Homecoming | sequel of "Home" [✔️]

Chapter 22

There was a comedic irony that struck Ali after that night. He'd betrayed MATA, and now Boboiboy betrayed TAPOPS, a cycle that would never end, with each ending becoming a new beginning, just with different people and outcomes.

If it wasn't for the restraint on his mouth, he would have laughed.

There were metal guards around his eyes and mouth, preventing him to speak or see. His hands, up to his wrists, were coated in metal shaped like a massive bullet. The ends were linked to chains, only with a limited chain that led to the metal ground.

His legs were curved by his sides, his back slouched. The weight of the collar barely fazed him, but the emptiness in his chest felt like tons.

It didn't take him long to understand his odd restraints; his powers required visuals. The tube led somewhere, constantly extracting energy from him. Immortals were made of energy, just in the form of humanoids and possessing a conscious. He tried to use his powers, but only a wave of nausea hit him, with a hollowing feeling in his chest, as if someone was digging holes in his body.

The image of that battle remained burnt in his mind, fresh like a newly done tattoo. Alicia's torn expression, Viktor's heartbroken face, Nikki's raging confusion, and Rudy's distaste, as if the tumor by their side was finally removed, but with a price they'd never dreamed to pay.

He could also remember Fang giving up.

He wasn't personally close to Boboiboy, but Fang was. The shadow manipulator had been separated from him, taken away to another location.

From what Ali knew, Fang and Boboiboy used to have more friends, three other immortals, of whose powers now belonged to him. They'd died for reasons that Fang couldn't tell, at a time where the idea of Cyberaya itself did not exist.

He could tell Fang never recovered from their loss, as he could see in his eyes. Whenever he smiled at Ali, whenever they trained together, he could tell that there was a subconscious restraint, a bitter aftertaste where his smile would suddenly tense, as if memories of his past never ceased to haunt him.

Perhaps, Fang was just using Ali as a distraction.

Boboiboy's untimely betrayal, no doubt, was the final breaking point.

How quickly things change.

Just hours ago, they were at their prime. A new alien-sponsored hideout busted, the signals getting closer to be decoded, and a chance to finally bring MATA under submission. But something unexpected happened: Boboiboy, their powerhouse, betraying them.

Was that why Boboiboy was always absent? Why he was going on so many missions? Ten months was a short time for immortals, but long enough for any of them to start a new cult, civilization, or delve into a new life. If Ali truly lived through ten months without realizing the weight of time, then the possibility of Boboiboy personally communication with MATA, all the while with Ali still unconscious, was possible.

Ali clenched his teeth. Is that why he approved his mission?

Weeks ago, when Ali was finally called by Fang and Boboiboy to talk about his proposal, Fang was strongly against it, whereas Boboiboy allowed it within a heartbeat. They came to a compromise, but Boboiboy wasn't too bothered by his death wish, going so far as to create an idea to attack Ali, so they wouldn't raise suspicion of his sudden change in mind.

Maybe that was the reason why Bobby and Bakar managed to come aboard so easily, after all. And how they managed to escape in such short notice.

Ali sighed.

Why not make it seem like you're being attacked by us? Your precious uncle won't be able to resist turning you against us!

Guess where that idea got him.