The shockwave faded slowly, as if the planet itself was reluctant to settle.
Dust drifted through the thin air, floating longer than it should have in the low gravity, glowing faintly under the scattered light of distant stars.
Chunks of broken terrain hung suspended before finally crashing down with dull, hollow sounds.
The battlefield was quiet for a fraction of a second.
Chiki steadied himself, boots scraping against fractured ground as his suit recalibrated.
His chest rose and fell sharply, every breath burning, his ears still ringing from the last explosion.
The world felt slightly delayed, like it was struggling to keep up with what had just happened.
Then he saw it.
Far away, beyond the chaos, beyond the tearing air and broken land—something moved.
A figure.
Small. Unstable. Barely standing.
Chiki's eyes widened.
His heart skipped, then slammed violently against his ribs.
"...What?" he muttered.
The shape lifted itself, shaking, forcing its body upward through sheer will.
For a brief moment, the drifting debris cleared just enough for starlight to fall on her face.
Tema.
"Tema!" Chiki shouted, his voice cracking as it tore out of him.
He spun mid-air, nearly losing balance, and slammed his hand against his communicator.
"Chitki! Chitki, listen to me—I saw Tema ! She's here, I saw her!"
Static burst through the channel before Chitki's voice came back, sharp and panicked.
"What? Chiki, what are you saying? Where is she?! Is she fi—"
The air folded.
Not exploded. Not shattered.
Folded inward like paper crushed by invisible hands.
Chiki barely had time to register the distortion before gravity betrayed him.
Drayke dropped from above.
His knee smashed into Chiki's chest with terrifying precision, the force driving him straight into the ground.
The impact carved a crater beneath them, cracks racing outward as Chiki's breath was ripped from his lungs in a broken gasp.
Pain flared white-hot.
Before Chiki could even process it, Drayke was already moving.
"No distractions," Drayke said, voice calm, cold, almost disappointed.
Chiki rolled instinctively, a blade slicing through the space where his head had been a heartbeat earlier.
He coughed hard, forcing air back into his lungs, and threw a bomb without aiming, just to buy space.
The explosion bloomed behind Drayke—but the villain was already gone.
Air warped again.
Drayke reappeared directly in front of Chiki, fist coming down like a meteor.
Chiki barely raised his arms in time.
The impact rattled through his bones, sending him skidding backward, boots carving deep lines into the ground.
"Chitki, I can't—!" Chiki shouted into the communicator as he stumbled.
Drayke didn't give him time to finish.
Another strike came, then another—fast, precise, relentless.
Each movement was calculated, no wasted motion, no emotion behind it.
Then another voice cut through the chaos.
Bear.
His voice came through rough, uneven, every word sounding like it was dragged out of a body pushed far past its limits.
"Tema…"
Bear said, breath cracking.
"Dead planet… move left of the battlefield."
Chiki's heart clenched.
"No oxygen mask," Bear continued, quieter now. "She's alone."
The channel went silent for half a second.
"I'm going," Chitki said instantly.
There was no hesitation in her voice, no debate, no fear.
Thrusters roared to life as her suit flared bright, pulling away from the battlefield in a sharp arc.
Engines screamed in protest as she pushed them past safe limits, recalculating trajectories on the fly.
Her mind was already there.
With Tema.
Chiki didn't turn to watch her leave.
He couldn't.
Drayke stepped forward again, blood now streaking down the side of his face, his breathing heavier—but his posture hadn't changed.
His eyes were still sharp, focused, dangerous.
"Looks like it's just us now," Drayke said.
Chiki wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his glove and forced himself upright, muscles screaming in protest.
He laughed—short, strained, almost unhinged.
"Hey, don't forget," he said. "No distractions."
They moved at the same time.
Chiki launched forward, hurling two bombs mid-dash, using the recoil to twist his body sideways as Drayke warped through the explosions.
Drayke countered instantly, his elbow crashing into Chiki's shoulder, spinning him around before a kick sent him flying across the battlefield.
Chiki flipped mid-air, barely regaining control before slamming back down.
He rolled, came up on one knee, already throwing another device.
Drayke sliced it in half mid-air.
The explosion rippled outward, tearing chunks of the planet free, but Drayke walked through the aftermath untouched, eyes locked onto Chiki.
Each clash sent shockwaves through the terrain, the planet groaning under the strain.
Energy flared, warped, collapsed again. The sky above flickered as if reality itself was cracking under their fight.
Far away, a lone figure struggled on a silent world.
Tema's knees buckled as she forced herself up again, lungs burning, vision darkening.
Every movement felt wrong—heavy and light at the same time.
She gasped uselessly, air refusing to fill her chest.
Her legs shook violently.
Still, she pushed.
She heard a whirring noise from nowhere.
Her heart was racing while trying very hard to keep up.
She finally fainted while hearing a low voice.
"Tema—!"