Light.
Energy Guy's eyes snapped open to a blinding wash of white. His vision blurred, the world reduced to glare and the shrill hum of fluorescent bulbs overhead. Slowly, the haze receded, and the sterile glow of the ceiling lights sharpened into focus.
He shifted, feeling the give of a padded floor beneath him. No shackles. No restraints. Panic flared. He lurched upright, breath ragged, eyes darting around the featureless white walls that seemed to close in on him.
And then, movement.
Across the room, Fire Guy and Charcoal stood pressed into a corner, their heads bent close, murmuring in low voices. For a fleeting second, they almost looked… calm.
Energy Guy staggered to his feet, nearly stumbling as he rushed toward them. His voice cracked, urgent. "What's going on? Where the hell are we—"
Fire Guy cut him off, his tone clipped, his glare sharp enough to slice through the panic. "Stop. Don't fool yourself. We're not rescued. We're not safe." He let the silence hang for a moment, his jaw tightening. "We're trapped."
Energy Guy, still frantic, turned to Charcoal, hoping, praying in his heart for a different answer. But Charcoal only gave a simple nod, his blonde hair falling forward to hide his expression.
Energy Guy slowly turned back to Fire Guy, disbelief etched across his face.
"So what then? You're just gonna give up? Just like that? After everything, you're both just… done?" His voice cracked, a mixture of fear and stubborn defiance burning in his eyes.
Fire Guy met that expression with something unexpected, a flicker of pity, and maybe even the same fear that Energy Guy was fighting to bury.
"Look around," Fire Guy said, his tone steady but hard. "We're in a sealed, padded room. No doors. No windows. We're not strong enough to break out, and we're sure as hell not smart enough to figure out where we even are. So what do you suggest we do? Please, give me a real answer."
Energy Guy opened his mouth, ready to lash back, but the weight of Fire Guy's words sank in. His chest tightened. He closed his mouth again, stepping back in reluctant silence. Fire Guy was right.
"…So what then?" Energy Guy finally asked, his voice quieter now.
Fire Guy's gaze drifted over the sterile walls, the faint hum of the lights filling the emptiness. Defeat colored his expression, though a part of him still looked like he was waiting, hoping, for Energy Guy to offer something, anything that could break them out.
"We wait," Fire Guy muttered.
Energy Guy's eyes narrowed in frustration, disappointment cutting through his fear. Fire Guy noticed. "What else is there to do?" he added bitterly. "Orange Guy left us here for a reason."
Energy Guy looked at Charcoal. Then at Fire Guy. Then down at the padded floor beneath them.
"...Sure," he said, voice heavy with resignation. "You're right, I guess."
A few minutes passed. After about seven minutes of silence, Charcoal slouched against the wall, sliding down until he was seated. Two minutes later, Fire Guy followed his lead. Another minute after that, Energy Guy reluctantly joined them.
The three boys sat quietly, each against a different wall, forming a crooked triangle. No one spoke. The silence stretched on for ten whole minutes, until Energy Guy finally broke it.
"So... what were your lives like? You know, before... whatever this is?" he blurted out, his voice awkward and too loud for the stillness.
"You say that like we're not going back," Fire Guy muttered, lifting his head just enough to reveal a scowl.
Charcoal's voice came next, soft and heavy. "Maybe he's right."
Fire Guy turned a death glare toward Energy Guy, who quickly panicked.
"No! That's not what I—" He stopped himself mid-sentence, realizing there was no point in trying to patch it up. The silence threatened to return, until a sudden idea sparked in his mind, lighting up his face with mischief.
"...You know, I was like, the most popular kid in school. Not to brag." Energy Guy smirked.
Fire Guy and Charcoal exchanged bewildered looks, their silence thick with confusion, until Fire Guy finally blurted out, "Excuse me?"
"Yeah, I know. Makes sense, right? Captain of the football team and all that. Of course they picked me for this." Energy Guy leaned back smugly, as if the statement explained everything.
Charcoal, usually stoic and unreadable, actually let out a quiet chuckle. Energy Guy caught it instantly.
"What're you laughing at? Isn't it obvious just from looking at me?" He gestured dramatically to his scrawny, unimpressive frame.
Fire Guy raised an eyebrow. "Sure."
That tiny scrap of conversation seemed to fuel Energy Guy's ego. He leaned forward, eyes bright. "Alright, I shared my story. Your turn, Fire Guy."
"What? No! Hell no!" Fire Guy snapped, recoiling like the very idea was offensive.
Energy Guy's smirk faltered just slightly, but he kept it on his face. "Come on! I just gave you a kidney here—the least you could do is give something back!"
Fire Guy blinked in disbelief, his confusion climbing with every word. "What the actual hell are you talking about?"
Energy Guy threw on a mock-serious face, pressing a fist to his mouth and clearing his throat dramatically.
"Picture this: you need a kidney transplant. You get one. Your life is saved. You'd be grateful, right?" He stared straight into Fire Guy's eyes.
"I... guess?" Fire Guy muttered, unsure where this was going.
"Exactly. You'd want to pay it forward somehow. Not, like, stop a bank robbery or anything—just little stuff. Pick up trash on your walk, hold the door open, whatever."
Fire Guy stared blankly, not comprehending any of it. Energy Guy pushed on.
"So! I showed kindness. Told you my sob story. Now it's your turn. Let's hear it."
Charcoal finally spoke up, his voice shy but firm. "Actually, your argument falls apart in several ways. For one, he didn't ask you to—"
Energy Guy instantly shot a finger at him and whispered mock-seriously, "Shhh. Quiet one. Let me have my moment." He kept his eyes locked on Fire Guy.
Fire Guy looked at Energy Guy, who was practically vibrating with anticipation, waiting for an answer. With an exasperated sigh, Fire Guy finally muttered:
"Fine. I have a feeling you wouldn't shut up if I didn't anyway."
Energy Guy's face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning, his whole body jolting upright with excitement. Fire Guy caught the movement out of the corner of his eye, clenched his jaw, and gave a slight glare before continuing.
"I grew up with just my mom. Never met my dad. He split the second I was born."
He could feel it. Both Energy Guy and Charcoal trying to bury their pity under polite silence. His tone sharpened.
"Don't. Don't give me those looks. I stopped waiting for him years ago. He was never coming back."
Fire Guy shifted his posture, his voice steady but tinged with something heavier now.
"I loved my mom. More than anything. She… she was the type of person who'd give until there was nothing left of her. She bent over backwards for me and my little brother. She worked double shifts, came home bone-tired, and still found a way to smile at us. She never yelled, never blamed us when things went wrong,.even when she should have. I tried to help her, as much as a kid could. I thought… I thought we were in it together."
He pauses, his words dragging slower, harsher.
"But you know what she did with all that love? With all the sacrifices, all the promises she made? She walked out. Just like him."
Energy Guy's smirk faltered. Charcoal's face froze. Fire Guy's voice cracked with bitterness as he leaned forward, his fists curling.
"She left me. She left him. My little brother. Do you understand that? A kid who still thought monsters lived under his bed, she left him. And me? I'm still a kid myself! You think I'm ready for that? You think I wanted this?"
The room hung in silence, but Fire Guy's words only grew sharper, more venomous with each breath.
"And then I look around, and I don't see her face anywhere. Not in that picture. Not in this… whatever twisted mess we've landed in. She's gone. You didn't see her, did you? Either of you?"
His eyes locked on theirs, wild with anger.
"No. Of course you didn't. Because she wasn't there. Because she never is. Because people like her, people like them. they don't stay. They don't fight. They just leave. And they leave you to rot in the ashes."
The room was silent for a long, heavy moment. Nobody moved, nobody breathed too loudly. Finally, Fire Guy spoke, his voice low, almost trembling.
"I've been wondering this whole time... what if all this is permanent? What if I never get to see them again?"
His words lingered in the air like smoke. The silence that followed was deafening, Charcoal stared at nothing, distant, like his thoughts had slipped away into another world. Energy Guy sat slouched, defeated, as if he too had given up on trying to keep the conversation alive.
But then, without warning, Energy Guy pushed himself to his feet. The sudden movement snapped Fire Guy's head up, confusion written all over his face.
Energy Guy looked down at him, his expression firm, and spoke six words that cut through the silence like a blade:
"What if it all works out?"
Fire Guy blinked, stunned. His thoughts scrambled, crashing into each other. He couldn't form a coherent response, only a single, fragile word slipped past his lips:
"…What?"
Energy Guy's smirk returned, the same one he'd worn earlier, but this time it burned brighter, steadier.
"Simple," he said. "What if it all gets better? What if everything we're scared of, every terrible thing that keeps us lying awake at night, never happens? What if we actually get out of here? What if we get stronger, smarter, happier? What if we're not screwed at all?"
Fire Guy just stared, paralyzed by disbelief. Energy Guy leaned forward, his words rolling faster, sharper, like he couldn't hold them back.
"Let me put it this way: If it did work out, if things actually turned around, if you found a way to see your family again… you'd be happy, right? You'd be grateful you didn't give up?"
"…Y-yeah?" Fire Guy stammered, barely able to process it.
Energy Guy's grin widened as he extended his hand.
"Then stop killing yourself with that mindset. That whole 'we're done for, nothing matters' garbage? It's dead weight. It'll bury you alive if you let it. And I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to get buried yet. So kick it out, Burn it down, Punch it in the face, whatever works for you, man! Just don't let it win."
He laughed at his own ridiculousness, but there was steel in his tone, a force that made it impossible to dismiss him. Fire Guy looked at the hand stretched out to him, and for a split second, he thought of the last time someone had offered him something like that. He thought of his mother.
His throat tightened. His chest ached. He almost cried, but no tears came. Quietly, almost reverently, he took Energy Guy's hand and let himself be pulled to his feet.
"You're a weird dude, you know that?"
"I've been told worse," Energy Guy replied, smirking.
For a brief, golden moment, laughter filled the room. Even Charcoal, still sitting in his corner, couldn't help but smile faintly as he watched the two of them. For the first time since their capture, he let himself wonder, maybe things really would be alright.
But then, as Energy Guy held Fire Guy's hand a moment longer, he felt something. His brow furrowed.
"…Hey, why's your hand so warm?" Energy Guy asked, his smirk faltering.
"I don't know. Not like I'm nervous or anything." Fire Guy gave a shaky laugh, assuming it was just a joke. But then he felt it too, the heat spreading, building, almost alive.
The warmth escalated into a sharp burn, forcing Energy Guy to yank his hand back with a hiss. "Jesus, man, what the hell? Why's your hand so—"
He never finished the sentence.
Because all three of them froze. Their eyes locked on Fire Guy's hand.
It was no longer just warm. It was alive.
A searing, radiant flame engulfed his palm, not flickering like a campfire but roaring steady, like it had always been waiting to be born. The blaze was impossibly bright, the color of molten orange, casting wild shadows across the padded walls. It didn't fade, didn't sputter. It burned, continuous and fierce, as if defying the silence of the room.
For the first time since they were trapped, the three of them were united, not in despair, but in awe.