Blood floated in slow arcs, drifting instead of falling, and Chitki's cracked mask hissed with every shallow breath she tried to take.
Bear saw it.
The fracture line spread like a spiderweb across the visor, air leaking, her systems flickering, and for a moment the battlefield faded—
not because the fight stopped, but because his mind dragged him somewhere else.
It was after Tema HQ had finally been completed.
The building still smelled of new metal and polished stone, lights humming softly as systems synced for the first time.
Bear had been leaning against the railing, apple juice in hand, staring at the city below like it might explode again at any second.
"Kunter did too much damage," Chitki said, sitting on the floor beside him, back against the wall, tools scattered everywhere.
"Entire blocks erased. We can't afford that again."
Bear took a sip.
"Then don't let it happen again."
"That's not a plan," she replied flatly.
Poppy had been lying on the couch upside down, legs dangling, listening quietly for once.
"What if....," she said slowly, "you don't fight here?"
They both looked at her.
She rolled onto her stomach.
"Imagine a whole other world, completely barren and still. No cities, no people, just endless space and rocks...?"
Chitki froze.
Bear blinked. "You want me to teleport everyone?"
"Heroes," Poppy corrected. "And villains. Together."
Bear shook his head instantly.
"That kind of jump would drain me dry. And dragging an enemy with us? That's insane."
Poppy smiled. "But not impossible."
Silence stretched.
Chitki didn't argue. She just looked at Bear and said,
"If we don't find an alternative… next time, the planet might not survive."
Bear had stared at his juice for a long time after that.
"Oh man....fine," he'd muttered eventually.
"But only if it's a last resort."
The memory shattered.
Drayke's fist slammed into Chitki mid-sentence as she tried to respond to Bear's voice through the mask, the impact snapping her head sideways as the visor finally cracked open completely.
Air rushed out.
Chitki choked.
Her body convulsed in low gravity, fingers clawing uselessly as warning lights died one by one.
"CHITKI—" Bear shouted.
Something snapped inside him.
Bear hesitated at first, but given the situation, he kept the hesitation aside and muttered...
"Kanten."
The word left his mouth like a curse.
Space folded violently, not clean this time, not precise, and Chitki vanished in a flash of distorted light—ripped straight out of the battlefield and thrown back to Earth in an uncontrolled emergency jump.
Bear staggered the moment it happened.
His knees hit the ground hard, the weight of the teleport tearing through him, his vision blurring as his power burned away almost half of what he had left.
Drayke watched silently.
Tuka stepped forward.
His body was shaking. Blood ran freely from his nose and mouth, staining his collar, but his eyes were burning with pure will.
Bear forced himself up and stood behind him.
Apple juice discarded. Smile gone.
Low gravity pulled at their balance.
The air felt thin.
Hostile.
Drayke tilted his head slightly, studying them.
"You got to be kidding me."
Two still standing.
Bear cracked his neck once and muttered, barely audible,
"…C'mon man, what did you take me for?."
Tuka wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and stepped forward again.
Looking at Drayke as his vision was getting blurry minute by minute.