Bubble Boy

The final bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. The halls of Nightingale Academy buzzed with students eager to leave, but Troy barely heard any of it. His mind was still back on the field, on the look in their eyes, the fear, the disgust.

He wasn't a fighter anymore.

He was a monster.

Stepping outside, he kept his hood up, his hands stuffed into his pockets. His ribs ached with every step, but he ignored it.

Waiting near the gates, Jackson, Emily, and Carter, the Bubble Crew stood together. They spotted him immediately, their expressions shifting.

"Troy," Jackson called out, his usual confidence softened with concern.

Troy stopped. He didn't speak.

Emily crossed her arms. "We saw the fight."

"And the video," Carter added.

Troy's gaze remained distant.

Jackson took a step forward. "Man, we get it. Annie, what happened to her was messed up. But what you did today?" He exhaled. "That's not you."

Silence.

"Troy," Emily tried again, hesitating. "Heroes don't kill people."

Troy clenched his jaw.

Carter sighed. "And before you say it, yeah, we know, most 'heroes' aren't actually heroes. But you? You want to be different, right? If you go after Elemental, you won't come back the same."

Troy finally spoke, his voice quiet but sharp.

"I don't care."

He turned and started walking away.

Emily reached for his arm, but he pulled away.

Jackson watched him go, eyes narrowing. Then, he muttered under his breath, "We're definitely suiting up tonight."

Carter and Emily exchanged glances.

They weren't letting him do this alone.

High Above the City

Perched atop a skyscraper, Starman watched.

The fight. The almost-kill. The silence after.

He chuckled to himself, shaking his head.

"Thought you could break the system, Bubble Boy?" he mused, watching Troy walk down the street. "Guess you're just like us after all."

His eyes gleamed as he smirked.

"All I have to do is send Elemental after you… and watch how the bubble bursts."

Troy suited up.

His body still ached from the fight, but he pushed through it. The city was alive beneath him, glowing in the dark, and he leapt from rooftop to rooftop, his bubbles propelling him forward.

His path was set.

Elemental was going to pay.

He didn't notice the three shadows trailing behind him.

Jackson. Emily. Carter.

The Bubble Crew, hidden in the night.

High above them all, unseen and unnoticed, Starman watched, his smirk never fading.

Troy landed on an empty rooftop, scanning the streets below. He felt it before he saw it, heat, pressure, a shift in the air.

Then...

A blast of fire roared toward him.

He blocked with a bubble shield but impact send him flying through a glass window into a abandoned warehouse. The bubble crew followed into the warehouse still staying hidden.Smoke curled into the air as a figure stepped forward.

Elemental.

Troy's fists clenched.

"You," he growled.

Elemental sighed, rolling his shoulders. "I was sent by Starman," he said casually. "Nothing personal, kid. But you gotta die."

Troy's body tensed.

His next words came low.

"No. It's definitely personal."

In the shadows, the Bubble Crew watched, their breath held.

The tension was suffocating.

This was war.

Troy didn't hesitate. The moment Elemental stepped forward, he struck. His hands flicked out, releasing bubbles so dense they shimmered like molten glass, each one aimed with deadly precision at Elemental's throat, ribs, and temples, vital points meant to kill.

Elemental twisted, dodging the first two but barely deflecting the third as it clipped his shoulder. The force alone sent him skidding back, his boots scraping against the factory's cracked concrete floor.

"Huh," Elemental muttered, rolling his shoulder. "Guess Bubble Boy really does have a bite."

Troy didn't respond. He sent another wave of bubbles, smaller this time, faster, sharper. Elemental raised a wall of earth just in time, the impact sending cracks spiderwebbing through it. Fire erupted from his palms, forcing Troy to dodge left. A gust of wind followed, hurling metal debris at him like daggers.

Troy countered with a bubble barrier, but Elemental was already moving, closing the gap with blistering speed. His knee slammed into Troy's ribs, pain exploding through his side.

Troy barely had time to react before a pillar of water struck him like a battering ram, sending him crashing against a rusted support beam.

"Come on," Elemental taunted, flames licking at his fingertips. "That all you got?"

Troy gritted his teeth. His body ached, but he wasn't done.

From the shadows above, the Bubble Crew crouched on an old steel walkway, watching the fight unfold. Umbra clenched his fists.

"He's getting wrecked," he muttered. "I'm going in."

Inferno grabbed his shoulder. "Not yet. He's not in danger."

Umbra turned, eyes sharp. "You sure about that?"

Inferno didn't answer. He just watched.

Troy stumbled but didn't fall. His breath came in short bursts, but his eyes burned with fury.

Elemental smirked. "Why so mad, Bubble Boy?" He cracked his knuckles. "You gonna cry?"

Troy's fists clenched.

Elemental tilted his head. "Oh. Let me guess, This is about that little plant girl, isn't it?" He chuckled, dark and cruel. "Was she your girlfriend? Cute. Loved hearing her scream."

Troy's world snapped.

His mind emptied, consumed by white-hot rage.

This time, he didn't rush in blind. His stance shifted, controlled and calculated. A style he learned from Shadow.

He moved fast, slipping under Elemental's next strike. His knee rammed into Elemental's gut, a bubble bursting against his ribs with bone-crushing force. Elemental grunted, stumbling back.

Troy didn't let up. He weaved through Elemental's attacks, dodging with inhuman precision. A bubble struck Elemental's knee, another his wrist, twisting his momentum.

Troy spun, delivering a brutal roundhouse kick reinforced by an explosive bubble. The impact sent Elemental sprawling.

Before he could recover, Troy raised both hands, forming dense bubbles around Elemental's limbs, slamming him to the ground. Elemental thrashed, but the restraints held firm.

Troy stood over him, chest rising and falling with rage.

Troy's hand rose, forming a finger gun. Above him, a massive bubble materialized, condensing down into something small, unstable, crackling with power.

Elemental's eyes widened. "The hell are you doing?"

Then he aimed his hand and the bubble towards Elemental.

Troy's voice was ice. "Ending this."

The bubble hovered just beyond his fingertip, glowing ominously.

The Bubble Crew watched in horror.

Umbra whispered, "He's gonna kill him."

Psion took a step forward. "Troy, stop!"

These words snapped Troy out of his trance and thought about becoming like Starman and then aimed his bubble away from Elemental.

He fired.

The bubble shot toward ground away from Elemental...

...And struck the ground.

A pause.

Then...

BOOM.

The explosion rocked the factory, shaking its foundations. The floor cratered, dust and debris erupting like a bomb had gone off. The shockwave hurled Troy back, his arm twisting unnaturally with a sickening crack.

Troy hit the ground hard, pain lancing through his body. His vision blurred.

Above, the Bubble Crew stared at the destruction, stunned into silence.

And then...

The roof above them shattered.

A streak of red light tore through the warehouse, and then, BOOM, a figure landed, sending a shockwave through the floor.

Starman.

His presence alone was suffocating. The air felt heavy. The temperature dropped.

The Bubble Crew couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.

Even Inferno, the king of confidence, clenched his jaw.

But Troy...

Troy forced himself to his feet, unshaken.

Starman chuckled, low and amused. "You almost did it," he said, stepping forward. His gaze was sharp, predatory. "You almost crossed the line."

Elemental, still bound, laughed weakly. "You guys are dead now."

Starman grinned. "No. You are."

A beam of red light pierced through Elemental's skull.

His laughter stopped.

His body went limp.

Smoke curled from the hole in his head.

Silence.

Starman eyes glowing red.

Starman turned, his smirk widening.

"This is just the beginning."

And then, BOOM, he shot into the sky, vanishing at supersonic speeds.

The warehouse was silent.

The Bubble Crew stood frozen.

Troy barely felt his broken arm. His mind replayed the moment over and over.

Elemental was dead.

Not by his hand.

But still dead.

And Starman had let him live.

Troy clenched his fists.

His war wasn't over.

It had just begun.