They arrived too late.
The outpost was already destroyed, concrete torn apart, towers collapsed, sand blown into the air like smoke from a battlefield long past its breaking point. Craters scarred the ground where buildings once stood.
Shadow.
White Flash.
Blue Blaze.
All three lay unconscious amid the rubble.
Ian froze.
"I'm… I'm so sorry," he said quietly, his voice tight. "I don't know why I thought you guys could hang with them."
Blade knelt beside White Flash, his top student, checking his pulse.
"It's alright, Ian," Blade said, forcing steadiness into his voice. "We'll get..."
The world exploded.
Bron Krakos came down like a meteor.
He slammed into Ian, tackling him straight to the ground. Concrete shattered beneath them, cracks spiderwebbing outward as Ian was driven into the earth.
Blade reacted instantly. He blurred forward, grabbing Bron from behind and lifting him clean off the ground.
But Bron wasn't done.
He kicked his legs upward, twisted his body midair, and flipped out of Blade's grip, landing hard and rolling free.
At the same time
Vyroz Strael clashed with Optimus.
Twin katanas flashed as Vyroz attacked relentlessly. Optimus met him head-on, deflecting strike after strike with his silver hilt and blue energy blade, sparks tearing through the air with every collision.
Then
Seirath appeared.
No weapons.
Only a battle robe flows around him.
"You should've taught your students better," Seirath said calmly.
His skin shifted, turning deep blue.
His hair burned white.
Ian pushed himself up.
"That one's the Kia user," he warned. "Be careful."
Seirath raised a hand.
The ground obeyed.
Massive chunks of rock tore free and launched toward Ian. He dodged through them while Optimus bulldozed straight through, closing the distance.
But Bron burst in and punched Optimus mid charge.
Optimus twisted away, grabbed Bron's arm, and slammed him to the ground before dashing straight at Seirath again.
Blade and Vyroz clashed nearby.
Vyroz fired and slashed in perfect rhythm, pressure relentless. Blade pushed his speed higher, so fast he vanished behind Vyroz and struck for his head.
Vyroz didn't look.
His katana came up behind his back, perfectly angled, deflecting the strike.
Bron and Optimus exchanged brutal blows, fists, elbows, and knees, each impact shaking the ground.
Ian charged his katana with lightning and attacked Seirath.
Stone walls erupted from the ground, blocking every slash.
Seirath summoned a massive fireball and hurled it.
Ian split it cleanly with his blade and redirected the flames back at him.
Seirath answered with an ice wall.
Ian tapped his comm.
"I need backup, send Steel and Stark. Now."
Seirath placed his palm on the ground.
The earth crumbled.
Ian, Optimus, and Blade leapt upward as the terrain collapsed beneath them. Vines erupted from the ground, chasing them into the air.
Ian sliced them apart mid-flight.
Bron charged Ian
, but Optimus slammed into him, shoulder-checking him across the ground.
Optimus jumped for the finishing blow.
Bron backflipped just in time, narrowly avoiding the devastating stomp.
They went at it again, Bron unleashing perfectly coordinated punches and kicks. Optimus dodged everyone, then drove his knee into Bron's chest, launching him backward.
Bron rose slowly.
Roared.
Then charged at super speed, far too fast for someone his size.
Optimus couldn't dodge in time.
Bron hit him full-force.
Optimus slammed into the ground, the impact echoing across the battlefield.
Nearby, Ian and Seirath fought,
Seirath raised both arms.
A meteor formed in the sky and hurtled toward the colossal house.
"That house is built for meteors, dummy!" Ian shouted.
Seirath smiled.
The meteor liquefied, turning into molten magma mid-flight.
Ian's expression hardened.
"I don't know about that."
Ian launched himself into the sky, racing toward it, but he was too late.
The meteor detonated just before impact.
Then
BOOM.
Steel and Stark smashed through it from opposite sides, shattering the molten mass into fragments.
Ian landed hard, Steel and Stark touching down beside him.
"Took you long enough," Ian said flatly.
Before anyone could move
Seirath charged a massive Kia energy sphere, nearly half a mile wide, and slammed it into the ground.
The explosion ripped through the battlefield.
Ian, Blade, Optimus, and everyone were sent flying.
Blade spun through the air, upside down,
and saw Vyroz dashing straight at him.
Blade twisted mid-flight and raised his katana.
Steel rang against steel.
The battle was only beginning.