TW: Panic attacks.
Can't believe I'm doing this to Goggles- even tho he's gonna be thru so much in the future chapters.
[ Keep in mind, I have never written anything related to a panic attack, or at least just know how it goes. I'm going thru each article on the internet on how it would go, so- sorry if it's not accurate- ]

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 Firey sparks were the only sound that echoed in the Inventor's basement, flashing lights coming to view as well. The Professor was behind a machine he was currently building, a welder mask covering his face and a blowtorch in hand, the place was a mess but it was still quite arranged with the desks around filled with containment units of screws, bolts, and metal craps. Still, the floor had some scattered bolts and little scraps of metal.

He's been working for quite some time after the Demon Steve War, planning on rebuilding a remodeled version of his Assistant Mech. He thought he could just try to rebuild the same robot again and maybe add new features, but he had some more ideas. Ideas started to pile up and up until the bucket needed to be replaced with a bigger one, soon Prof has to pick out some of those ideas to make the perfect Assistant Mech.

And apparently, it's going to take a long time to finally create the perfect model of his robot. The Assistant Mech he made was only built for protection, its model being buff and big to be a strong protector. He didn't really build the Mech like that on purpose, but he did, and coincidentally was perfect for the time when the Obsidian Steves needed help in a war.

The Professor only stopped his work just as he heard a loud bang from above his home and someone yelling his name.                               

" PROFESSOR! "

" SPARK I SWEAR TO THE GALAXIES YOU ARE RUNNING TO YOUR DEATH- "

Goggles stood up and pulled his welder mask above his head, turning off his blowtorch and turned behind the machine he was building, immediately spotting the new Elite and friend, Spark, along with his other friend Beef and soon followed by Sharp who seemed out of breath.

" What in the world made you guys run around would get my attention? " The Professor spoke up, putting away his mask and blowtorch to the nearby desk, and looked over to the trio. Sharp supported himself to stand on the railings of the stairs and was still catching his breath. " We had a meeting and- " Spark spoke up first but immediately got tackled by Beef, covering his mouth and his arms trapped on his sides as Beef trapped him with his free arm.

" Spark I am so close to starting a wrestling battle with you- "

" Beef cut that out! " Prof made his way to the duo and managed to pull Spark out of Beef's grasp on him. He stands between them, and Prof turned to Beef and stares at him with stern eyes. " What is even going on with you both? And my basement-slash-lab is not a place for wrestling! " The Inventor raised his voice as he used the two away from each other, he took a breath to calm down.

" He won't let me tell you the important news! "  Spark spoke out first

" What news? " The Professor asked, he turned to Spark about hearing that word and his gaze softened afterward. Spark didn't say a word for a bit and the Professor turned to Beef, who just looked away, avoiding eye contact, and was silent. " Gia ónoma tou Theoú, what is it that you want to tell me but not at the same time? " Professor looked at both of them quickly, Spark was still looking over to Beef, already planning to say it if Beef doesn't, and Beef's mouth is shut.

" That's it, I'm- I'm telling him. "

All eyes laid on the Archivist Elite, still on the stairs and now calmed down from the chase, he still looked a bit tired but right now wasn't the time to rest. Sharp looked up to the older Elite, then to Spark with a reassuring look, then back to Professor.

" Gogs, " For some odd reason, Professor tensed up from hearing his nickname again, especially with the tone of Sharp's voice. He's scared, why? " There's something going on and, you're.... not gonna like it. "

Professor Red stayed silent, signaling Sharp to go on. The Archivist of the group bit his lip and formed his words on his head before speaking up again.

" Just this morning, the Desert Apprentice and one of the Forest Steves came to me and Spark in the Desert Academy and asked if Colle was with us or have seen him anywhere. He wasn't in his cottage, we went in to check and, it was- his research papers were all on the ground, especially some pages of his journal were ripped off and scattered in the pile as well. "

Sharp paused for a moment to let Professor process what he said, then go on after a minute.

" I only assumed that someone broke in and tried to either rob him or, uh- fight him, but Colle was nowhere. At least not in the Desert Kingdom and here that we know of! It's just- We also called Seer if he saw him by any chance but, nothing. "

Beef straightens his position and looked over to the Professor in concern, he noticed that his friend was now gripping his lab coat tightly from below. The Professor's breath hitched a little bit and his mouth slowly opened, eyebrows furrowed.

" ... I- no- You don't think... " Professor looked over to the Elites that were on each of his sides, then back at Sharp in front of him. " ... Did- Colle-... disappear? "

" Maybe, but in other words... " Sharp trailed off for a moment, he knew he was gonna cut the string on Professor's head to control his emotions. "It's, possible that Colle got.... kidnapped. "

The Professor's eyes widened at Sharp's words, the last one shocked him the most. 

" Heh, you're joking. "

" Gogs... " Spark spoke up. " We all wouldn't be here right now if we were joking. "

The room fell silent, but the Professor's head was suddenly loud. Colle was kidnapped. Colle got kidnapped. Disappeared out of nowhere. Gone.

" Goggles, calm down bud- hey hey! "

The Professor's breath hitched and he was now breathing rapidly, he brought his hands up his chest and hugged himself, clutching to the fabric of his lab coat. The blood pounded in his ears. His heart thudded in his chest. His hands shook. His feet tingled. His vision was disfigured as if he were looking through a fish-eye lens.

His ears caught an echoed muffled voice, but he couldn't get the exact words right in his head. He heard someone yelling at something, and he felt a vibration of someone's footsteps running away from him and disappearing in a second. He clutched his lab coat near his chest, he felt a sudden spike pierce through his heart, his head suddenly spinning.

He couldn't even focus on such things at this point, he felt nauseous, he felt dizzy. He hears comforting voices around him, but no matter how hard they try to get Goggles' attention, he couldn't focus on any of them. He could hear his heartbeat, rapidly thumping every second that passed, it gets louder and louder and louder and louder. His chest getting tighter at the moment.

Then, something held on to him, something warm. Arms slowly clutched his back and pulled him closer to it, and Goggles couldn't do anything to prevent it. He subconsciously clung to the person who held him, his eyes shut close, tears rolled down his cheeks and he covered his own face on the person's chest. One of his hands gripped the person's clothing and sobbed quietly.

He heard the reassuring voice come back, but he still couldn't focus on what it was trying to say to him. " I- I can't- please- " Prof couldn't get the right words out, he wants help, he felt like he's gonna die at the very last moment, and the thumping of his heart can still be heard in his head. A hand reached out for his hair, he can feel someone softly ruffling his cherry hair, his sense of reality coming back as he felt that.

" Breathe buddy... In and out... gonna be fine "

He finally can hear the voices, the thumping slowed down softly, and his throat is sore, but he was able to process his breathing. In and out, like the voice said. The pain in his chest disappeared slowly, his mind zoning back.

" Hey Gogs, you okay now? "

The inventor opened his eyes, adjusting the blur of his eyes to fade away to see clearly. The Elites were still here, Beef was holding him, Sharp was next to him with his hand on his hair, and Spark was already standing right at the stairway with a blanket and water in hand. The Professor still felt delirious though, he held Beef's top.

" It's gonna be alright, " He heard the Archivist talk first, and the ruffling on his hair came back. " We'll find him, I promise. "

- ✯ -

" What? "

The Red Leader almost stood up from his seat, eyes widened from what he heard. The Elite Captain was sitting right on the large sofa while the Leader sat on the singular one, Boss was able to tell the news and information about Colle's disappearance, they only dropped off from the second Boss mentioned he might be kidnapped.

" And, this all happened, last night? "

" It could've happened early, maybe on Saturday night since that was the last day he was seen in public. But he had an.... outburst towards the Desert Apprentice. "

" An outburst? "

Boss shrugged " Could've been a mistake, Colle probably felt tired or stressed out about something. " He replied, leaning his body forward for a bit and fidgeted his clasped hands as he looked down at the red carpet below the small table for a moment. "I and my Elites are going to find him, at least start a search party tomorrow. I just hope that he's alright... "

The Leader leaned back on the chair for a moment, Colle's sudden disappearance was something to take in at least. He may haven't seen the Collector for a while or known him for a bit, even if the Professor had told him about Colle. The Leader looked back to the Elite Captain, he noticed one thing behind that frustrated look, his eyes showed concern and worry.

" We'll find him, you know that right? "

Boss looked up back at the Leader, His gaze softened as he let out a breath. " I know, this isn't the first time really, but it was easy to pinpoint Sharp's location with his energy. "

" You can do the same with Colle's- "

" No, it's- " Boss let out a breath as his hand ran through his hair. " The problem is that I couldn't track Colle's energy, I tried it while on my way here, not even a small bit of it. And when I couldn't pinpoint my Elites' location it was either they are far away or just... " Boss trailed off from his sentence, he didn't want to finish his words. The Leader only nodded as he understood the last bit.

" I see, thank you for telling me this news, it did shock me for the last bit. "

" Yeah, it did surprise me that this was happening as well. But there's also one more thing I want to ask before I head out and prepare for the search tomorrow. "

" What is it? If you want some supplies for the search, I can ask some of the Red Steves to give the exact- "

" No no, I think we already have what we need for tomorrow, it's just- We can't let this news spread around for a while, not until things get worst. Informing the other Leaders would be alright, I just don't want this to be public at the moment. "

" Of course, Elite Leader " Leader nodded in understatement.

Boss stood up from his chair after that, signaling the Leader that he was about to leave from that time. He let the Elite Leader leave the room on his own, hearing the door shut from afar and he sighed. The house felt too quiet but interrupted as his front door opened and closed.

The Leader stood up to check on who or what it was but only revealed his friend the Professor, looking tired and uneasy, seeing that he looked like he had a terrible breakdown with the tear-stained cheeks.

" Gogs? " The Professor only looked up to his friend, a concerned look on his face, like how the other Elites had earlier. " Hey there, is something- "

The Leader didn't even get to finish his words, he was immediately tackled by Professor with a hug, his head buried in the Leader's cardigan and he held on to his friend tightly. Obviously, the Leader was taken off surprised by the sudden action, but just as he felt his friend tremble, he knew what was wrong.

" It's okay Gogs, you can cry if you feel like it. "

And alas he opened the floodgates. The Professor started to sob, and the Leader gave him small pats on his back for comfort.