Hours before the attack
Boboiboy stared dazedly, standing so still that people walking past him thought he was a statue at first. He turned his head slowly from one side to the other. No matter how much he looked, no matter where he looked, he couldn't find the answer he was searching for.
"Where am I?" he muttered, feeling frustrated.
After his fight with Retak'ka, he was left unconscious and woke up in this unfamiliar place. It's been 2 hours since he arrived here. He tried calling his friends and even contacting the TOPAPS station, but no matter how many tries he made, the connection always fell short as if it didn't exist. How was that possible?
He stared up at the bright sky, feeling lost. Frustration and confusion were another feeling altogether.
"Alright, are you? Staring you have, long time it is" a concerned voice spoke out beside him.
Boboiboy blinked and slowly turned his head to meet an old man staring at him worriedly. The way he spoke was oddly strange but he didn't mind it.
He opened his mouth to say something but couldn't find the words.
"Hmm, I see. A sense of loss and sadness you are feeling," the old man said, nodding slightly
Boboiboy couldn't help but stare at the old man in amazement. How did he figure that out just by looking at him?
"Come. Come," the old man ushered him to follow.
Boboiboy hesitated.
"Doubtful, you are? Force you, I won't," the old man chuckled, shaking his head. "Come, you want."
That seemed to dissolve Boboiboy's hesitation, and he started to follow the old man. They walked down a random street, and another unfamiliar feeling washed over him as he looked around. People were busy working and placing decorations around the street. Their choice of design was peculiar; they seemed to be celebrating a dragon. A dragon festival? That was the first thing that came to his mind when he saw the scene.
They arrived at a small house shortly after the rather long walk. There were fruits and vegetables that he wasn't familiar with displayed in front of the house. The sign read "260 credits per kilo."
Is this man a merchant? Boboiboy wondered.
"Here, sit," the old man gestured to a small chair.
Boboiboy took the chair and sat. The old man poured something into a cup and handed it to him.
"Drink?"
Boboiboy took the cup. It was warm but not enough to burn his hand. "Thank you."
The old man smiled at the gesture.
Boboiboy stared at what was inside and saw the liquid was green, with some leaves floating in it. Tea?
"Now, questions you have, I assume?"
Boboiboy nodded.
"Hmm, lost you are, I feel. Here in this place, you are not?"
Boboiboy shook his head.
"The planet?"
Boboiboy hesitated for a quick second before shaking his head. He knew for sure this wasn't Earth or anything he was familiar with.
"I see, a traveler you are, are you?"
Again, Boboiboy shook his head and decided to say, "Do you know where I am?"
"Hmm, in Kosha City you are. On planet Baryard you are," the old man answered.
"Barnyard?" Boboiboy questioned. Granted he wasn't familiar with planets, but this one didn't ring any bells. He had his fair share of going from one planet to another. But the question remained, how did he arrive here?
"Hmm, you?"
"I'm from Earth. Do you know where Earth is?" Boboiboy asked.
The old man shook his head. "Many planets I know. Earth, not one of them."
"Ah, I see," Boboiboy said, disappointment clear on his face. He took a small sip of the tea and, surprisingly, it was sweet, not bitter as he had expected.
"Do you know where I can hitch a ride here? Like, you know, going to other planets?"
It was one of his early questions when he arrived here after noticing many vehicles in the sky that looked like spaceships. This world seemed more advanced than it looked.
"Hmm, the port you are looking for."
Boboiboy was about to reply, but the old man quickly added, "But expensive it is."
"How much?" Boboiboy asked, nervous.
"A million credits, I think. More it could be," the old man answered.
"Ah, that's…." Boboiboy's words trailed off. The old man hadn't lied about the expensive part. He expected it to be under a hundred thousand, but a million? That was too much, and even he didn't know when he could get that huge amount of money in a short amount of time.
"Disappointed you are?" The old man chuckled. "Worry not, help you I will."
"Really? But isn't a million credits a bit too much?"
The old man shook his head. "Poor I am. Options, however, there are."
The old man hopped off his chair, pulled out a thin, large paper from a small box, and handed it to him. Boboiboy grabbed the paper and saw there was a tournament advertised on it. What caught his eye was the 2 million credits listed as the prize. His eyes widened at how large the amount was.
"A tournament it is. Credits you can get," the old man said.
"A tournament, huh," Boboiboy muttered, looking up. "How do you know I can fight?"
"A feeling I have," the old man replied simply. "Failed? Never was."
Boboiboy stared at the paper, contemplating. Wasn't this a good opportunity to get credits just by fighting? While he had no doubts about his abilities, he still had no idea how people in this world fought. Do they have superpowers? If they were anything like Retak'ka, that would be a problem.
"Decide you must. Regret you shall not," the old man reminded.
"I see, thank you for this." Boboiboy smiled. "I'm Boboiboy, by the way."
The old man smiled. "Fretz, I am."
+++====+++
After his talk with Fretz, Boboiboy decided to have some alone time. Gladly, Fretz was a kind and understanding old man and even handed him 1,000 credits, which Boboiboy initially denied. But Fretz insisted that he needed it more, so Boboiboy had no choice but to accept the help.
Sitting on a bench, Boboiboy was left alone deep in thought. In his hand was the poster of the tournament. Two million credits, that was the prize money. It was quite a hefty sum and considering he lacked any sort of money, this would benefit him in the most helpful way possible.
He looked at his watch. It was square and had an orange strap. What made the watch stand out was the lightning symbol on it instead of the time. Five years. It's been five years since he became a superhero, five years since he received this kind of power. In those five years, he faced a lot of enemies, lost many times, and always managed to get back up each time. Tok Aba, his mother, his father, and his friends—despite not showing it, he missed them dearly and the thought of them made his heartache.
Knowing he was very far away from them, he didn't know when he could see them again or if he ever would see them again.
"Are you okay?" a voice crept up behind him. It sounded like a little girl.
He turned his head and saw a little girl with bright red hair and a wide smile staring at him curiously.
"Yes, I'm fine," Boboiboy forced a smile and assured the little girl, who couldn't help but narrow her eyes in suspicion.
"Then what's that tear on your face?" the little girl pointed at his face.
Boboiboy blinked, putting his hand closer to his face. She was right; there was a single tear when he tried to wipe it away. "Ah, this, well, sometimes my eyes hurt."
"Mm, but my mom always says that when a person cries, you always comfort them," the little girl said, humming. "Here." She showed him a bear plushie. "This is Hans. He always keeps me from being sad. You can have him if you want."
Boboiboy stared at the plushie and shook his head. "No, I can't possibly keep it. I know it's important to you." He gently pushed the plushie away, but the little girl offered resistance, much to his surprise.
The little girl shook her head as she pushed the plushie closer to him. "But you need it more. Hans's mission is to brighten a person's day."
"I—" For the first time, Boboiboy was lost for words. Somehow the way the girl acted was oddly nostalgic. "Thank you." A grateful smile curved over his lips as he accepted the plushie.
"You're welcome! My name's Amber, by the way," the little girl, Amber, introduced herself.
"I'm Boboiboy," Boboiboy also introduced himself. Then he heard another voice, older and sounding concerned.
"Amber, where are you?" the voice called. "Oh, there you are. I was worried about where you suddenly ran off to."
"Coming, Mom!" the little girl shouted back before turning to him. "It was nice to meet you, big brother."
With a cheery wave, the little girl Amber left, leaving Boboiboy to stare at the plushie silently.
++++===+++
"It looks like it's gonna rain," Boboiboy murmured as he watched dark clouds invade the bright blue sky. The wind began to grow restless with each passing second.
"I need to find shelter." The only place he could think of was Fretz's house. Knowing the old man, he probably wouldn't refuse to let him stay for a while.
As Boboiboy started walking down the street, he heard someone shouting.
"They're here! The Antimatter Legion is here! Run for your lives!"
A man ahead of him was shouting madly, bumping into several people, some of whom fell straight to the ground. Boboiboy managed to step aside just in time to avoid colliding with the man. He watched as the man continued shouting while hurrying away.
Boboiboy's eyes furrowed in concern. 'Antimatter Legion?'
Judging from the name alone, it seemed to be bad news.
"Wait, did he just say the Antimatter Legion?"
"Is he crazy?"
"Why would they be here?"
"He's probably drunk from the booze he drinks."
Seeing a lot of people conversing about it, Boboiboy decided this was the best opportunity to ask about the Antimatter Legion. He approached a group of people and stepped in.
"Um, can I ask? What is this Antimatter Legion?"
The people turned to look at him oddly. "Kid, have you been living under a rock for not knowing something so infamous?" a man with brown spiky hair asked.
"I'm not from here," Boboiboy defended himself.
"Man, you must be lucky where you come from to not know what they are," another man said, laughing.
The man with spiky hair sighed. "To sum it up, they're bad news, kid. Basically, every civilization in this solar system is afraid of them. Why? Because they're an intergalactic army responsible for the death of hundreds of planets."
"Wait, planets? So they destroy planets?"
"Something like that. Their goal is to destroy all life and every civilization."
"Well, they do follow the Aeon of Destruction, so destruction is what they do," the other man added with a shrug.
"I see." Boboiboy nodded and shifted to another topic. "What that running man said earlier, was it true they're here?"
The man laughed. "Kid, don't take that guy too seriously. He must be drunk for all I care. There's no way the Antimatter Legion would come here of all the planets they could choose from. So don't worry, we are safe with our Aeon of Preservation."
'And this Aeon thing they keep mentioning,' Boboiboy thought. He was about to ask for more information but paused when he heard a loud explosion up ahead.
"Whoa, what was that?!" All the people looked alarmed as they stared right up ahead.
"An explosion?"
"Look, smoke!"
Boboiboy's eyes widened. 'Isn't that near Mr. Fretz's place?' Without a second thought, he ran toward Mr. Fretz's place.
"Hey, kid—kid? Where are you going?!"
+++===+++
Running, Boboiboy saw fire up ahead, with smoke rising into the sky. Darkness filled the place as the sky was covered with dark clouds. Rain began to pour, and the wind roared.
"They're here!"
"The Antimatter Legion!"
'The Antimatter Legion? I thought that man said it wasn't true,' Boboiboy thought, growing more concerned. If it was true, this planet would be doomed. He saw several people running past him.
"Hey, kid, where are you going? It's dangerous there!"
Boboiboy ignored the warning and raised his wrist. "Boboiboy Thunderstorm!"
His outfit changed to a reddish color, the same as his eyes. His eyes turned sharp as his figure blurred.
He jumped onto the roof and maintained his fast speed. His eyes scanned the place, seeing multiple clouds of smoke rising. When he looked further up, he noticed spaceships surrounding the city, and his horror grew.
When he arrived at the street where Fretz lived, he found the place abandoned, with fruits, decorations, and other things scattered on the ground. Thankfully, there were no bodies in sight.
"Mr. Fretz?! Mr. Fretz, are you here?" Boboiboy knocked on the door repeatedly, but no one answered. He had no choice but to force entry. "I'm coming in!" he said before slamming the door with his foot. The door broke down and fell to the ground. Inside, Boboiboy frowned when he found no one.
"Mr. Fretz?" Boboiboy called one more time, but again, no one answered.
"Mommy!"
Boboiboy's eyes snapped toward the direction of the voice. It sounded faint, but he heard it clearly. 'That voice…Amber!' Electricity crackled around his body, and in a blink, he was gone.
+++===+++
Amber was crying as she held her mother. "Mommy, please don't die!"
Her mother's eyes slowly began to close as she kept her hand on the wound in her chest.
"Damn it, kid, leave your mother. We need to go now," a man, named Anton, a police officer, said, fending off the Void Rangers with a mere pistol.
"No! I'm not leaving Mommy!"
"Damn it, kid!" Anton gritted his teeth in frustration. "I can't hold them for long. It's either she dies or we're both dead."
"I told you I'm not leaving Mommy!" Amber shouted, feeling hurt at the thought of leaving her mother.
"You have to run, Amber," a weak voice sounded, bringing the crying child to a stop.
"Mommy?"
"You…have…to run," her mother said, pulling all her remaining strength to speak to her daughter.
"Mommy, I'm not leaving you," Amber insisted, trying to put on a tough act but failing as more tears fell from her eyes. She tried to wipe them away, reminding herself that she was a big girl now. She had to be a big girl for Mommy.
"Amber…please listen...Run…"
"Mommy…"
"I…love…you." With her last bit of strength gone, her hand fell to the side, and her eyes closed. Yet, a smile was on her face.
"Mommy!" Amber cried like there was no tomorrow as she held her dead mother.
"Damn it. Fuck," Anton cursed, finally having enough. "Your mom's dead, so let's go!"
"No!"
"Stop being a fucking brat for once—" Anton stopped as a blade pierced through his abdomen. He tried to speak, but blood flooded from his mouth.
Amber's eyes widened at the horrible scene. Her pupils dilated as she struggled to let out a single word.
"Kid…run," That was the last words Anton spoke to her before he was thrown away like a ragdoll.
The Void Ranger lowered its head and looked at her, its blade still dripping blood. It raised its blade higher, preparing for a strike.
Amber's eyes began to close, and she whimpered, feeling scared. She knew she had to run, but her body wouldn't budge. 'Please…somebody…'
She waited, but the strike never came. Instead, a familiar voice rang out.
"Thunder Strike!"
When she opened her eyes again, she saw the Void Rangers dropping one after another. She couldn't see who was responsible; she could only manage to catch a glimpse of something blurry.
When all the Void Rangers were seemingly gone, a figure appeared in the middle of them. He was strangely familiar, and she squinted her eyes.
Despite the change in outfits, she finally realized who it was. "Big brother?"
"Are you alright, Amber? I'm sorry for not getting here sooner." Boboiboy apologized, seeing the destruction the Antimatter Legion had caused in a short amount of time. It horrified him. It pained him to see how many lives he could have saved if he had responded faster. Looking at the dead woman, whom he assumed was Amber's mother, he bit his lip and tried to tear his gaze away. He couldn't bear to see the lives he had failed to save.
"Why are your clothes different, and your eyes?"
"Um, that's not important right now. We need to get you somewhere safe." Boboiboy forced a smile to assure the girl and patted her head.
"But Mommy…" Amber whimpered, looking down at her mother. "Please, Big brother…"
"I—" Boboiboy couldn't find the right words. He couldn't just say her mother was dead, could he? He couldn't promise that her mother would be safe. Even his powers, no matter how strong, couldn't bring the dead back to life. He pulled something from his pocket. "Remember Mr. Hans? You said you'd give him to someone who's sad, right? Here, take him. He'll protect you."
Boboiboy placed the plushie in her hands. "Hold it tight and grab my hand."
"What about Mommy?"
"I'll find a way," Boboiboy said.
Amber nodded and grabbed his hand. In a flash, Boboiboy and Amber disappeared.
In the end, Boboiboy managed to find a safe place for them to stay. It was a small hut, hidden as it was secure. The walls were made of concrete proving it to be a dependable shelter. He found a bed in the nearby rooms and placed Amber on it
"I want you to stay here, okay? I promise I'll be back. If something happens, hide," Boboiboy gave a serious reminder to the girl who nodded back.
"Where are you going, big brother?" Amber asked, a tiny bit of sadness present in her tone.
Boboiboy reassured her by patting her head "Doing what I always do. Saving the day"
