Bubble Boy

Zoe padded through the dimly lit maintenance corridor, her breath light. The cargo bay vents had gone silent, which meant someone had tripped the dampeners. She wasn't alone.

She rounded the corner and came face-to-face with a guy the same age as her father, crouched low, eyes sharp and unreadable. Greasy hair, combat gloves, dark jacket patched with salvaged fabric. The Orphan.

Their eyes locked.

"You're the one they warned us about," Zoe said, voice low. "The villain."

He raised an eyebrow. "Funny. I was going to say the same about you."

She braced her stance, Cyan bubbles humming to life. "Step aside."

"No," he said. "You step back."

For a second, it was electric, tension coiling between them like a drawn bow.

Then Zoe sighed and powered down. "I'm not here to fight."

"Neither am I," he said, relaxing his shoulders. "Yet."

They moved in cautious silence, side by side now, deeper into the heart of the Hyperion Ascendant. The ship hummed with cosmic energy, distant voices of Heroes echoing through reinforced walls.

They climbed a ladder shaft and crawled out into a junction node and almost bumped into Blaze, crouched by a power conduit, her coat dusted with engine soot.

She spun around, fists flaring with heat. "Who the hell are you two?"

Zoe raised her hands. "Legion trainee. He's... complicated. Who are you?"

"Blaze. I'm a superhero. Laser vision, thermal manipulation, not a villain."

The Orphan narrowed his eyes. "You're not human."

Blaze's jaw twitched. "Excuse me?"

"You smell like Brakar grease. Like war. Like... a Xyphorite."

Zoe stepped between them, arms out. "Enough. We can't afford this. If we get caught now, it's over."

Blaze looked away. The Orphan crossed his arms.

But they kept moving, an uneasy trio, united by secrecy, marching deeper into the floating steel fortress.

They turned a corner into a cargo lift and froze.

Bolt hovered midair, electrical current dancing across his fingers. Construct stood beside him, arms folded, chrome armor rippling with nanotech.

All three stowaways raised their hands.

Bolt grinned. "Well, well. What's this then?"

"Looks like we caught us some star-born rats," Construct replied.

Without warning, Construct's body shimmered. Polymer cables spun and shifted. In seconds, he and Bolt wore oversized plastic pirate coats, fake peg legs, and neon eyepatches.

"Yarr!" Bolt boomed in a cartoonish accent. "We be claimin' this bounty for the glory o' the stars!"

Construct conjured lengths of ribbon-plastic and tied up the trio with exaggerated flair. "To the brig with 'em!"

They were led to an empty recreation chamber. Lights flickered on, revealing a massive pool Construct had created, complete with inflatable shark floaties and a long, plastic plank extending over the water.

"Walk the plank, landlubber!" Bolt shouted, untying Zoe and marching her forward.

"I'm just a kid!" Zoe said, trying not to laugh. "What'd I ever do to ye, captain?"

"Silence, ye sea flea!" Bolt yelled.

"I'm innocent! Are you really gonna kill ye kid." The Orphan added, trying to mimic her tone.

"Me two!" Blaze said, faking innocence.

Bolt cackled in his pirate voice. "Into the abyss with ye!"

He gave Zoe a gentle nudge and she yelped as she fell into the pool with a splash, kicking up waves and floating into a grinning inflatable shark.

Blaze was next, shuffled forward, arms still bound.

But just before she could be dunked...

"Uh, what are you doing?" a voice said from the door.

Jace stood there, arms crossed, eyebrow raised.

"Arrgh, Captain!" Construct saluted, quickly forming a plastic pirate hat and coat around Jace. "We have stowaways aboard!"

Blaze looked up at Jace from the edge of the plank, hair soaked in golden engine light. He blinked, just once. Then turned slightly pink.

"Oh," he mumbled, caught off guard. "Stowaways... Right."

Zoe waved from the pool. "He's the captain now!"

"Captain Jace!" Construct said, dramatically. "How shall we deal with these starry scoundrels?"

Jace smiled slowly, playing along. "Hmm. Let them swim... but keep an eye on the fire one."

"I heard that," Blaze muttered.

"Arrgh!" Bolt and Construct shouted in unison.

And somewhere, far above them, the ship slipped further from Earth's orbit.

The room turned into chaos.

Bolt tossed Zoe a plastic cutlass. Blaze snagged one with her teeth while still pretending to be bound. Construct clapped his hands, summoning hats, belts, and eyepatches with a flourish of ribbon-weave.

"To arms, ye scurvy dogs!" Bolt bellowed, raising his fake sword high. "There be treasure in this here pool!"

Zoe lunged from a shark floaty, swinging her blade at the Orphan, who deflected with exaggerated flair.

"Yarrr, ye'll never take me loot!" he shouted in a terrible accent.

Jace, now fully dressed in a gold-trimmed plastic captain's coat and oversized pirate hat, stood atop a crate like a throne. "All hands on deck! Mutiny shall be punished with ticklin'!"

Blaze mock-roared and blasted a tiny, harmless spark into the air. "Laser vision ready, Captain!"

Plastic swords clanged. Pirate voices filled the room. Someone sang a sea shanty that had clearly been made up on the spot. Zoe and the Orphan teamed up against Construct. Jace shouted orders with a grin that refused to leave his face.

And then...

The door whooshed open.

The room froze.

Starman stood there, cape billowing from the corridor breeze, expression locked between horror and sheer disbelief.

"What… is happening in here?"

Every pirate froze, swords half-raised, hats tilted. Zoe was mid-jump on a floaty. Blaze had a floaty shark in her hand. Jace adjusted his hat nervously.

In perfect synchronization, all six slowly turned toward him.

Ten minutes later...

The six sat cross-legged on the floor of the strategy room, heads lowered like scolded schoolchildren. Pirate gear had been stripped. Wet footprints stained the pristine floor.

Starman stood before them, arms folded. His glare could melt titanium.

Seaman leaned against the wall, shaking his head in silent disapproval. Gladiator stood like a statue, radiating quiet judgment.

"I can't believe this," Starman muttered. "A literal villain, a known fugitive and you're playing pirates with him."

The Orphan raised a hand sheepishly. "I like going to orphanages to play with kids."

Starman stared at him like he'd just confessed to befriending a black hole.

He turned. "Bolt? Construct?"

Bolt shrugged. "Yarr, sir. It was all in good fun."

Construct nodded. "Plastic's already recycled, no ship damage."

Starman sighed and rubbed his temples. "Expected. Honestly."

He turned to Blaze. "But you. You're a Xyphorite."

Blaze shrugged, unapologetic. "It's fun to act like a kid once in a while."

A beat.

"And Jace," Starman said, staring directly at him.

Jace looked up, sheepish.

Starman just shook his head. "...Really?"

Silence.

Even the ship seemed to pause, holding its breath.

He then turned to Zoe. " I'm happy to see you Zoe..." Zoe smiled at her grandfather.

"But your father and mother is gonna kill me when they find out you left earth."

Then Starman turned to Seaman and Gladiator. "I need coffee."

Seaman nodded. "Triple shot?"

"Triple shot."

As he left, the six glanced at one another and burst out laughing the second the door slid shut.

"I got Starman to say 'Really?'" Jace beamed.

"And he didn't even vaporize us!" Bolt added.

"Yet," Zoe muttered, but she was grinning.

Their mission had barely begun but in that ridiculous, chaotic, perfectly human moment, they were no longer stowaways.

They were a crew.