Hackers Delight (Final/Book 5) [HIATUS]

Chapter 21: Feelings

3rd Person Pov:
"Where is he?" Failboat exclaimed, desperately. "Calm down, Daniel. We'll find him, eventually!" Liz responded, patting her friend's back to calm him down. "Eventually doesn't sound reassuring! That figure stood where TNT was and now, he's not here!" Failboat explained, looking everywhere in the forest. They had just woken up from the deep sleep they were put it a little while ago. Failboat immediately remembered what happened before he was knocked out completely. He explained everything to the others who started to search for the mouse hybrid while trying to calm down Failboat at the same time. "So? TNT is strong with his fire powers! He can defend himself easily against anyone who dares to attack him." Liz replied. She didn't expect her friend to be panicked over someone like ExplodingTNT and it somehow made her feel less special. And perhaps, a little jealous. Suddenly, they all heard something rustle in the bushes. They heard footsteps approaching. Everyone got into attack mode at that moment, waiting for the right time to attack or apprehend whatever threat was waiting for them. "Ugh, guys? Where are you?" Words above someone's head asked. They haven't even seen who this person was yet, they knew it was TNT based on the red text and black outlines. "ExplodingTNT! Over here!" Failboat yelled out. Everyone settled down as they put down their weapons. The mouse hybrid heard the voice and after a moment of surprise, he slowly walked over to where he heard it. Once he arrived, everyone was surprised at what they saw in front of them. ExplodingTNT had metal chains on his wrist that he was dragging behind him and his eyes seemed more lifeless than usual. "TNT? What happened? Are you okay?" Failboat asked, concerned at what he was seeing.

ExplodingTNT stood there as he seemed to be gazing into the distance. "Violet, check on him just to see if he is okay. Also, try to remove those chains off of him." Liz ordered. Violet nodded as she walked toward TNT gently. Something had definitely happened. It was all over his face and his body posture. Failboat walked next to Violet because he also wanted to check on TNT. Something about ExplodingTNT being like this doesn't sit well with him. "Okay, sit over here, Sam. Let me take a look at those chains." Violet spoke, gently. She grabbed onto TNT's arm and slowly sat him down on a rock.

Failboat couldn't keep his eyes off of TNT as Violet continued to look closely at the chains. "Uh, Sam, what happened back there? If you don't mind me asking, that is!" Failboat asked, cautiously. He didn't want to force TNT to explain something he didn't want to say or remember. "Zeph and Zero captured me after you were all knocked out. They threatened to torture me and kill all of you in front of me." The words explained as TNT shakily sighed. I carefully grabbed his arm and he suddenly looked at me with a blush on his face.

"I'll promise to protect you from them, okay?" Failboat spoke, a blush also appeared on his face. "Oh! Okay, yeah, that's fine." The words replied as TNT looked away. "Hey, lovebirds, don't distract me!" Violet exclaimed, looking up before returning to work quickly. The two nodded and she pulled out a hairpin. "Lovebirds..." Liz mumbled, putting her hand on her chest. "Liz, is something wrong? You seem sad." Crystal asked, noticing the leader. "I'm not sure but, why do I have a feeling that something bad will happen soon?" Liz replied, looking at Failboat and TNT.

"Bad stuff always happens, Liz. You just have to decide whether or not you pay attention to it. And, I think this feeling is something you should ignore for now." Crystal explained, smiling. Liz nodded her head slowly as she put her arms at her sides once again. Perhaps, this feeling was nothing more than a bit of fear about what happened. Or maybe, it was much more. She doesn't know yet but, she has a hint that it has to do with Sam and Daniel. Liz sighs softly as she turns around to walk toward her other team members.

"Okay, just give me a second or two..." Violet mumbled as she used the hairpin to unlock the chains. She noticed there was a keyhole on the chains and she remembered how useful ordinary objects were. "And done!" She exclaimed, back away. As if on cue, the chains made a clicking sound and dropped to the ground. "Hey, what happened to your wrists?" Failboat asked, pointing to TNT's wrists. Violet's eyes widen as she stared in his direction and noticed what he saw. ExplodingTNT had major burn marks all over his wrists and the ends of his sleeves were burned off.

"Oh, right. I tried to melt them off using my fire powers and I'm guessing I didn't notice the damage." The words explained as TNT smiled slightly while looking away. Yet, I could see the blush from my angle of view and nevertheless, it was a very cute reaction. "Here, I'll use my powers to soothe down the burning sensation then, we'll wrap it up in bandages to heal. I'm sure that Violet won't mind doing the second part." Failboat explained, looking at the female immediately who nodded.

As soon as she left, Failboat used his powers to let the water wrap around ExplodingTNT's wrist. The mouse hybrid slightly hissed in pain as Violet came back with bandages. "Almost there, just try not to focus too much on the pain," Failboat spoke, slowly removing the water. "And, you're done!" He exclaimed as Violet started to put bandages on TNT's wrists. ExplodingTNT smiled as he faced Failboat. "Daniel, thank you so much. I really appreciate it." The words spoke, the smile never leaving his face. Daniel's eyes widen slightly as a blush appeared on his face after hearing that statement. "No problem, TNT. Just looking after you, that's all." Failboat replied, smiling as well.

What was this emotion they were both feeling?