Just a Weapon [Completed]

Epilogue

Cue the dramatic organ music. Cue the gasping crowd. I'm pretty sure half the people reading this had already dropped their jaws, but who's keeping count?

"How?" Thunderstorm demanded. "I look nothing like you. You can't just say that."

Kaizo shook his head. "It's not a rash assumption. I have looked into Enerbot years before, and there is proof that our father had a child on earth. We just didn't know who, but now we do."

Fang was utterly speechless and mystified.

"That means..." Fang started, "I'm not the youngest brother!"

Thunderstorm glared. "That's what you're going for? Not the fact that I'm the product of your father's mistress?"

"I am genuinely surprised you know what that means," Fang countered. "Why don't we just do a blood test, like, now."

"That's not possible," Kaizo grumbled. "Skeptolians are extremely terrified of violence. They have next to no tolerance of pain or chemicals."

"They're pushovers," Thunderstorm summarized.

Kaizo nodded.

"What about the participants? Is that why they can't stand the test?" Fang inquired.

Another nod.

"The point is, Boboiboy is our brother," Kaizo quipped. "Which means we are indirectly related to Vargoba..."

The door of the office slammed open. "I heard someone insulting this planet!"

All of them shot to their feet. Kaizo was already in a fighting stance. Thunderstorm summoned his spear. Fang conjured his panther. Standing by the door was a girl shorter than Thunderstorm, with white hair and pale yellow eyes.

"Holy fuck!" Shizuko swore, dodging a stray lightning bolt. "What is wrong with all of you?"

"Seriously?" Fang demanded. "Why are you here?"

Shizuko snorted. "I don't know. Being an asshole? How did you survive those villains? Oh! You got help!"

Kaizo's eyes narrowed. "This is the top villain? Looks like the standards have been set quite low."

"Says the guy who signed up for a modelling job to recruit people that are created for prostitution," Shizuko argued. "Besides, congrats for finding your family! I have to get home to yell at my parents!"

"Home?" Thunderstorm repeated.

"D-uh. This dumpster was where I was born." Shizuko rolled her eyes. "I'm not exactly on the nice-list."

Before she can elaborate further, she waltzed back outside like nothing had happened, apart from the twitching bodies that she stepped over.

Fang turned to his brothers. "That," he said, "was weird."

Fang and Thunderstorm left after Kaizo returned to the office to complain about his bodyguard situation.

The ride back to Earth was silent. Neither of them knew how to break the ice. This was the introvert-introvert situation all over again.

If there were any doubts of Thunderstorm's impression of Fang, it definitely surfaced now. So was that why he felt so close to Fang? Because of they had the same father?

Thunderstorm had no clue what to feel. It didn't reassure him that Fang and Kaizo were his brothers, because it only concreted the fact that he was a mistake. He wasn't meant to exist. His mother was the third wheel, a part that wasn't included in someone else's big picture. He was the product of that wrongdoing, the extra gear in a machine.

Fang shared the same doubts. Was that why he felt so protective of Boboiboy? Was that why he was so eager to help him? Compared to Kaizo, Boboiboy was like the brother he never had, and now it's the brother he had never met. Would that change his mind regarding him? No, it didn't. It just made sense to him.

Fang knew Boboiboy was hurting – he could see it in his eyes when they boarded the ship. Boboiboy avoided eye contact, as if he was guilty and ashamed. Ever since he met him, he had visibly warmed up. Maybe not Yaya and Ying kind of positive and loving, but it was a big improvement. A few months ago, Boboiboy couldn't even crack a smile or a tear or anything.

As an older brother, he had to be there for Boboiboy, but he didn't know how. They were only a few months apart. For once in his life, he could understand why Kaizo was so distant towards him. He didn't know how to express his affection and protect him at the same time, especially when it comes to occupations like the infamous Rebel Captain.

To attain Kaizo's status, Kaizo had given up his pride, his image and mostly the luxury of his family's affection. If someone were to get hold of his family through the information, Kaizo would be torn between completing the mission and saving his dear ones. Not only would it screw the mission, it would bring harm to the ones he truly cared for.

But Fang knew the pain of being ignored and neglected and treated like a stranger. He wasn't about to let Boboiboy undergo the same path as him, but it was too late. Boboiboy spent his life in solitude. Maybe sometimes with Shizuko, who had once participated in the same experiment for a few weeks before being transferred, but that girl was practically illegal to come close to any cinnamons.

"You don't have to do this alone," Fang spoke up, surprising Thunderstorm. "Brother or not, I'm still here for you."

Thunderstorm took in a raspy breath.

"Are you going to... leave?"

Fang could see the desperation and the seriousness in those words. He stopped the ship and turned the engines to a minimum. He turned his swivel chair to Boboiboy, who had deactivated his powers.

"Why would you say that?" Fang was threading on ice. One wrong move and he would fall into the frosty water.

Boboiboy hugged his knees. Fang blinked. He had never seen Boboiboy so... fragile and vulnerable. Even in planet Volkania, Boboiboy was strong and didn't waver.

"I know who my father is," Boboiboy whispered. "You said you'd help me find my father, and that's all. But now we know..."

"Are you serious?" Fang leaned over and put his hand on his shoulder. "I won't leave if you don't want me to. We're brothers, right?"

"I was right about my dad and his one-night stand," Boboiboy murmured. "I'm not even supposed to exist."

"Say that one more time, and I will strangle you," Fang warned. "You're here for a reason. Everyone does. Whatever you think, there's people who care about you. Don't push them away. Don't push me away."

Boboiboy stared at him, brown eyes lifeless. For the fact that he didn't like interaction or whatever communication, this was different.

Slowly, he nodded.

"Okay?" Fang asked hopefully.

"Okay," Boboiboy repeated. "Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"What's with your obsession with red carrot donuts? I see your search history looking for the universe's finest carrot donuts three times an hour."

"Let me tell you, they taste like heaven and they're the—"

"Nevermind." Boboiboy turned to the front. "I regret asking."

Fang shoved him. "Oh, come on!"