Phony [DISCONTINUED FOR A REBOOT]

CH 2 : Atonement

The image of air being sucked out of his friends is still burning in his memory. Their faces slowly turning blue like his own iris, and he, standing atop their beings. A jester laughing maniacally at his artwork of dark comedy.

His mind screams to stop, but his throat feels like being stuffed with butterflies. Crawling against his pharynx, wings fluttering--yearning to be freed.

In the middle of the darkness, the austere jester smiles uncannily gentle.

"You'll enjoy it soon, boy..."

Cold sweat envelops his skin when Boboiboy wakes up. He wished what he just experience was a mere dream, but he knows very well that it's not. He seriously almost killed his dearest friends.

"I'm genuinely sorry," the night breeze whispers, "they were being an obstacle, so i..."

Beliung felt the growing regret inside the boy's, it could also feel regret inside itself, as Beliung is part of the boy. Not only that, it almost gave Boboiboy the opposite of what they promised.

"Understood, i won't do it again."

"Let's take a little night walk to cheer you up for a bit, okay?"

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

This is the second time the raven haired boy felt anxious this week. Which is a lot for his standards. He sighs and pats his chest. He can still feel the burning cold sensation from yesterday. When he actually felt more fear than when facing Borara or Retak'ka.

The fact that thing wore his friend's face as it sneers more villainous than any villain worsen the whole experience.

They were luckily saved by TAPOPS crew, them barging their whole spaceship through the castle wall--Papa Zola already apologized for that. Turns out Gopal managed to contact the TAPOPS HQ before all hell goes down.

Guess that guy isn't that useless, huh?

What happens after that is a mystery for the Kokotiam gang. Fang himself woke up in the medical room at TEMPUR-A Station, only then he finds out that the rest of his friends were already sent home.

Right, you must have the same question.

How the heck did they manage to tame that insane creep?!

Well, he's about to find out as the metal door in front of him hisses open. The meeting room is revealed before the shadow-bender, including his brother conversing with Maskmana. Looking at the young soldier, Maskmana excuses himself from the room.

As the admiral passes his shoulder, Fang realizes that whatever reason his brother called his presence immediately after the 'event' is highly serious, if even Maskmana himself is physically present to meet the captain.

"Sit." His brother's voice commands, and so Fang obliges.

After a few minutes of the brothers sitting, facing each other if not for the papers that hid Kaizo's face, the older brother finally looks at Fang, "Do you know what have you done?"

Fang keeps his head hung low.

"You do realize that a team member's mistake is the leader's fault?"

"Yes, Captain."

"And you, the person who has the highest position in your group yesterday, failed to control your subordinate. Am i correct?"

"Yes, Captain."

Kaizo leans his back on his chair, he hits a stack of papers against the table, "Your team almost caused an interplanetary war,  Lance Corporal Pang." He folds his arms on his chest, "What excuse do you have for this abominable mistake?"