Chiki hit the ground hard, boots skidding across the dusty surface of Marsh, his body absorbing the low gravity awkwardly before he stabilized himself with a sharp twist of his torso.
Drayke turned slowly.
No grin.
No mockery.
Just interest.
"You got some guts coming alone," Drayke said calmly, air bending slightly around his shoulders as if the planet itself was listening to him.
"That's either courage… or stupidity."
Chiki cracked his neck, rolling his shoulders as small devices slid out from his suit, locking into place along his arms and back.
"Yeah," he said. "It's to tell you that, I am enough to destroy you."
Drayke moved first.
The air snapped.
He vanished—reappearing beside Chiki with a blade of compressed wind aimed straight for his ribs, but Chiki twisted at the last second, letting the attack graze past him as he slammed an explosive disc into Drayke's side and kicked backward.
The blast detonated mid-air.
Drayke was pushed back several meters, boots digging into the ground, dust spiraling violently around him.
He looked down at his uniform.
Burn marks.
His eyes narrowed.
Chiki shouted.
"Are you hurt, little one?. Need a doctor?"
He rushed forward, throwing a rapid sequence of short-range blasts—not to hit, but to control space, forcing Drayke to dodge where Chiki wanted him to go, herding him step by step.
Drayke countered with warped air pulses, but for the first time, his movements weren't effortless.
Chiki ducked under a sweeping strike, rolled, and slammed his fist into Drayke's jaw using a shock-loaded gauntlet.
The impact echoed.
Drayke staggered.
Only a step—but it was enough.
"You're slower," Chiki said, breathing hard, eyes sharp. "Or maybe… you're just not used to someone fighting dirty."
Drayke wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.
He smiled.
"A little," he admitted. "But you're burning through everything you have."
Chiki grinned back, already pulling another bomb free.
"Good thing I brought a lot."
Above them, the rescue ship hovered steadily, beams of light pulling injured heroes aboard one by one as Chitki coordinated everything from the cockpit, her jaw tight but her hands steady.
Drayke straightened, his posture loosening as if he had finally stopped holding something back.
The warped air around him condensed, layering itself like invisible armor, bending space just enough to distort Chiki's vision.
"You were entertaining," Drayke said calmly.
"But now you're wasting time."
He stepped forward.
Chiki fired.
The explosion detonated point-blank—
and vanished.
Drayke walked through it.
Chiki's eyes widened as Drayke appeared directly in front of him, faster than before, faster than he could calculate.
A knee slammed into Chiki's stomach, driving the air out of his lungs as he was sent flying across the terrain.
He barely managed to twist mid-air before crashing down, skidding hard.
Drayke didn't chase.
He appeared.
A blade of compressed air struck Chiki's shoulder, tearing through armor and flesh alike, sending blood spiraling into the low gravity.
Chiki groaned, forcing himself up, planting one knee into the ground as his systems screamed warnings into his ears.
"Your tricks rely on preparation," Drayke said, circling slowly. "On time. On space. On control."
He snapped his fingers.
The air folded inward.
Chiki was lifted off the ground, slammed down, then dragged across the surface as if held by an invisible hand.
His devices sparked, several of them failing outright.
Above, the rescue ship shook as shockwaves rippled upward.
Chitki's voice crackled through the comms—panicked, sharp—calling Chiki's name.
He couldn't answer.
Drayke stopped in front of him.
"You fight like someone who believes help is coming," Drayke said quietly. "That belief is dangerous."
Chiki clenched his teeth, forcing himself to stand, blood dripping onto the ground as he raised his fists again, shaking but unbroken.
"Yeah," he said hoarsely. "And you fight like someone afraid to finish things."
For the first time—
Drayke frowned.
The air around him surged violently, cracking the ground beneath his feet.
"You talk too much," he said.
And this time, when he moved, Chiki couldn't even see it.