Bubble Boy

Warehouse 17 – Livestream Chat [LIVE – BUBBLE CREW | 103,928 viewers]

@VoidEyes: THEY'RE LOSING??

@GardenGirlFan: Garden girl, no no no please get up!!

@LegionSupremacy: Told y'all. Legion clears. Every. Time.

@BubbleBoyComeBack: WHERE'S BUBBLE BOY???

@SeamanStan: Even Seaman's not holding back anymore… this isn't a fight. It's a beatdown.

Inferno screamed as Bolt drove a tornado-like punch into his gut, flames sputtering from Jackson's mouth as he was launched through the wall. The heat warped the steel as he hit the ground and didn't move.

"Jackson!!" Psion shrieked, raising her hands to shield him, only for Construct to materialize a steel net around her mind, a psychic suppressor.

"Nighty night, princess," he said with a wink, slamming her into the ground with a gravity disc.

Garden Girl's arms were already trembling. Blood dripped down her brow, mixing with ash. Gladiator's blade pierced through her vines again, slicing through the shield she tried to conjure. Her breath hitched.

"Still standing?" Gladiator whispered, calm and sadistic. "I'll make sure you don't next time."

She raised her sword, prepared to finish Annie.

Until Zeus flew in, body crackling with stormlight, and tackled Gladiator through the roof.

But even Zeus was slowing, one arm dangling uselessly, lip split, armor torn.

From the shadows, Umbra lunged toward Construct, only for a burst of pure white light to slam into his chest mid-leap.

CRACK!

He crashed to the floor, coughing, his ribs fractured.

Void walked forward, her body shimmering like a prism, her pale gaze fixed and unblinking. "You run from the dark, but I am the void within it," she whispered, then blinked and reappeared right above him.

A single foot pressed on his chest.

Umbra tried to vanish, but light laced through the shadows. She had trapped him.

"Clever…" he muttered, gritting his teeth.

Void leaned in close, her cold face hovering above his mask. "You don't recognize me, do you?"

His eyes widened. "…Wait…"

She reached up and ripped off her own mask.

Alexa.

Carter's breath hitched. "Alexa?!"

Before anyone could react...

FLASH!

Light swallowed them both.

[LOCATION UNKNOWN – 6:12 PM]

Carter slammed into a soft rug, gasping. The room spun, soft music played faintly from a speaker. Warm yellow lighting. A couch. Posters of college bands. An open laptop with textbooks beside it.

Alexa stood across the room, mask discarded. Her black-and-silver Legion suit still glowing faintly, but her face… her face was trembling.

"What the hell is going on?" Carter whispered, sitting up.

Alexa crossed her arms. "You weren't supposed to know."

"You're… Void?? My girlfriend is part of the Legion?!" he snapped, still holding his ribs.

She flinched.

"I thought you were just a music major! We went on coffee dates, you cried at Up, and now you're out there blinding Psion and beating me half to death?!"

Alexa's hands trembled. "I didn't want you to find out like this. I didn't want you to be Umbra."

He stared at her, eyes narrowing. "You've been spying on us?"

"No," she whispered. "I fell in love. And now I'm scared."

"You attacked us," he spat. "You almost killed Annie!"

Her voice cracked. "I didn't know it was her under the vines."

Silence stretched.

Finally, Carter stood, shadows wrapping around his arms like smoke. "You saved me. Why?"

She hesitated. "Because if Starman finds out I care about you… he'll kill you. Like he killed Elemental. Like he plans to kill Troy."

Carter's heart dropped. "You know about that?"

"I know everything, Carter. And I've been pretending for too long."

They stared at each other, on opposite sides of a quiet apartment. Between them, the weight of truth finally settled.

And somewhere far away, the livestream continued to spiral.

Warehouse 17 – Livestream Chat [LIVE – 111,726 viewers]

@GardenGirlFan: ZEUS IS DOWN TOO??

@VoidGoddess: Void just vanished with Umbra… she teleported him?!

@WHEREISBUBBLEBOY: We need Bubble boy. NOW.

[LOCATION – Jace's Mansion ]

Troy's body dripped with sweat, muscles sore but alive with new power. The training with Shadow had pushed him past his limits, his mind clearer, his control sharper, and his heart heavier.

He wiped his face with a towel, breathing deep.

From the corner of the room, a flicker of blue light caught his eye.

Jace sat hunched over his laptop, eyes glued to the screen. His face was pale. Too pale.

Troy stepped forward, frowning. "What are you watching?"

Jace didn't respond.

Troy grabbed the laptop and spun it around.

Warehouse 17 – Livestream Chat [LIVE – 113,201 viewers]

The screen showed chaos, his team, his family, being torn apart. Jackson lay unconscious. Emily crushed. Annie bloodied and fading. Even Zeus had gone down. And Carter…

Void had taken him.

The chat scrolled too fast to read.

Troy's breath caught. His towel dropped.

"You knew?" he whispered. "You watched this and said nothing?"

Jace stood quickly, startled. "Troy, listen..."

His voice never landed.

Troy's eyes burned red, crackling with rage and grief. For a moment, the walls seemed to hum with pressure. "If they die," he said, voice trembling, "I swear to GOD, Jace…"

Red light flared across his irises.

"I'll forget we were ever friends."

He turned away, already moving.

Jace stepped forward. "Where are you going?"

Troy yanked open his closet. Inside, the sleek blue and black suit gleamed beneath a dim bulb, the Bubble Boy suit. He pulled it on without hesitation. His fingers trembled only when he reached the chest emblem, his symbol, a BB letters in bold.

"They need me."

He flung open the window and raised his hands.

Bubbles ignited around his palms.

He launched himself into the sky, the wind howling around him, his aura flickering like a storm.

City shrank beneath him. His heart raced.

But then…

A thought gripped him. Jackson bleeding. Annie gasping. Carter vanishing into light.

His team dying.

A pulse surged from his core.

His bubbles vanished.

He didn't fall.

He flew.

Faster than ever before.

Without bubbles.

Without limits.

Troy soared like a meteor across the city skyline, eyes set on the battlefield.

Warehouse 17 – Incoming.

And this time, Bubble Boy wasn't holding back.