This Isn't Your World

Chapter 10

"Bora-ra's dead." Tanah's voice was like steel, collapsing to the metal floor in a silent room, the sound of the collision resonating in the room. "We defeated him. Three years ago."

Klamkabot inched away from Petir, in disbelief as that these three teenagers were apart of the team that had vanquished his fearful predator. His sensor's yellow light glared at Petir before him, and towards the two beside him. He didn't pick up any signs of fabrications.

A deep rumble vented from within his armour. "So it is true." He looked up to face the ceiling of the cave, devoid of warmth from the outside. "I thank you for your heroic deed."

Tanah snorted. "Don't mention it. It's not like we did it for you anyway," he snapped. "Now where's that damn laboratory?"

The power sphere wasn't fond of his bashful tone, but a deal was a deal. Turning his body around by using his six legs to coordinate himself, the limbs moved in perfect sync like a hermit. He gestured for them to follow him, but he ventured further into the darkness ahead instead.

Cahaya bit his lip. Wasn't this a dead end? Still, he followed the power sphere's guidance. If anything went wrong, they would be able to escape.

They came face to face with a cave wall, the surface uneven and jagged with rocks. Petir's expression didn't waver. Tanah rolled his eyes in indefinite annoyance.

For a group of people who could barely keep their sanity in one piece, they weren't holding up too bad. Petir was the true hero, though.

"What are we looking at?" Tanah glared at the stone ahead, as if his lethal gaze would melt them into popcorn or something.

Klamkabot rumbled in distaste. "Behind this wall is a tunnel that will lead you to your destination. I'm afraid that this is where we will part ways."

Petir nodded. She brushed her hand against the metal that created Klamkabot's face, for the first time in her life, gentle as can be.

"Thank you, Klamkabot."

The power sphere nodded. It bid them a farewell, turned around and disappeared into a portal rimmed with gold.

Cahaya crossed his arms and grinned at Petir. "You never treated me that soft before."

Petir glared and jabbed his stomach with two fingers. He yelped and collapsed backwards dramatically.

The moment they were exiting this place, Tanah's eyes are going to pop out of their sockets from his eyerolling. Will these two just focus on the damn goal at hand first? He turned his back on them and faced the wall, tracing his hand on the foreign stone.

He'd never used this power. Other than defeating the mysterious android wave, transporting them here and building a bridge, his power was nearly off limits all the time. He didn't need it. Underground fights paid gold, but even when he was ganged up against in a situation facing death, he never once used it. It was brute force and strength that brought him life, that he used to fight to survive.

The watch on his right wrist clicked, the speed remote as he seemed hesitant to unlock its power once more. He couldn't hesitate now. His sister's entire future was on the line.

Then something happened that made his heart stop.

* * *

"Come on Petir, just give me a hug." Cahaya grinned wildly, spreading his arms in a joking manner.

The electrical elemental scowled. "We're not even dating anymore."

Cahaya grasped his shirt dramatically as he feigned a sob. "Oh, the agony! The pain! Oh, painful rejection, why must you push me away?"

Petir rolled her eyes. Guess she picked that off her brother's antiques. She crossed her arms and turned towards Tanah's direction, pondering if there was something that she can help with.

It's been minutes for them, but apparently any flirtatious urge that Cahaya had was unleashed all at once now. Why at this key moment? Maybe it was due to the stress and the weight of the situation. He'd always tried to lighten the dread of the scene by joking and goofing off and the occasional mindless flirting. It was especially common during his exams, ever since they were still ten and nine years old.

"Come on. It's not like I ordered you to kill yourself or anything." Cahaya returned to his serious demeanour and jogged over to assist Tanah. Petir almost released a sigh of relief. Thank god that was over.

But then her mind switched off, like someone had shattered her consciousness with a hammer. Her eyes dulled to a stormy grey, and her body stood dead still.

Cahaya halted in his footsteps, Tanah turning as well. Both of them stared as the lightning manipulator created a scarlet sword in her hand robotically and held the blade up to her throat.

"Petir!" Tanah acted first. He shoved Cahaya aside, supposedly using him as a launchpad to gain more momentum, and tackled Petir before the electrical blade could collide with her throat. He tore her arms away from her as Cahaya pried the weapon from her reach. Her eyes were half-lidded and glossy, as if she seeing the world through a dream.

Tanah gripped her wrists. "Petir, wake up!" He shot towards the light elemental. "Turn her back! What the fuck did you do?"

Cahaya kept a level-head, and Petir didn't seem to be fighting back. His mind worked its gears and he realized that it was technically a command directed towards her.

"Petir, command cancelled!" he yelled. "Stop it!"

In a second's notice, Petir gasped and her body tensed, eyes sharpening to her usual analytic glare. She looked around in bewilderment as she tried to comprehend the fact that both her brother and her best friend was staring at her while that very brother was holding her arms as if he was apprehending a criminal.

Cahaya and Tanah's faces turned pale as a sheet of paper. If a simple, non-serious joke was able to trigger her senses into an android mode, then they were in serious trouble. Who knows how long in the future that Cahaya would get drunk enough to blurt out that they wanted children? Tanah would yeet him out of his life permanently and preferably into a volcano.

Tanah allowed Petir to stand up, but they didn't elaborate the situation to her. She suffered enough already.

The gyrokinetic glared at Cahaya. "If you don't fix this, I will end your life."

Cahaya nodded solemnly. Even if Tanah didn't lay down his threats, he'd probably do it himself first.

Petir, hang on a little longer.

Tanah grunted as he returned to the position he previously had been standing on. His watch clicked, and the light emitted was brighter than before. He now had resolve and purpose to activate his monstrous abilities—to protect Petir.

His fist collided with the ground. The wall collapsed, revealing a passageway to another haven on the other side.

Cahaya and Tanag exchanged determined stares. This was it. They were going to give it their all.

For Petir.