It was extremely sudden.
Luca’s eyes widened, caught completely off guard as Yohan’s smirk stretched even further, the expression turning sharp and unhinged as he prepared to knock out the darling of the Empire.
Truly, they weren’t lying when they said he was born lucky.
Who would ever get such an opportunity like this?
Even their President’s son hadn’t succeeded in taking out the precious Kyros spawn, yet here he was, face to face with him, close enough to reach out and end it in one move.
Not that Yohan was completely wrong about the strength of his luck.
However, there were simply extreme cases where the cosmos would have other plans. And so, rather than his normally abundant luck being in play, the current theme of his life was actually: one man’s trash could also be another person’s treasure.
Because that was exactly what Yohan was to Luca Kyros, who had been searching for the right moment to test his hypothesis.
He may be one of the rotten scum of the Federation, but to one excited mechanic, he was something else entirely.
The bringer of great tidings!
Because the moment Yohan stepped into the golden-eyed cadet’s personal space, Luca hadn’t just been startled.
He had managed to confirm something.
That heat.
That one specific point that didn’t match the rest of the cadet’s body but suspiciously resembled that of the other cadets in thermal readings.
"D-29..."
"I have come to the same conclusion, Host!"
Right.
He really wasn’t imagining it.
And so, in the most perfect moment, when the clock struck all across the Imperial Palace to signal the time for a supposed fireworks display, Luca made his decision.
After cross-referencing and confirming, all that remained for him to do was act.
So he struck.
A simple rotating punch.
Straight to the solar plexus.
There was no wind-up, no dramatic movement, no overwhelming aura to warn anyone of what was coming. It looked almost casual, especially when compared to the cool and frightening entrance of the enemy who had appeared right in front of his face after teleporting.
But the point of impact was exact.
It landed precisely where Luca believed the connection of the cybernetic parts would be weakest due to overuse. Moreover, if he were correct, then that spot would likely be the center of their energy distribution line.
That simple.
For a brief moment, it didn’t look like anything had happened.
Then—
"Ooof!"
The sound echoed across the arena, thundering and unmistakable as the force traveled through Yohan’s body.
The sensor on his chest flickered once.
Then it flattened.
Overdamage.
His smirk disappeared.
His eyes lost focus.
And just like that, his consciousness slipped into something he never thought he’d ever see again.
"...Peekaboo!"
Giggles.
Bright, warm, and far away.
"Look! Honey! Yohan’s walking! He’s walking!"
Small, unsteady steps.
A pair of hands reaching out.
"Son, it’s your first day at school today. Be good, okay?"
A gentle coaxing voice.
Distant memories that could have stretched as far back as his earliest development. And at its worst, straight into a conversation with his deceased ancestors.
None of that was impossible.
In fact, Yohan Voss stood there, almost perfectly still, if not for the tremble in his legs betraying an upright body that had long since gone hollow as everything inside him shut down at once.
All because he’d been decommissioned by a single curious punch.
__
Unfortunately for him, even a visit to the past had its limits.
As if returning to reality, the freshly punched cadet saw red.
Literally.
Error messages flooded his vision as his cybernetic implants failed to draw enough power. Systems flickered one after another, each warning stacking on top of the next as connections struggled to hold.
He remained standing in front of Luca.
Wide-eyed.
Partially frozen.
His legs trembled violently, barely keeping him upright as if they no longer belonged to him.
Luca blinked up at him.
Then stepped closer.
He raised a hand, intending to check if the specimen was alright because... something was clearly wrong. The man wasn’t moving. His chest had stopped heaving, and his face was starting to turn blue.
But just before Luca’s fingers could reach his face—
The cadet fell.
Stiff on his back.
Like an upside-down turtle that couldn’t turn over.
"..."


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