Chapter Text
The small explosion had rocked the entire TAPOPs headquarters.
Cahaya, who had been coming back from the cafeteria, almost spat the coffee he was drinking when Daun suddenly appeared out of nowhere with a panicked Gopal.
"Something happened at the labs!"
"WHAT?!"
He didn't wait for an explanation as he set the mug aside and quickly made his way to the laboratories. His mind was already going to every worst-case scenario, remembering he had just left that one single experiment he had been working on for the past few days, completely unattended.
He wasn't usually so careless but Tanah had assured him he would keep an eye on it and had practically shoved him out of the room to go freshen up and get some breakfast.
Last night had been unkind to him, due to his nightmares, so he had yet again, pulled an all-nighter and must've looked like a zombie. This then led to their leader acting like the mother hen no one had asked him to be and nagged and berated Cahaya until he finally gave in.
Of course, no one can go against Tanah.
But Cahaya should've known better.
Even with a responsible elemental like Tanah, there would always be a greater chaos ready to wreck havoc.
Aka...
"API!" Cahaya had grabbed the teen clad in red who looked like he was trying to sneak away from the crowd of mop aliens that had gathered by the entrance of the laboratory.
All eyes turned to them, but Cahaya ignored it as he scowled at his counterpart, "What. Did. You. Do?!"
"It was just supposed to be a small, harmless, explosion!" He quickly defended himself and Cahaya couldn't help but wonder what did he do to deserve this. Of all the things—
The sounds of crying stopped him from giving Api a karate chop to the head, and dread washed over him when he realized they sounded like... babies.
"It can't be..." Cahaya turned to the entrance in slight horror, just as Yaya squeezed through the crowd looking amused and worried at the same time.
"Uhm... Cahaya. I think you need to see this."
He let go of Api and followed the gravity manipulator in to the laboratory. The mop aliens stepped aside so he can go through and just as he feared... he came face-to-face with three familiar babies, all draped in oversized shirts of yellow, brown & blue, and were currently being calmed by Air, Ying and Fang.
They were probably no more than a year old and most possibly younger than that.
Cahaya watched as Angin gurgled cheerfully once Air got the hang of picking him up while Tanah obediently let Ying place him on her lap, eyes wide and curious as he looked at each of them. Fang, however, was having a hard time with Petir who was being fussy and looked like he was seconds from crying as he continuously whined and kicked at his friend, resulting him in getting more tangled with his oversized shirt.
"W-what were Angin and Petir doing here?! I thought it was just Tanah!" Cahaya eventually found his voice.
"He called them because he thought it would be a good time to fuse back." Daun suddenly appeared behind him, "Api got here ahead of Air and I was told to go tell you after you had breakfast."
"Api thought it was funny if they could scare them with a mini explosion since—according to him— they looked so serious he wanted to prank them." Air said with a roll of his eyes, before looking at Angin curiously who had pat him softly on the cheek. The baby gave him an adorable toothless smile it made Yaya squeal as soon as she got to rejoin them.
Cahaya, however, could feel his anger be fueled by his lack of sleep and glared at Api who at least had the decency to look ashamed.
"How would I know your experiment was so flammable?!"
"GAH! You're so stupid I can't believe we're the same person!"
"HEY! AT LEAST I'M NOT SOME WEIRDO MAKING SOME WEIRD BABY POTION!"
"IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO—IT WAS A SHRINK SERUM CAPTAIN TOLD US TO MAKE! YOU FORGETFUL MATCHSTICK!"
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!"
Cahaya wanted to throw more insults but Petir had taken this opportunity to start crying as Fang unsuccessfully tried to calm him down.
"Guys do something!" Fang said as he practically put the baby in arm's length looking every bit of uncomfortable when his crying only grew worse.
Cahaya froze when he was sure he saw a tiny spark emit from the other's hand just as Yaya was about to take the baby from Fang.
He did not hesitate and quickly took Petir afraid that he might actually shock them and cause more damage that they cannot afford to have.
"C-Cahaya?" Yaya exclaimed looking just as surprise as the others.
"Didn't know you were a baby-person." Air commented like it were some sort of inside joke. Angin giggled like he understood.
Cahaya glared and merely took Petir's hand to inspect it. Trying to make sure if his powers are indeed are still there, "I thought I saw Petir about to use his powers."
"Wait, wait, wait—" Gopal exclaimed looking horrified next to Daun, "The babies have powers!?"
Api perked up and looked at Angin in excitement, "One way to find out—oof!"
Air had stopped him from grabbing the baby with a stern look, "You are not going to throw him to see if he can fly."
"But-!!"
"Alright, I think that's enough." Yaya spoke up before another fight was about to break out. She looked at her friends with a nod, "It's about time we do some damage control instead of sitting here doing nothing."
"I agree." Ying said as she carefully maneuvered Tanah over her shoulder and stood up, "We should get some clothes for the babies or something and put them somewhere safer than here."
Cahaya tried not to let out a pitiful whine as he finally took in the state of his lab. Broken glass was everywhere, and not a single drop of the serum was left. The papers on the table were scorched, (as were the other tables and walls) and he didn't have the heart to go check if there was anything salvageable from his notes.
By this time the crowd outside had dispersed, leaving the gang to take in the situation they were currently in.
"Gopal, you go tell Captain of the situation." Fang instructed and Gopal looked at him in fear.
"WHAT?! Why me?!"
"I'll go see if we could find some clothes for them!" Yaya volunteered before turning to Cahaya with a teasing smile, "Seeing that Petir already seemed to take a liking to Cahaya. I'm guessing you have the baby situation under control?"
Wait, what?
He looked down to see that Petir had indeed calmed down and was now leaning against the light manipulator's chest with eyes half-open whilst sucking his thumb like he hadn't just thrown a tantrum a while ago. He looked like he was ready to nap and Cahaya could only look at the baby then to his friends in horror.
"Wait- wait! I can't! I have to start checking if I could fix this!" He hissed trying not to jostle the baby who was probably capable of electrocuting him if he got too loud, "I don't have time to babysit!"
The others hesitated, knowing Cahaya was right. They had to check out what other damages had been done and if any of this were reversible.
"Then... who should look after Petir?" Yaya frowned.
"Well it's not like he wants any of us to carry him." Fang said with an eyeroll.
"Let Api carry him. Maybe he's less fussy when he's around familiar faces... well... similar faces in our case." Air suggested, just behind him Daun held out his hands to take Tanah from Ying.
"Sure! Leave it to me!" Api said, his arms already open to receive the baby who stiffened as Cahaya positioned him to be taken.
Daun's eyes widened when he immediately noticed something and stepped back with Tanah now in his arms.
"Uhm... I don't think—"
It all happened too fast. There was a flash of light and a whine from Petir and everyone was screaming in shock— Api being the loudest as he was literally being shocked. Cahaya had to pull Petir away in horror and the baby immediately calmed down and clung to him with a pout.
Api stood in front of him arms still outstretched and he looked a bit... burnt (heh).
After a moment of shocked silence, Air turned to Yaya with a yawn and pulled the giggling Angin closer to him.
"I guess that answers our question."
.
.
.
To be continued...