Thick, choking clouds of dust hung heavy in the air where Kairo had vanished into the shattered wall.
From the corner of the chamber, Bobo stood frozen, his face twisted in raw, agonizing worry. He watched helplessly as his friend was tossed aside like a ragdoll. "Kairo..." the name slipped past his trembling lips in a breathless whisper,
Slowly, Susie emerged from the settling gray haze. She walked with a casual, predatory swagger, her razor-sharp claws clicking softly against each other as she flexed her fingers.
"That's really it?" she mocked, letting out a sharp, disdainful hiss. She shook her head, her tone dripping with disappointment. "And here I thought it would be a hassle, after how much Harumachi wouldn't stop rumbling his mouth about you."
The dust began to clear. On the shattered stone floor ahead, Kairo stirred. Blood leaked steadily from his split lip, pattering against the rock as he planted his palms and slowly forced his broken body upward into a trembling, press-up position. He raised his head, damp strands of dark hair falling heavily across his forehead as blood dripped from a gash on his scalp.
Susie stopped a few paces away, her expression turning sharp and agitated. "On your feet!"
Kairo coughed, hacking up blood. But right as he struggled to lift himself, a sudden, cold shift in the air made Susie freeze.
An irritated scoff slipped past her lips. "Heh... what is this now?"
She slowly turned her head.
Instead of hiding in the corner, Bobo had stepped up directly behind her. He stood with an unyielding, fierce resolve carved into his face.
Susie’s eyes narrowed into a mocking glare. "Oh? So, the fat one wants to play hero now?" She spat bitterly to the side, her voice dripping with irritation. "How pathetic."
Down in the dirt, Kairo’s eyes rolled forward, catching sight of what Bobo was doing. Panic spiked through his chest, and he choked out a weak, desperate plea. "Bobo... please... don't do..."
Bobo didn't look back. Instead, he dropped cleanly into a textbook stance.
He set one foot forward and the other back, keeping them perfectly shoulder-width apart. His knees bent slightly, weight settling evenly between both legs. One hand came up to guard his face while the other stayed low, his shoulders loose, his eyes dead-locked on her back, completely ready to react the second she moved.
Susie spun around fully staring at him with absolute zero clue of what he's doing. "What this now? You think this some dance class fatso?"
Bobo didn't utter a single word.
A cold, dangerous smile touched Susie's lips as she squared her shoulders and locked her gaze onto him. "Fine, then. I guess my claws will start with your blood first."
She dropped low, coiling her body into a predatory tiger stance, muscles bunching and vibrating with kinetic energy. With an explosive crack beneath her boots, a cloud of dust erupted from the floor as she covered the distance in a single, lightning-fast charge.
The moment she reached him, her claws crashed down with devastating momentum, slamming directly into his shoulders and arms with the intent to overwhelm and tear him apart before he could even blink.
But Bobo didn't buckle.
He stayed firmly grounded, planting his feet deep into the stone floor to meet the brunt of the kinetic impact. His boots held fast as he absorbed the crushing force. His face twisted into a fierce strain, a heavy grunt tearing from his throat like a man taking the weight of an avalanche on his shoulders. His body shifted and slid backward just an inch, refusing to be knocked off balance.
Instead of backing away, Bobo instantly capitalized on her forward momentum. He reached in, wrapping his arms around her and locking them in a brutal grapple.
They were locked in a violent stalemate.
Susie’s mocking smirk instantly vanished, replaced by a flash of genuine shock. What is this...?
Before she could adjust her balance, the world spun violently around her. With a roaring scream of sheer, untapped strength, Bobo heaved upward, using every ounce of his massive build to shove her away with overwhelming force.
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He hurled her forward, sending her spinning through the air.
The throw carried staggering energy. Susie was hurled backward across the chamber, but using her incredible reflexes, she landed cleanly and balanced against the solid stone wall, her steel-sharp claws screeching and gouging deep into the rock to halt her momentum as a massive cloud of dust erupted around her.
Silence slammed back into the room.
Hanging against the shattered wall, Susie’s face twisted into an ugly mask of total, agitated fury at being outmatched. Without a second wasted, she violently launched herself off the stone, her claws outstretched in a lethal aerial attack.
In the center of the floor, Bobo was still panting heavily, fighting to control his burning lungs. Snapping his focus back, he immediately raised his hands and braced his stance on the ground, waiting for her incoming descent.
As her clawed hands came slashing down, Bobo lunged forward and grabbed hold of her wrists, locking her arms mid-air.
Susie’s lips curled into a sudden, wicked smirk.
Bobo’s eyes widened as the realization hit him too late. With her hands locked in his grip, his entire midsection was left completely exposed.
From below them, a secondary razor-claw snapped out. Suspended mid-air, she whipped her right foot forward, driving a vicious, direct kick straight toward Bobo’s open stomach.
Acting on pure instinct, Bobo violently jerked his left leg upward, slamming his knee up to intercept her mid-air strike.
CRACK.
Her shin slammed directly into Bobo’s raised knee. Susie’s eyes blew wide with absolute shock. "What?!"
In a slow-motion blur, as gravity pulled her downward, she didn't relent. Instantly pivoting, she unleashed her left foot, bringing her razor-sharp boot heel sweeping around.
Bobo was too slow. Desperately, he tried to lean his torso backward, shifting his weight by a fraction of an inch. It was just enough to save him from a fatal gut-stab, but her foot-claw still tore fiercely through his shirt and grazed deep across his skin.
Even with the dodge, he was too slow to fully evade the kinetic weight of the kick.
Susie landed firmly on her feet. Bobo stumbled backward, his knees buckling as he dropped low, pressing a hand tightly against his bleeding stomach. His face turned deathly pale from the searing pain as a warm rush of blood leaked through his fingers, his chest heaving as he fought desperately to catch his breath.
Standing before him, Susie glare down at him with a silence, written all over her face.
Bobo clutched the wound at his side, his breath coming in ragged, painful gasps as warm blood leaked between his fingers.
A few paces away, Susie watched him closely, a silent, internal confusion gnawing at her thoughts. "I don't get it, I can't sense an ounce of seikon flowing from him... So how is he standing, let alone going toe-to-toe."
Narrowing her eyes with a faint expression of begrudging acknowledgement, she let out a low breath. "Mmm... you know fatso, for a weakling... you’re not so bad after all."
Bobo squeezed his eyes shut, his voice strained and breathless as he wheezed out, "Tha-thank you..."
Susie agitated with his response. "What's that?"
Before she could press further, Bobo didn't answer. A sudden rush of warmth broke through the pain as fragments of his past drifted to the surface. Memories of his childhood home and the deep, steady voice of his father flashed vividly in his mind. As he fought to draw air into his lungs, his lips parted, subconsciously echoing his father's exact words in a soft, mimicking murmur:
"True strength exists to protect... not to forsake and neglect those we cherish."
Susie frowned, tilting her head in disgust. "Heh. What the hell are you blabbing about, fatso?"
Bobo slowly raised his head, locking his gaze straight onto hers. "Sorry. I was just talking to myself."
He gritted his teeth, pressing through the agony in his core. "In the heart of the Chikarake, our soul and mind don't end with how much we persevere and endure. True strength is found in our compassion..."
Slowly, despite the torn flesh and the blood soaking his clothes, Bobo pushed himself up, planting his feet firmly onto the stone floor with an unshakeable resolve shining in his eyes. He finished with absolute, unwavering resolve: "...and that strength is our greatest conviction."
With his feet planted directly facing her, he stood his ground.
From a distance across the chamber, Kairo watched, his eyes wide and utterly bewildered. He had never seen Bobo look like this, so fierce, so completely fearless. Then, catching sight of the fresh blood soaking through Bobo's torn shirt, Kairo's chest constricted in sheer horror.
Wracked with his own injuries, Kairo forced himself upward, screaming out across the room with a voice full of raw desperation. "Leave him alone! He has nothing to do with this! You hear me?!"
Susie didn't blink or respond, keeping her cold, deadly glare locked entirely on Bobo.
Without turning his face away from his opponent, Bobo kept his eyes forward, speaking softly to his friend. "Hey... Kairo?"
Kairo caught his breath, his eyes snapping to attention as he stared at him.
"Remember our promise from the start of this test?" Bobo asked, his voice steady.
The moment those words left his lips, Kairo’s eyes blew wide. A sudden flash of memory pulled him backward, reliving the exact moment they had sworn to make it through the brutal trials together.
Bobo turned his head just an inch toward him, a genuine, reassuring smile breaking across his blood-stained face despite the pain tearing through his body.
"We promised Neyo and the others we'll unite," Bobo said, his tone lifting with quiet confidence. "They're probably waiting for us in the North... so don't worry, Kairo." He paused, locking eyes with him one last time. "...We’re all in this together till the end."
Kairo’s eyes swam with overwhelming emotion, with the blood and sweat on his face as Bobo’s words echoed deep within his soul.