Bubble Boy

Troy groaned as he rolled onto his side, his body aching from the previous night's training session with Jace. His limbs felt like lead, and for once, he just wanted to lie in bed all day. No fights, no training, no lectures just peace.

Then his phone buzzed.

He squinted at the screen, still half-asleep. It was a message from Annie.

Annie: Hey, can you come over? I need help with something. Please?

Troy sighed. He was really hoping for a lazy Saturday, but Annie had always been there for him. He couldn't just ignore her.

Troy: What kind of help?

Her reply came instantly.

Annie: Just come over!

That was suspicious.

Dragging himself out of bed, he quickly freshened up, threw on a simple hoodie and jeans, and left his apartment. It didn't take long before he arrived at Annie's house, a cozy looking place covered in vines and greenery, no surprise, given her plant-based abilities. He barely had time to knock before the door swung open.

Annie stood there, dressed in a simple floral dress with her signature thick glasses perched on her nose. But what caught Troy off guard was the sudden tug on his arm as he was pulled inside.

"Wha..."

Before he could protest, he was met with the smiling faces of Annie's parents and her little sister, Sam.

"Oh my!" Annie's mother clapped her hands together. "Annie, you didn't tell us you had a boyfriend!"

Troy froze.

"Wait, what?"

Annie turned bright red. "Mom! He's not my..."

"Oh, don't be shy," her father chuckled. "We were wondering when you'd bring him over."

"I, She, We're not dating!" Troy stammered, waving his hands defensively.

"Yeah!" Annie added quickly, adjusting her glasses. "We're just friends!"

But the way she avoided eye contact and nervously fidgeted told a different story.

Sam, her mischievous little sister, grinned. "That's not what Annie says in her sleep."

Annie turned even redder. "SAM!"

Troy scratched the back of his head. Why do I feel like I walked into a trap?

Her father chuckled. "Alright, alright, we won't tease you too much. But since you're here, you can help."

"Help with what?" Troy asked cautiously.

Annie finally composed herself. "We were supposed to pick up some packages from the mall today, but my parents got called into work. And Sam and I can't carry everything on our own."

"So you want me to be your pack mule?"

She gave him a sheepish smile. "I'll buy you ice cream?"

Troy sighed. "Fine."

Sam pumped her fist in victory. "Yes! Let's go!"

The mall was packed, with people bustling from store to store. Troy, Annie, and Sam navigated through the crowd, checking off each item on their shopping list.

"This doesn't seem like that much stuff," Troy muttered, carrying a few bags.

Annie smirked. "Oh, we're not done yet."

He groaned.

They went from clothing stores to bookstores, stopping at every possible place Annie and Sam found interesting. At some point, Sam dragged them into a toy store, making Troy hold a ridiculous pink unicorn plushie while she debated which one to buy.

Annie giggled as she snapped a photo.

Troy groaned. "If you send that to anyone, I'm deleting myself from existence."

She laughed. "Relax, it's just for memories."

Despite himself, he found himself smiling. It was… nice. No training, no fighting, no dealing with the hierarchy of Nightingale Academy. Just a normal day with friends.

"Alright," Annie said after a while. "Let's take a break. Ice cream?"

They made their way to an ice cream stand, Sam excitedly running ahead to pick her favorite flavor.

"You know," Annie started as they stood in line. "I can't remember the last time we hung out like this. No school, no stress. Just us."

Troy glanced at her. There was something soft in her expression, something almost vulnerable.

"Yeah," he admitted. "It's nice."

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Then Sam came bouncing back with her ice cream, happily munching away.

Troy rolled his eyes. "Alright, let's get yours, too."

Everything seemed perfect.

Until Sam disappeared.

One second, she was there. The next, she was gone.

Panic shot through Annie like a lightning bolt. "Sam?"

Troy's heart pounded as they scanned the crowded mall. She couldn't have gone far, right?

Then Troy spotted something. A single pink plushie lying abandoned on the floor.

Cold fear gripped him. "Annie… she didn't just wander off."

His words barely registered before Annie ran, pushing through the crowd desperately. Troy followed, adrenaline taking over.

Then they saw it.

In a dimly lit alley behind the mall, a tall man with sunken eyes and a tattered cloak held Sam by the arm. Her small frame trembled as she struggled against his grip.

"The hell do you think you're doing?" Troy growled, stepping forward.

The man turned, his face covered in scars, his fingers twitching with an eerie glow. The air around him seemed to rot, the concrete beneath his fingers crumbling into dust.

Troy's stomach dropped. He recognized that ability.

Decay.

The villain grinned. "You must be the babysitters."

Annie's breath hitched. "Who… are you?"

"They call me the Orphan," he said, his grin widening. "And your little sister? She's about to make me a fortune."

Troy clenched his fists. He didn't care that the Orphan was a B-Class villain. He didn't care how strong the guy was.

He wasn't going to let him take Sam.

"Let her go," Troy said, his voice dangerously low.

The Orphan tilted his head. "Or what?"

Troy took a step forward, his hands beginning to glow with an iridescent shimmer. His mind raced.

This was bad. The Orphan had enhanced strength, speed, and durability. Not only that, but if he touched them with all five fingers...

Troy swallowed hard. He couldn't let that happen.

The villain sneered. "Oh, I see now. You're him, aren't you?"

Troy's blood turned to ice.

The Orphan chuckled darkly. "Bubble Boy."

Annie gasped.

But Troy didn't have time to think about how the villain knew.

Because the fight had already begun.

Troy's fists clenched as the Orphan's scarred face twisted into a mocking grin.

"Bubble Boy," the villain sneered, his voice dripping with condescension. "Didn't think I'd ever run into you in a place like this."

Annie's eyes widened, and her hand tightened around Troy's sleeve. "Troy… what is he talking about?"

Troy ignored her, keeping his eyes locked on the Orphan. His entire body tensed. He wasn't worried about how the villain knew. What mattered was that Sam was still in his grasp, her tiny wrists locked in his decaying fingers.

Troy took a slow breath, steadying himself.

Stay calm. Use your training.

Shadow's lessons echoed in his mind. His footwork, his positioning, his reaction time, everything had to be perfect.

His hands flicked up, summoning iridescent bubbles that shimmered in the dim alley light. The Orphan sneered at them, unimpressed.

Troy darted forward.

He struck first, launching a compressed bubble at the villain's chest. The Orphan's eyes barely flickered in surprise before he batted it aside like a gnat. Troy was already moving, shifting low, aiming a strike at the man's ribs.

The Orphan countered, swinging his decaying hand downward. Troy twisted at the last second, letting the attack graze past him, his own palm slamming into the villain's stomach. "BUBBLE BLAST!"

A concussive force of bubbles erupted from Troy's hand against the villain's stomach, sending the Orphan staggering back a step. And causing him to let go off Sam, Sam then runs to her sister's side. Not much damage, but enough to prove a point.

Troy didn't hesitate. He pressed forward, weaving in and out of the villain's reach, throwing precise, explosive strikes at his limbs. His bubbles weren't just soft distractions, they were weapons. He reinforced them around his fists, using them like invisible gauntlets, each punch cracking with compressed force.

Annie and Sam watched from the side, wide-eyed. Troy wasn't just fighting.

He looked like a real hero.

But the Orphan was no amateur.

The villain's patience snapped. His decayed fingers clawed at the air, and suddenly, the very ground beneath Troy's feet crumbled into dust.

Troy barely jumped back in time, landing in a crouch.

The Orphan lunged.

Troy twisted, dodging a swipe that would've taken off half his face. But the villain was faster than he looked. A brutal knee slammed into Troy's stomach, knocking the air from his lungs.

Before he could recover, the Orphan's fist crashed into his jaw.

Troy stumbled.

A second blow hammered into his ribs.

A third sent him skidding across the pavement.

He gasped for breath, vision blurring. The Orphan loomed over him. "For an F-Class, you're scrappy. But I've killed stronger."

Troy tried to push himself up, but a brutal stomp to his chest pinned him down.

"Stay down, kid."

Troy groaned in pain, coughing up blood. Sam whimpered, covering her eyes in horror.

Annie snapped.

Her hands shot forward, and from the cracked pavement, vines exploded outward.

Annie's Last Stand

Thick roots coiled around the Orphan's arms and legs, tightening like anacondas. Bark encased his torso, forming a crushing wooden prison. Annie's green hair fluttered as she poured every ounce of power she had into the attack.

"Let. Troy. Go!" she screamed.

For a moment, it looked like it worked. The Orphan grunted, struggling against the wooden binds.

Then his lips curled into a smile.

His decayed fingers pressed against the tree.

The bark rotted instantly.

Before Annie could react, he tore free and swung a vicious backhand into her face.

CRACK.

She hit the ground hard, her glasses snapping in half. Blood trickled from her mouth.

Sam screamed.

Troy's world froze.

His mind went blank. His chest heaved.

Annie.

Lying there. Hurt.

Something inside him snapped.

A deafening boom echoed through the alley.

The Orphan turned just in time to see Troy explode forward.

His bubbles weren't soft anymore. They crackled with raw energy, dense like compacted air mines. Troy slammed into the villain, fists flying in a relentless assault.

A bubble-reinforced uppercut snapped the Orphan's head back.

A concussive palm strike to the chest sent him crashing into a dumpster.

Troy's movements were wild, furious, fueled by pure rage. His technique was gone, replaced by sheer, unrelenting force.

The Orphan barely had time to react.

Troy was on him again, bubbles detonating on impact. Every hit was harder than the last. The villain who had been overpowering him minutes ago was now being forced back.

Troy didn't care about strategy anymore. Didn't care about winning.

He just wanted to hurt him.

And for the first time in the fight, the Orphan staggered.

Blood dripped from his nose. His breathing was ragged.

Troy should've stopped.

He didn't.

He lunged again...

And the Orphan caught his wrist.

A fist smashed into Troy's stomach.

Then another.

The rage had blinded him. He hadn't seen the counterattack coming.

The Orphan took advantage of the opening, driving brutal hits into Troy's body, each one knocking the fight out of him.

Troy's legs buckled. His vision darkened.

The last thing he felt was a hand wrapping around his throat.

When his eyes focused again, the Orphan was holding him up, fingers outstretched, just inches from his face.

"See, this was fun," the villain rasped. "But I've got a job to do."

Troy barely registered the words. His entire body felt like it was shutting down. His muscles refused to move.

He was losing.

The Orphan smirked. "Time to say goodnight, Bubble Boy."

His fingers inched closer.

Troy could do nothing but watch.

The last thing he heard was Sam screaming his name.