altogether."
"There was truly something in BoBoiBoy he learned that I never did," Ree continues. "We share no memories. Only our personalities, likeness, interests, and identity remain the same. It was last night he came to me-or rather I came to him coincidentally. So I never knew what friends were. I never really understood how the concept of a team and a family really worked. All I was brewed up to do was to kill my identical, and replace him for the balance of the universe, but I never grew up to know the truth behind the Emperor's lies."
"How cliche," I can't help but bite back. "You only sought redemption because you didn't know what it was like to have friends?"
"No. I sought redemption because of the lies I now refuse to be fed with~"
"Liar. Trickster..."
Ree puts his elbows over his knees to sit, glaring straight into my eyes with a nightmarish glance. "Yaya, you can take one good look at me like you really mean it and know I can't be lying to you."
The worst part of hearing that statement is knowing how painfully true it is. I can only do to look at him, how he stands so identical to boy I knew for eight years.
To the boy I loved for eight years.
My lips crescent at my statement. "You...are not lying to me..."
A strange conclusion I've indeed brought. It rattles Uncle and Auntie with confusion, but I stick to my word. Those eyes have no contrast to the true eyes I knew for so long.
He isn't lying.
We're in the middle of the conversation when the doorbell rings again. The entire scene turns dangerous in a snap. All of us are here in one room. And at this battle, this simple get together is hazardous at most.
We all pray whoever is outside, doesn't have any connection to the Emperor.
Tok Aba rises to get the door once more, letting us hide (if we could.) "I'll get it..." he mumbles.
Tok Aba opens the door. Fang is seen behind it, sweating. "He knows-They got him-We're done for~"
The words sprinkle off my lips quicker than I thought possible. "What?"
"The Emperor...He managed...to get to...the-He took...He...just..." he huffs, his voice cracking. "Captain..."
I fear the words coming out of his mouth next. Is gone.
"He...he interrogated him to your location...in exchange...of me..." I watch him scoff, shaking his head in a matter still to comprehend. "Of course, he damn chose me. BoBoiBoy-I'm really sorry...for this..."
"No, Fang...I'm sorry...for you...and Captain Kaizo..."
"I'm really sorry, BoBoiBoy..." This might be the first time I almost hear Fang cry. "I led him to you..."
"It's-It's fine, Fang. Relax-I mean-I'm sorry...for everything..."
It's almost as if my spirit stumbles into the floor, morbidly imagining how many people might've tried to protect Fang's older brother, how much people sacrificed their lives for the boy in the very room. How much casualties there may have been for the past twenty-four hours.
I eye at Fang's darkening eyes. I feel how everything in his shadowy soul is present now. The anger, the hatred, the vengeance, the pain, the sadness I've grown to not see in him.
Everything grows to freeze above me, but my toes tremble over the fear of what may happen next, harmonizing as if with the imaginary crumbling sounds of the ceiling, the rippling water in one of the vases yet to be filled with flowers. The rattle of the world coordinates with the devastation.
But the ground continues to quiver over the events we're facing, lurching us back into materiality. "He's...he could be here..."
.
Damn the rules, we proceed to exit BoBoiBoy's house anyways.
Smoke emerges from city square, dusting the sky with opacity we can't seem to see through. We push ourselves towards the danger, me, BoBoiBoy, Ree, BoBoiBoy's 'parents', and Fang ourselves, him being driven by his own bloodlust and retaliation.
Minutes ago we urged Tok Aba to stay at home, and have Ochobot with us, with my spine chilling with the intensity of everything ahead. That very moment, I already knew something was wrong.
<<<>>>
I was right...
<<<>>>
To our luck, the dust sweeps along the circumference of the area, wiping the crisp blue sky off of its filth, unveiling the monstrous Atata Tigan mother ship beneath. Humongous as it is, it blocks almost seventy percent of the airspace above us. The loud purr of the engine drowns out most of the outdoor noise. I look back to find every citizen rushing back into their households, clearing themselves off of the commotion. A wise move, because everything will turn dirty.
My powerband ringing, however, softly hums into earshot, taking dominance into my ears before any other noise around. Damn the rules as well. I take the call, all I see is Ying. "Yaya! Where are you?! Help!"
<<<>>>
A lot of things did go wrong that day...
<<<>>>
"YING!!!"
The ships engine dies down the very moment I scream. Steam surfaces against the creases of the ship's lower wall, it's drawing doors beholding the ship's glory outside and within. The Emperor turns up shortly after, crystallizing before me, with a tall, lean guard right behind his heel, his armor, jet black with a figure of yellow and blue being dragged by his hand. "Looking for her...?" the Emperor smirks, swerving his hands towards the female hostage.
Fang becomes the first to yelp before I can swallow my shocked breathe. "Ying, no!"
"I'm sorry, BoBoiBoy, 8-0..." he simpers, ascertaining the two clones in our midst. "But this...! This is betrayal! You knew the rules, Mister Fang. I extinguish your friend and your brother with no hindrance at all, in exchange of the life your brother so chose for you."
"MY BROTHER WAS OUT OF THE QUESTION!!!"
"THERE IS NO QUESTION...when I am in-charge! And as long as you keep altering our deal and contract, I am afraid I will pursue to hit you where it really hurts, starting with girlfriend, then you," the Emperor yells.
I damn the rules again, reaching back to my powerband, shamelessly seeking for back-up. I dial the number into the holographic tabs. The message records, hopefully crystalline to the sender. "Gopal! It's me! Where are you?! We need help! Now!" I shout, before the screen goes static.
We're on our own.
"Say goodbye while you still can, sweetheart," the Emperor leers at Ying.
"Fang..." she whimpers from afar.
Fang charges almost immediately to her voice, hissing, sonic-speed. "Get away from her, you animal!"
The Emperor only lowly looks at Fang here on the ground, mumbling inaudible words I can only manage to read at his lips. At a pause, the guard swings his arm in a brutal manner, tossing Ying off to the side of the ship, then out into a brick wall, causing her to groan and pin against it.
I blankly gape at her there, unconscious, close to death, frozen...as me.
"YING, PLEASE! NO!"
"Your turn, Raven boy," the Emperor croons, snapping his fingers up, signaling the guard to victim Fang next with his lashing power.
I believe it was BoBoiBoy who won't be able to take yet another torturous sight in front of him. "Ree! Get him out of here! I can take Yaya from here! Take him somewhere safe! We have this under control!!!"
I think I hear the Emperor quip back at BoBoiBoy's statement, Are you sure about that, boy?
I wish I could've told him Gopal was coming too.
<<<>>>
This was all my fault...
<<<>>>
"NO! I'M NOT LEAVING WITHOUT YING! YOU CAN'T TAKE ME ANYWHERE!" Fang debates.
The Emperor decides to intrude to speak. "Of course he can't take you anywhere! He has a debt to pay me..." He faces Ree.
Ree bites back like a cannibal. "I HAVE NO DEBT TO PAY TO YOU, MONSTER!"
"But I raised you..."
"You brainwashed me!!!"
I stand with BoBoiBoy prompting himself up. "Mom, Dad! Get out of here! Ree, Fang! You too! Listen to orders! Things are going to get messy! BoBoiBoy Su~!"
I don't hear what he says. All I see...is Gopal running into scene. I see Fang yelling, debating to leave from Ying's side. I feel a wave of energy spreading steadfast, draining us. From our powers. I see Gopal running to our aid. BoBoiBoy screaming. For Me.
I'm being thrown off to the side of the road.
The last thing I remember seeing before all this...is BoBoiBoy averting his eyes out of the next attack set for him.
.
The blur of the city skyline brims my eyesight, all the ash and smoke clouding and tinting everything in front gray and hints of deep black. The fatigue drains out the last of us, having been beaten up as if to death.
.
Three. Years. I never thought we'll be in the very same spot again.
.
"Might as well end this war...with the Man of Fume..."
.
I can hear screams...
Of his name.
BoBoiBoy's name...
.
Then there's BoBoiBoy's father...
And BoBoiBoy...lying on the ground...
Black blood.
.
Don't you dare die on us, I beg him from afar.
Don't...Don't...
No. This isn't happening...
<<<>>>
The crumpled letter lies in my grasp as my grip on it slowly loosens to my ongoing tears.
I was right. A lot of things did go wrong that day. This was all my fault. I endangered everyone. Especially you, BoBoiBoy.
.
My cries have put me on edge for hours, I reckon. But the comfort encloses me in what seems to be one lucid dream. My eyes burn hot from the tears, yet I feel my body horizontal to cool ground. The solace is unmistakable, and I wonder where the hell I am.
My eyes blink into the surroundings. Almost everything flushes in one pink hue. The sky seems rosy and the grass—This can't be grass.
Flower petals seeming to be those belonging to a cherry blossom permeate the ground below. No grass or soil can be seen at a sweep of my hand. It's all petals, but I don't seem to sink through to the bottom. The blooming colors flurry before my eyes, winding down like a swirl of roses. My eyes are lured by one sakura tree, lone and standing in the middle of this mysteriously peaceful den. It blooms towards the void above, thick and colossal, yet a beautiful sight.
I take myself up to sit, watching the beautiful paradise around me stir into a confusing and astounding show of colors.
I start to wonder where I am and what I'm doing here.
The soft blow of the wind gusts from behind, slightly blasting my back with the coolest touch. Among the breeze, the voice tickles me from behind. "Yaya..."
The familiar voice calls me, as if a reflex pulling my shoulders back to see him. BoBoiBoy stands there across the field of pink, his stance steady and straight, his smile conspicuous even from afar. His clothes are the ones he was clad in as I remember. The orange vest, the black shirt, the blue jeans, the cap. Everything remains in place.
Is this even real?
The petals rain down ever so slowly on us, he's only a short...ten meters away. All of this feels like a fairy tale now, telling the story of I, the princess, watching as her lost prince returns as if like an apparition before her. His presence feels so unreal, like a phantom within grasp. I step closer as I see him, never withering, never dying, never going, never fading.
How all of this is a dream is nowhere in my consciousness. In this world, he lives, he stands, he breathes, he smiles. All that is enough for me. But for now, I slowly sigh, all to not jinx this all. He's here to stay. At least for the littlest while.
My step doesn't make him go back. He's five feet away now.
Four feet.
Three.
Two.
One.
His smile still never wavers, his glance at me never diverting. I see the emotions in him now. So surreal, believable, sparkling like a diamond soul. It's a beauty in my midst, a glory I've been missing ever so long. I chuckle at the sight of him. I feel myself mutter...
You're real.
This isn't Ree. This is BoBoiBoy. I can feel it.
He takes off his cap. His white streak shows.
For one damned reason, I slap him (yet again) and immediately regret it after. Still, I don't show it. "Oh my God, you're real...!"
I don't get reminded of how he looks so much like BoBoiBoy when he laughs at my amazement. Because this is BoBoiBoy. "I can't believe you don't believe this is all real. I can't believe how you still think I'm going to die."
My mind takes me far back into the memories of me in Dad's car, writing that darn letter, crying to my heart's silly content. How foolish I am.
Look at him, Yaya. He's alive.
"You won't die?"
"Why would I?" he smiles. "I'll always stay here," he points straight to my chest. "In your heart...In your hearts. All of you in the team. How could you think I'll be completely gone?"
His soothing words become a steel feather, a comfort at first, turning into a burden. A plight. The statement shoots at me hard, stunned by the reply I was not expecting to get from him. He makes them sound so worry-free, he sure has one fine talent of bending sharp words into one appeasing cushion. But his eyes can't seem to synchronize with his fooling talents. They scream a million truths. He won't fool me.
How can he be so beautifully unfair?
As much as I want to throw back yet another tantrum at him, I fight my tongue, arguing to change subject. This is all a lucid dream. I believe this all won't last long. "I...still can't believe all this..."
But one thing I believe: him leaning towards my cheek to give a slight smooch.
"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!'
"Believe me, I've been in your head the past few days, and I know you wouldn't want to die without me doing that to you."
I let him free this once, I can't find a reason to scold him anyway. Then for some queer reason, I cry.
"Why, what's wrong?" I hear BoBoiBoy whisper.
I can't find an answer to this eccentricity. Is this love? Sadness? Absolute confusion? I believe the latter.
My teary eyes look up to see him and his sweet smile. "Look, Yaya. I'm so, so sorry. I'm sorry if I hurt you all," he breathes softly, pulling me to his arm's reach like to caress me. "I'm sorry if I made you worry over me, I'm sorry if I made you wait. I'm sorry if...I'm so selfish."
I peer into his tender countenance. It's amazing how he looks so apologetic without even trying. "Selfish?" I pull back the hug for a while. "Why in the world would you call yourself selfish?"
Seconds after, his hand carefully clutches to his chest, his face quickly faltering into one pained expression. I watch him stumble gradually into his knees.
"BoBoiBoy? Is everything alright?"
He pants in front of me, I pull his hands off his chest steadily. His palms shake and sweat. With fear? Pain? Nervousness? Anxiety? I can't say. But the answer lies at the area. The very spot where I remember he got shot. That very area, tinting his vest in dreadful black.
"Oh my God! No, let me help you~!"
"No, it's okay," he purrs, waving my aid off. "Just...let it be."
He is way too confusing at times. "Why in the world would I?"
"This is why I'm selfish, Yaya. You may not understand at first, but...this is how it's all going to conclude. I'm not sure if you heard the doctor, but he said how...how I'm failing. I failing to recuperate. You know, all people have some limit or something. Including me.
"I'm sorry, Yaya. It just...hurts now. I'm sorry...I know you told me to keep fighting, trust me, I've tried, but...my life just puts all of us into danger. The Emperor was right. I just cause people to die just by living. Believe me, I've certainly tried fighting it, I know how you call me strong a lot of times, but...I can feel it now. Rather, I can't. No more power, no more strength. I can't believe I'm saying this, but, I think this is where we stop. Or...I stop," he finishes, with one more drawing breath in conclusion.
I shake my head in disbelief, making short chuckles along with it. "No...This can't be," I stammer. "This is...unfair...! You can't give up like this! Not now when we need you!"
To my dismay, his face doesn't soften anymore. He's hard as stone, unchangeable, dull, empty, stiff. "I'm really sorry, Yaya..."
"No—You're not...You're not sorry...If you are sorry...YOU WOULDN'T DO THIS!" I sob. "You're not the BoBoiBoy I remember."
I can't take this dream anymore.
I want to wake up.
I want him to wake up when I return.
He will.
"You know what, I'll just walk away now," I stammer. "Yeah! I'll walk away...I'll walk away, out of here, and when I get up from this stupid dream, this encounter won't be real anymore. I'll wake, you'll wake, you'll come back, safe and sound—Mark my words!"
It suddenly feels so hard to let go. But I force myself to. It's for his sake anyway.
I turn back, my tears beginning to choke me off my words. "I'M WALKING AWAY NOW~!"
"No...No, don't...Please don't..." I hear him run to me for that bone-crushing hug. "Don't...abandon...me..."
"But...But you're abandoning us too...aren't you?"
He turns me to face him, his soft hands caressing both my cheeks, making me look at him. I feel our foreheads touch as I cry with my eyes closed shut. "I'm sorry, Yaya...But...I have...to go...
"I hope you understand."
Our tears trail down our cheeks together, for once, in sync with our emotions. The feeling suddenly becomes odd again. A relieving sadness, a soothing depression, a releasing tension.
How does this all make this feel it's certainly over?
I gather up my courage to look at him at his brown eyes, his close, brown eyes, before he signals he needs to leave.
So unfair.
He looks at me with all genuine things I can't bother to read. I only listen to his last words. "Yaya, if I look back and wave, I'll stay. But if I don't, please...let me go."
Let him go if he needs to, Yaya...Let him go.
"I...love you...BoBoiBoy..."
He smiles with tears in his eyes. "Thank you."
I close my eyes, not wanting to see his last face for me. I feel him pulling away. I wait three seconds before I open my eyes to see his back, his feet taking him away from me and into the oblivious light down yonder. It glows orange, brightening his silhouette.
He continues walking away.
He walks.
And walks...before waving his hand.
He waved his hand, yet never bothered to look back.
The tears come way faster. "Dear BoBoiBoy," I whisper to the wind. "If you hear this...please...go...
"...for I set you free..."
.
I open my eyes to find myself in the car again, the doors swung open, and Ying there, waking me up. "Yaya...Yaya, wake up. You need to see him."
.
My walk to the operating room goes steady, with me anticipating what's about to happen. I don't tell Ying, Gopal, Fang, Ochobot, or even his parents of the dream. I never told them of BoBoiBoy's final goodbye. I think it's better not to tell them, I decide in my head. It becomes strange, how I used to cry day and night for BoBoiBoy. Now I'm emotionless, if not, slightly enlightened. While they sit devastated at the nearby chairs over BoBoiBoy's incoming death.
I enter a dim room, with a wide window overseeing the disturbing area on the other side. The window to the operating room doesn't seem like a bothersome design to the entire place whatsoever. If anything, I could be thankful for it. My eyes glaze over BoBoiBoy's body again. "He's being defibrillated. That's their last resort." Ying fights back a tear. "They say if this doesn't work, he'll be gone.
"Uncle and Auntie don't want to watch this, neither does anyone else. I just thought...maybe you did."
I don't enjoy it, but it serves as a final conclusion.
The muffled voices of the doctors roar through the glass. "1...2...3...Clear!"
"Clear!"
"Clear!!!"
My eyes look at BoBoiBoy's finger. It twitches once.
Once.