Smoke still poured from the wreckage.
BF-85’s shattered body lay slumped against a support beam, sparks leaking from its exposed circuits. A once-indestructible protector—reduced to a broken husk in a matter of minutes.
Bobby stared, throat raw, lungs still aching from the sprint. Darius stood beside him in the tall grass, bruised and bloodied, both of them silent. Neither spoke the name. Neither said what they were thinking.
BF-85 was gone.
And they were alone again.
At least, they thought they were.
Then the air shifted.
It wasn’t a sound, exactly—more like pressure. A crackle. A warping in the very fabric of reality. Darius grabbed Bobby’s arm and pulled him back.
“Get down.”
Before Bobby could ask why, the sky above them split—literally. A jagged seam tore open in the air like
