This is how it starts:

A mission with the captain on another alien planet, a mission that's normal until it's suddenly not. The ship makes a sound and you snap your head up, hoping for all you're worth because you know the ship and you know that sound, and as much as you hate being wrong, you wish you were, just this once.

But then a holoscreen lights up, and you have to accept because you have to look down and listen to what the captain says. Maybe he'll explain why he's up there and you're down here, and maybe it'll help with the feeling of dread that's always trying to swallow you whole, except this time, it's winning.

So you listen.

You didn't expect long term and you didn't expect to be left, but then there's a lot of things you never expected ever since you became a private, so you just add it to the list and shove it at the back of your mind.

(People always say expecting makes things worse, but they never say how the opposite is just the same, because no one wants to be reminded that those you care for can also hurt you, too.)

This is how it starts:

It takes a while to figure things out, but when you do, it feels like owning a silver platter. You find a place to stay, you find a school, you find your targets. They're kids, just like you, and you wonder if there's something you're missing because power has a look and it's definitely not a displeased frown, a suspicious squint, or a nervous grin.

So you watch with your eyes on the clouds while your ears stand guard, because sometimes there's more to the lecture than there is in the book. There's one thing you keep hearing, a name that seems to carry more than you can see: Boboiboy. It's a name that's either spoken with curiosity or attachment which - somehow - throws the metaphorical wrench in your plans.

(You try to say it, try to say the name with as much malice as a stranger can, but it comes out somewhere between petulant and, well.

Curious.)

This is how it starts:

After six months and a missing memory, you meet him. He's different than what you expected, different and brighter. He makes the others brighter, too, if that even makes sense. Gopal isn't as sulky, Yaya is relaxing, and Ying is softer around the edges. It tugs at something inside you, and you label it as annoyance because naming the reaction is always easier than the emotion.

The rivalry is something you own up to, because if nothing, it speeds up what you came here for. It's like finding a key, you think: ever since Boboiboy arrived, there's always been excitement, always been a spark in the air that pulled at the powerwatches. It pulled all the trouble, too, if Adu Du's arrivals were anything to go by.

(And, to your horror, it pulled at you.)

This is how it starts:

A week ago, you declared your rivalry with Boboiboy. Now, your rivalry is still going, but you're also having lunch with them while Gopal cries over his math notes and Boboiboy slumps in defeat. It shouldn't amuse you as much as it does, but just this once, you let your guard down, matching Gopal in his disbelief as Boboiboy asks why you never got top of the class.

(It's... nice, you think, but it is something you refuse to name.)

This is how it's starts:

A day in school trying to get through a test, a day that's normal until it's suddenly not. A ship makes a sound and you snap your head up, hoping for all your worth because you know a ship and you know that sound, and as much as you hate being wrong, you wish you were, just this once.

But then Ejo Jo comes out and even Adu Du is angry, and everything is a mess because you're all fighting and trying to save everyone you can. There's a flash of yellow and your breath hitches, because Ochobot is important to people and to you, because he's not just as a mission anymore and before you know it, you're racing across the field and pulling him to safety.

Probe is dead and the others are captured, and for a minute you wonder if you're the only one safe. The thought makes your insides twist, until something red is beside you and the world is suddenly a blur, and you find yourself in the safety of the enemy base and you wonder if Boboiboy realizes just how ironic the whole thing is.

Adu Du is grieving and you call him out, and Boboiboy does the same, but he does it to you because he understands that even aliens need time. They think you don't get it, except that you do, it's just that you're running out of time and you need to save people, you just need a plan and you need one now.

You're ready to fight, and you almost do it, but Ochobot stops you before you engage with the wrong person. He has an idea, and both you and Boboiboy listen, because if he is the fire, then you are the shadow, and your determination will always mirror one another. So when the robot suggests surrender, neither of you hesitate to hit him one. For once, you agree with him.

(There is no giving up.)

This is how it starts:

There is a boy who is left alone for a task, and he tells himself it's okay even if it isn't.

He is a shadow and shadows are feared, but then some people are nothing but courageous, and they tell him he is more than that. They tell him in their greetings and in their farewells, and he hears it in conversations and in their laughs. He thinks this is what it's like to hear colors, and he hopes that he never becomes deaf.

(Here is a secret: that boy is you.)

So he listens to the plan, listens as Boboiboy's voice keeps steady as he marches to the lion's den. He stares after the other and thinks - so this is trust - because Boboiboy is a kid and so is he, but somehow both of them can manage to save the world. And when all is said and done, he'll look back and wonder how it all started.

The sky is bright even as he falls, because he knows that this time, someone will catch him.

(You hope it never ends.)

A/n: this is the rumored writing style i'm trying. it's a lot more... emotional? or whatever the word is, just that it's definitely more introspective. like always, i hope you guys liked it owo)/