5 MINUTES AGO
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Bobo stood in the stands with Luce, Amelia, Tobi, and Ryosuke. Dust and screams filled the air. The moment the slab came crashing down, he threw his arms out, wrapping them all into his massive chest, shielding them from whatever debris came flying their way. The air trembled from the impact, the shockwave rolling through their bones. When the dust finally began to settle, Bobo looked up, squinting through the haze.
"What the hell…"
There—standing where the platform had been—were six figures cloaked in black and gold.
"Who are they…" he muttered under his breath, more to himself than anyone else. It didn't matter. Whatever they were, the dome had been breached. For the first time in Defector history, their walls had been broken. His instincts kicked in.
"Everyone to the tunnel!" he barked, voice booming across the chaos.
Ryosuke immediately turned to Marlene and Angelica. "We must go. I will be right behind you." He pushed them along, his blade half drawn, ready to defend.
Luce, pistol already in hand, opened fire at the golden force field Sister Gemini had raised around the slab. Each shot sparked and fizzled against it. Amelia turned to Bobo, her eyes wide. "Who the hell are they?"
Bobo just shook his head, metal hand tightening into a fist. "No clue. Just stay here with Luce and Tobi. I'm gonna get Mikey."
He vaulted down from the stands, boots slamming hard against the concrete, the echo cutting through the chaos. Through the haze and the screams, he spotted Mikey—right there in front of the fallen slab, frozen in shock.
"Mikey!!" he roared, charging full speed, the ground cracking beneath every stride, his metal arm swinging forward like a piston. Mikey turned, startled, eyes wide and dazed.
'I got you, kid. Just stay put—'
But then Bobo's eyes flicked upward—and he saw him.
A massive hooded figure stood atop the slab, wrapped head to toe in bloodied, yellow-stained bandages, only a single reddish-brown eye visible through the wrappings. Wild tufts of hair spiked out from the top of his head. The man looked directly at Bobo—no, through him—with that predatory gleam of someone who had just found his next kill. Capricornus' voice carried over the chaos, smooth and almost gleeful. "Brother Aries, give them their treat."
The giant grunted and stepped off the slab, landing with a thunderous crash that shook the ground. Bobo's eyes darted to Mikey, then back to the towering man.
'He's gonna stop me from getting to the kid.'
He changed course instantly, redirecting his run straight toward the hooded brute.
"Let's go then!"
The man stopped walking, lowering his stance as Bobo came barreling in. Their hands met mid-charge—metal and flesh colliding with enough force to send a ripple through the ground.
Boom.
The impact echoed like a bomb. Bobo expected to send the man flying—but instead, he stopped cold. The brute didn't move an inch. His sheer size was unreal—seven feet tall, easily five hundred pounds of muscle. Bobo had never been overpowered before in his life, but this one—this one held firm.
"Sup, big boy!" Bobo grunted through clenched teeth, a grin flashing through the strain.
Neither of them budged. The man's single visible eye glared down at him, cold and unblinking. Then, slowly, Aries took a step forward. The ground beneath his feet cracked like glass. Bobo's grin faltered, his boots digging trenches into the floor as he fought back.
"You don't talk much, huh? What's under them bandages—you that ugly?"
The man let out a low, animal growl, and then bent Bobo's wrist back. The metal joints groaned under the pressure. Bobo's eyes went wide.
'What the hell—no one's ever bent my arm back before.'
With a single motion, Aries forced him down to a knee. The ground spiderwebbed beneath them.
'This fucker won't budge.'
Bobo roared and drove his forehead forward, headbutting the man square in the face. But Aries didn't even flinch. His neck didn't move an inch. All it did was piss him off. Aries grunted, muscles flexing under his robes, then spread Bobo's arms wide open, leaving him exposed. Bobo barely had time to react before Aries reeled his head back and slammed his forehead down into Bobo's skull.
Boom!
The impact sent Bobo sprawling. His body slammed into the concrete, a crater forming beneath him. His vision blurred, ears ringing, blood pouring down his face.
'What was that… where am I—'
He barely had time to think before he felt himself being lifted—by the waistband. Robert "Bobo" Presley—six foot six, three hundred pounds of solid power—was being hoisted into the air like a ragdoll. Aries spun him around, once, twice, three times, before hurling him like a shotput.
Bobo's body smashed through the air, colliding into the fifth row of the stands with a deafening crash. The concrete split beneath him, ribs flaring with pain, his back screaming in protest. He coughed, tasting blood, forcing his head up. He looked around and saw chaos—Defector soldiers falling, cultists swarming in through the shattered dome, civilians dead in their seats, and even children—children lying still among the debris. His heart dropped.
"Holy shit…" he whispered, voice raw.
A sudden boom cut him off—a shadow overhead. He looked up just in time to see Aries midair, thirty feet above, arms raised high, fists clenched together. The man was diving straight for him.
"Aw, hell nah—"
Bobo rolled just as the brute slammed down, the entire stand exploding into rubble. The shockwave threw dust and debris into the air.
'How the hell is this guy this strong?! It almost reminds me of—'
And for a split second, his mind dragged him back. Back to a night he will never forget but never wants to see again.
The fire, the screams, his town burning. His right arm—gone, just a bleeding stump, the night he lost that arm. The woman beside him—dead. And the man who had done it all standing before him, eyes burning red, dressed in a black and white military coat and scarf that flowed like a cape in the smoke. That man's grip around his younger self's throat. That cold, calm voice. That impossible strength. He remembers that man being one-man army. His entire childhood town, the hundreds of Defector soldiers that watched over it were all dead. Hundreds killed before one single man, in seconds.
Bobo blinked, shaking his head, forcing himself back to now.
'No… that was a Director. And he was way stronger than this bastard. But still—what the hell is the Council hiding? It's like this guy's got a small fraction of that same power.'
He cracked his neck, wiped the blood from his forehead, and smiled bitterly.
"Alright then, big man… round two."