Chapter Text
“So does he have to listen to you droning on inside his head all the time?”
The fire from their makeshift camp casted dancing shadows against the yellowed walls. They were tucked away inside the third floor of some abandoned building, the window facing the starless night sky. Two moons peeked out against the vast expanse of darkness, but the light pollution from the city below diluted any other traces of celestial bodies.
“Pfft, of course not. Or else he wouldn’t have to make so many bad decisions.” The voice that responded was snarky, but carries a playful tone.
“Wow, lucky him.”
The voice in his head let out a small tch, and despite not seeing the other’s face, Sai could feel that he had rolled his eyes.
Ever since he inherited part of the elementals’ power, Sai had to deal with an extra consciousness in his head. Which he had found initially odd, because their original owner doesn’t seem to be bothered or even acknowledged these voices. Either they were really quiet in his head, or he had been repressing them. Which would be impressive considering the fact that he used to have seven.
It has only been a few days since Ochobot had given him and his sister the fire and lightning elemental. They were still getting used to the sensation, the feeling of something coursing through their veins. His sister had fared really well, since she had seemed to get the quieter one. Meanwhile, he was stuck with the one who would constantly give unsolicited comments along their journey like a built-in yapper machine.
Thankfully, the new guest doesn’t seem to be fully able to read his mind, or else he would definitely reprimand him for that thought.
“...I wouldn’t say he’s all that lucky.” The voice spoke up again after a short moment of silence. No doubt he was about to give a quick retort to the last comment before deciding not to.
“Well, he doesn’t seem to suffer from having a disembodied voice, or voices, every waking hour.” He rearranged the sticks poking out from the small fire, its chemical compound creating a steady blue flame. It was different from the fires he could summon, giving it a more subtle glow against the white moonlight.
“That’s because there were too many of us.” The voice replied. “A single body does not have the mental capacity to handle more than two consciousness at once, so we were muted. Suppressed, even.”
“Huh, didn’t expect you to know such big words.”
“You watch your mouth. I can cook you from the inside out.”
They both know that wasn’t true, as the elementals have limited control over their hosts in this state. But there are still things he does not know about them, such as how they even work in the first place.
He didn’t initially agree with this arrangement, as the whole reason they defected from TAPOPS was so that the powers would not be freely used by others. Ever since he and Shielda found out about the suppression mode they implemented in some power spheres to reign them into submission, he had believed that they should not ever use such unfathomable power for their personal gains. Especially without the consent of those involved.
But Ochobot had insisted that the elementals had wished to work with them, this time by their own wishes. He does not ask about how it happened with Boboiboy, and whether they had a choice then, but he’d rather keep that question for another day.
It seemed that his companion could feel his curiosity, as he could feel the elemental sighed in contemplation.
“We couldn’t communicate with him directly, and even in his split forms, we merely influenced his active emotions. His actions were all him.”
“Fair enough. There’s definitely at least one of you with some common sense.”
“Right? I mean what was he thinking-”
“I didn’t mean you though.”
He stuck out his tongue at nobody in particular, but knows that the elemental could sense it. “You little- when I get outta here, I’m actually gonna throw you into a volcano for real!”
This was the version Sai had first met, contrary to the seriousness of when they have to address their current situation. He quite preferred it that way.
Most people would assume that Sai was not one to joke around, and he would have agreed with them then, but ever since they left the military he found no use in keeping up appearances. He wanted people to take him seriously, to be seen as someone dependable; but it was no longer necessary now.
With no title to his name and no badge to gain, he might as well drop the act. The absence of their position made him realise how tiring it was to pretend he was some stone-faced warrior, and despite having to be on the run, he can’t help but feel relieved.
Looking at his sister, asleep on the other side of the room with an also dozing Ochobot in her arms, he wondered if she had also felt the same. Shielda had been more talkative as well lately, evident by how she was able to bond with the robot in her arms so quickly compared to how she was at TAPOPS.
His emotions must have been flooding out into the night, as the fire in front of him seemed to dim and fizzle. He hadn’t realised how quiet the voice had been, as if it had also been listening to his thoughts. He hoped that was not really the case; he wasn’t ready to be all that vulnerable to someone else yet.
“You feel… cold.”
“If you’re talking about the temperature, then yes I am. I think we need more fuel.”
“No, the fire is responding to you, since you… we are in its vicinity.”
Sai scratched the side of his head in frustration. He doesn’t know how exactly to stop feeling something, since he tends to merely suppress it. It usually doesn’t affect anything, but with the cold wind blowing through the broken window and the fire getting smaller, he can feel his body starting to shiver.
He tried to re-ignite the fire, but it only sparked slightly before settling on a constant, azure-blue glow.
“Can’t you do something about it?” He inquired the voice.
“I already told you, I can’t control how it works. You either get your head out of that gutter or suffer in the cold.”
“And here I thought you’re all-powerful. How omnipotent of you, Calcifer.”
“Just who the heck is Calcifer?!”
Truthfully, Sai doesn’t actually know either. He merely had overheard Fang calling Boboiboy that name during one of their missions, and when he asked about it, the red-eyed alien merely responded with ‘he’s a powerful fire demon who got reduced to a fireplace’. He doesn’t really get it, but it seemed to elicit a similar response from Boboiboy as he shouted out ‘Don’t call me that!’. Granted, he was in his fire form at the time, so it makes sense for the elemental to remember too. Although just like Sai, the context leaves a lot to be understood.
It seemed effective in riling him up though, as he followed up with “At least I don’t wallow in my misery instead of doing the fandango like Mr. Scaramouche here!”
“Now what does that even mean?!”
“I don’t know either but it sounds insulting!”
In the midst of their argument, they haven’t noticed the fire increasing in size, this time the flames being halfway to the ceiling. Shielda awoke in the commotion, only to be met with her brother arguing with the wall. In most situations, most people would call him crazy, but she knew better.
Ochobot doesn’t seem to be roused by the noise, his small metallic body emitting a soft purr, but as her own consciousness slipped back into reality, so does the adjacent voice in her head similar to her brother’s starting to resurface.
“Now what is it this time?”
A deep and alluring voice flowed through her senses, and she could feel a tingle in the air.
“Who knows. I’m sorta curious though.” Shielda yawned, as she carefully maneuvered her position so as to not wake up the power sphere in her arms.
She sat up and stretched her arms, the blue fire becoming violent as the fight in front of her got more animated.
“Let’s see how you feel when I’ll hurl myself into the ocean! You’ll be begging me to get out because I can stay in there for hours!”
“Oi, you can’t even hold your breath for 5 minutes.” Shielda shouted out, which prompted her brother to turn around in shock, his hand extended in a combat-ready position. “You’re lucky this building is empty, you know.” she continued, slightly amused.
“Shielda! My god, I thought that was someone else… sorry for waking you up.” he exhaled, before giving a curt “Shut up,” which was obviously directed to whatever comment he had received in his head.
She scooted over to the fire, where her brother then joined her. Now re-ignited, it has a greenish-blue colour that complements the yellow walls.
“You’re not tired?” She asked, noting how her brother seemed a little more uptight than before.
“Can’t fall asleep.” He merely responded.
“Is… he bothering you again?”
Sai heard the fire elemental scoffed. “It wasn’t him. Although he’s making it harder.”
He ignored the angry “Hey!” echoing in his mind. “Did you get a good sleep?”
“Mm, as good as we can get.”
“Your sleeping cycles got shorter,” The voice prompted, and Shielda sighed.
“What is it, Ida?”
“Um… Hali told me my sleep cycles are irregular. Must’ve been the anxiety.”
“I’d reckon sleeping on the floor doesn’t actually help either,” Her brother responded.
“I told you, the forest has better options. The grass there is thick enough to be a mattress.”
“Absolutely not. They have carnivorous plants there.”
Shielda rolled her eyes. “They’re not even that common, you’re just scared about that one time one of them nibbed your toe.”
“That’s not true!”
“That’s definitely true.”
“You shut up!”
The exchange made the young lady laugh. “Man, I wish I could hear what he’s saying.”
“What, so you both can gang up on me?”
“Yeah.”
“Yes.”
“I hate both of you.” He hid his face in his hands.
“I’m just kidding.” Shielda shifted her position so that she sat next to her brother, then leaned on him. With her back against his shoulder, he rested his head on hers.
They stayed like that in silence, before Sai voiced out, “Are we doing the right thing?”
“You’ve asked that before, and I still don’t have any new answers for you.”
“Yeah, but that was before we had… all this.” She knew exactly what he meant. The elementals.
“You want to rope them in this conversation?”
“Not like we had a choice.”
The voices had been quiet throughout, but upon realising they’ve been mentioned, Halilintar coughed. “If you’ll allow me,”
“You told me that you chose us for our intentions. Was it not the same with Boboiboy?” Shielda started.
“More or less. But our former host… has other plans. And given his circumstances, it makes sense he would want to give us away.”
Shielda relayed the response to Sai, before following up with, “Your turn.”
“Okay,” Sai rubbed his neck. “Well… I’m gonna go for it straight. Are we really doing the right thing?”
It took the fire elemental a few seconds to reply. “I can’t say a definitive answer. But, compared to staying there carrying out their dirty tasks, I think it’s good you left.”
“Dirty tasks, huh.”
“Too honest? What about this: they’re gonna keep using the power spheres as long as people condone their actions. You opposing them has caused a ripple that will no doubt shake the core of their operations.”
“Okay, stop, you sound scarier that way.”
After telling Shielda, she shrugged. “I guess he’s right. Staying isn’t so beneficial anyway.”
“But what are the ‘circumstances’ you spoke of? He didn’t give all of you away, right?” Shielda inquired again.
This time, neither of the elementals seemed eager to respond. The twins glanced at each other, seemingly realizing their silence.
“He kept the most dangerous of us,” Shielda then heard the voice say, although it seemed hesitant.
“He can’t risk giving away everyone,” was the other’s response in Sai’s head.
“Solar?” They both simultaneously muttered.
“I guess that makes sense. He told us he can’t let the others know his location. He knew we were leaving, so entrusting you to us was a sort of failsafe.” Sai deduced.
They both knew why Fang and the others weren’t with them. It was complicated for Fang, as his and his brother’s connection to Maskmana meant he was bound to TAPOPS. Giving the powers to him would be risky. As for the others… The twins were not sure why Boboiboy had left them out of it. Or rather, where they even are now.
Shielda was now sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with her brother, watching over the sleeping Ochobot. “It felt weird though. He had these powers for so long,”
“And that was why he knew when to let us go.” She heard Halilintar stutter a bit, as if reluctant to tell her something.
It seemed that Sai had gotten a similar response, as he directly asks: “It was planned all along, wasn’t it? You being with him?”
Shielda caught on the fact as the gears in her head began turning. If Boboiboy having these powers were not a mere coincidence, then it makes his motives more clearer. They didn’t want the powers being used freely, and if he had realised someone had pulled on the strings to make him inherit the elementals, then it goes against all their beliefs.
Him giving it away to the twins, who upon realising that fact also chose to leave, means that he wanted the powers to be in good hands. Hands that won’t decide the fates of others without their knowledge.
The elementals specifically asked for them, in their own words. And knowing their former host, it was the best possible outcome.
“That’s a good enough answer, I guess.” Sai resigned. “Until we get some news for him, we just have to stall their plans, right?”
“Right, until we can figure out how to stop them once and for all.”
“That’s a big goal right there. What about ‘until the power spheres gained some liberty of their own?’”
“That’s also pretty generic.” Shielda lightly tap his shoulder. “Well, the night is still long. Let’s get some sleep before we gotta move again.”
“You go ahead, I’ll keep us warm.” He watched his sister move back to her previous spot, right next to Ochobot. There are still things he wished to ask the elementals, but it was better to keep it for another day. He doesn’t want to have too much overloaded information. Speaking of which…
“I’ve been meaning to ask.” He spoke quietly so as to not let his sister hear, “What should I call you, actually? I mean, Shielda called hers by the same name Boboiboy referred them to, should I do the same?”
The uncharacteristically solemn elemental seemed to ponder over it. “I don’t have a preference. But if you want… you can call me with what sounds familiar.”
What sounds familiar… “Api it is.”
The fire in front of them seemed to spark gently. “Hm, I like that.”