Aries walked forward in slow, thunderous strides, each step cracking against the fractured concrete. Bobo had managed to put maybe twenty feet of space between them, but it didn't feel like much—not with that mountain of muscle coming toward him. Around them, Defector soldiers tried to engage, desperate, shouting orders to cover fire, to flank, to protect whoever they could.
One of them lunged forward with a knife, blade trembling in his grip. Aries didn't even look at him—just reached out, caught the man by the skull, and crushed it like it was wet clay. Bone popped under the pressure. Without hesitation, he flung the body into another soldier sprinting toward him, knocking both down in a single motion.
A third soldier, maybe braver or maybe just too scared to stop, leapt onto Aries' back, plunging a knife into his shoulder over and over again. Blood soaked through the wrappings, but the massive man didn't even grunt. He just reached up, grabbed the man by the collar, and tossed him like a ragdoll straight toward Bobo.
Bobo caught him midair, boots sliding back from the impact. The soldier's eyes were wild with fear, his hands shaking as he tried to steady himself.
"This is my fight!" Bobo barked, setting him down. "Get outta here and go help the people at the tunnel!"
The soldier hesitated, but then nodded quickly. "Y-Yes, sir—"
His words cut off in a wet gasp.
A bloody hand burst clean through his chest from behind. His eyes went wide, blood bubbling from his mouth before his body went limp. Aries lifted him off the ground with that same casual ease, flicking the corpse aside like garbage. He looked down at his hand, the blood running between his fingers, then flicked it to the ground, splattering red across the cracked floor.
Bobo's jaw tightened. "You piece of shit."
He charged forward, swinging his metal arm in a full, brutal arc. Aries caught it mid-swing. The impact sent a dull clang through the air, the metal hand stopping dead in his grip.
Bobo gritted his teeth and tried to wrench it free, muscles straining, hydraulics in the prosthetic arm whining under the pressure. Nothing. Aries didn't move an inch.
So Bobo switched hands and threw a punch with his real one. The hit landed hard across Aries' face, the bandages rippling from the force, his head snapping slightly to the side. Any other man would've been out cold. Aries only tilted his head back into place, the bandages curling upward across his mouth like he was grinning underneath.
"You're enjoying this, huh?" Bobo spat.
Aries' response came in the form of a single, thunderous blow to Bobo's chest. The hit landed square—right in the sternum—and sent him flying backward ten feet. He crashed into the cracked seats, breath gone, lungs refusing to refill. He gasped, coughing, his chest screaming in pain.
"I ain't… done," he growled, forcing himself to stand.
Bobo's boots dragged against the rubble as he pushed forward again, blood dripping from his forehead, his arms shaking from adrenaline and fury. He launched himself at Aries, unleashing a wild barrage of punches. Left. Right. Left. Right. Metal. Flesh. Over and over.
The hits landed with dull, heavy thuds, but it was like punching a wall of iron. Aries didn't flinch. Didn't move. His body absorbed every blow without reaction. Bobo screamed and swung harder, veins pulsing in his temple, until Aries finally moved—one massive hand shooting up and catching Bobo by the throat.
Bobo's feet lifted off the ground. The giant's grip was like a steel vice around his neck, squeezing tighter until the veins in Bobo's forehead began to pop. Then Aries slammed him into the concrete floor. The ground erupted in cracks. Dust flew. The sound was like thunder.
Bobo's vision flickered for a moment—his ears ringing, lungs burning. He could hear shouting all around him, chaos bleeding through the noise. The stands had become a warzone—Defector soldiers clashing with cultists, civilians screaming as the crossfire tore through the crowd. But Bobo didn't have time to look. Aries' shadow fell over him again, his bandaged frame rising like a monolith through the dust. Bobo spat blood onto the floor and glared up at him, every muscle in his body shaking from exhaustion and fury.
"You're gonna have to hit harder than that," he muttered, voice low and rasping.
Aries tilted his head, the faint sound of bone cracking beneath the wrappings. Then he stepped forward again, ready to oblige. across the dome, through the haze and gunfire, another fight was breaking out.
Tobi and Amelia had their own battle to deal with soon.