Boboiboy L/S: A Loophole in Time (BOOK 2)

Vanishing People

Where could the others be this early in the morning? He tried to look for clues in the house but then stopped when he was investigating under the sofa: voices were coming from outside, and it pretty much sounded like a whimper of Gopal's whenever he was scared.

"...you don't mean Starlix, the capital of Quakeland?"

He tip-toed over to the curtains, making a small gap where he could see through it. The outline of his friends and brother were just nearly visible.

Fang hushed, looking around nervously as though a tiger might pounce at him any moment. "Not so loud!"

"There's only one Starlix in existence, Gopal," said the annoyed voice of Ying's. 

What is it that they had to do with Starlix? Why were they avoiding him? Boboiboy's strained his ears even more to hear the conversation, which had suddenly became softer. 

"What's the matter with it?" Yaya whispered through the darkness.

"You'll see later, and you won't like it." Fang said sourly. 

So they were going on a mission without him? Pretty tough, huh. He supposed Astor still didn't want him out of the house yet, but his body couldn't help but itch with the feeling of wanting to go. What if something similar happens to any of them that happened to Yaya? Sure Astor can heal them, but there still could be other things that can harm them. It wouldn't be his fault if they returned in pieces, but it will his fault if he didn't bother to go and help.

He sighed. At least this time Alxebot isn't here to stop him from leaving, and he better quickly leave before he finish recharging. So, after a hurried change into his hero uniform (an orange jacket over a warm, short-sleeved shirt paired with blue jeans and matched with his orange cap), he hurried into the backyard. 

"OK, GPS, please do your work," he begged his phone, since he was unsure the exact location of Starlix. The sky was now steadily growing brighter, and he knew he was wasting time. He had to reach there in the fastest way possible: by using his Light Soul form.

***

Starlix, Quakeland. Ever wondered how it's like? From what Boboiboy heard, it had been the most highly populated city in all of Quakeland. But the point is that it had been. There isn't a single person in sight and the city looked as though its entire population had suddenly disappeared. He had investigated an abandoned restaurant to find that food was still left on tables, as though somebody invisible was about to eat. The road was flooding with cars that didn't move even though the traffic lights shone green.

He had been starting to grow worried since the past fifteen minutes. His heart kept on leaping whenever he turned a corner that revealed somewhere wider, expecting to see maybe a member of the Super Six, but everywhere was nearly as the deserted as the last. Now that he thought of it, Starlix was huge: they could be anywhere. But he couldn't turn back now, not when they could be positively close to him. 

What more, he felt that something was tailing him. He kept on shooting furtive looks over his shoulder, trying to catch a glance of whatever that is following him. 

As minutes wore on into hours, he still wasn't able to find a member of the Super Six. His legs were starting to wobble and the deserted city isn't helping to lift his mood at all. The depressed state of his surroundings were threatening to engulf him. And just when he was going to cross a street, he finally found a human being, standing right across the road.

"Hey!" Boboiboy shouted hoarsely, his voice cracking due to the lack of use.

The person raised their head slightly, but Boboiboy can't tell if they were looking at him, but, as there were nobody around, he had taken that the person or whatever, was directing their attention at him. 

Boboiboy ran across the road, approaching the person wrapped in a black cloak which rippled in an eerie wind that cannot be felt. They still kept silent when Boboiboy reached them.

"Hey, do you know what happened to the people here, by any chance?"

The person did not reply. Boboiboy smiled helplessly at them.

After a moment passed, Boboiboy spoke again, "Excuse me?" 

Still, they did not speak. Boboiboy sighed, making to turn around. But before he had taken more than just a few steps, something whizzed by his left ear, narrowly missing him. Boboiboy froze, turning shakily to look back at the person, but there was no person.

Instead, a black shadow appeared above his head, where he could make out a rose red face contorted with fury glaring at him. 

"What the-"

The person brandished a rose red bow and arrow from their back, and drew the arrow back. She released the arrow, and it flew through the air, as swift as a bullet. She repeated the action non-stop, so that the sky was suddenly raining arrows. Boboiboy was still having his eyes on it as it came soaring to him, in case it decided to change course, but then, half-way, it disappeared. 

Boboiboy stumbled with the shock, yelping, and heard the splintering of many wood beside him. The arrows didn't disappear, they turned invisible. A sudden thought struck him.

"You!"

The person landed weightlessly on the opposite street, where they stood a minute ago, their cloak falling back into place. 

"You were the one whom hurt Yaya!" he screamed, his voice shaking with the shock given.

"Alas," a whisper that sent a shiver down his spine said. "Who else would it be, if it weren't me?"

Boboiboy stood dumbfounded, as the figure reached out two glowing rose red hands to remove their cloak. Boboiboy gasped at the look of the person, she reminded him a lot of Astor: glowing rose red, but with shoulder-length hair and a fixed glare that showed the utmost look of anger and disgust. 

"It is I, Aspen. I have come for my revenge, Dragintar."

A/N: Aspen is not a character of mine. It is owned by Winter_Lim.