Bubble Boy

Montana Bunker – Hopeless Shelter

The low hum of generators was the only sound left.

The air felt like lead,stale, final.

Families sat huddled together, watching their screens in silence. Some prayed. Most didn't bother anymore.

The countdowns ticked.

Blaze, in her false human form, leaned against the wall. Her expression was unreadable, but her eyes scanned every face.

These people were broken.

She had seen conquest before, dozens of planets, hundreds of victories but never had she seen this kind of quiet grief.

No screams. No rage.

Just acceptance.

They think it's already over, she realized.

Then something tugged at her senses.

Fast.

Blinding.

A flare of power.

Rio de Janeiro , The falling bomb suddenly vanished, snatched from the air like a firefly. A sonic boom cracked the sky, and a black blur tore upward, bomb thrown into the void before exploding in distant silence.

The Xyphorite soldier guarding the city blinked in confusion.

Then a fist hit him, hard enough to bend light.

One punch. Instant disintegration.

Tokyo. London. Sydney. Moscow. Cairo.

Paris. Los Angeles. Toronto. New York and more.

Each in turn.

Bombs caught mid-fall.

Launched into space.

Soldiers obliterated.

The entire globe saved in the span of seconds.

And no one noticed.

Because the world was watching him.

Backyard – Center of Hell

Xeno stared down at Troy, smirking as one of his soldiers slammed a boot into the small of Troy's back, pinning him in the dirt. The other two grabbed Annie and Sam, dragging them across the ruined lawn.

Zoe screamed. "MOM! Auntie!"

Xeno walked toward her slowly, casually, his gauntlet crackling with burning green light. He reached out and snatched her by the collar, hoisting her off the ground.

Annie struggled against the grip of the soldiers, her voice cracking. "DON'T TOUCH HER!"

Sam's eyes widened with terror.

Xeno held Zoe high, letting her dangle.

"I want them to watch," he sneered, pointing at Troy's limp form. "Let the symbol of Earth die knowing his failure cost him everything."

Zoe whimpered.

He raised his hand.

Global Feed – Horror Shared

@BubbleFan777: He's going to kill her… I can't watch…

@DocCrush13: SOMEBODY STOP HIM. PLEASE.

@MotherInChicago: That little girl is the same age as mine. I'm sobbing.

@AnonymousUser01: I watched Bubble Boy save my city once. This is… this is evil.

@ZoeDeservesBetter: Don't make her die on camera. Please, God.

Meanwhile a figure flying across the Pacific ocean faster than sound. A voice is talking to him through a earpiece.

"Is that the fastest you can go?" Asked mockingly.

The figure answered.With flying faster and faster, oceans beginning to split apart, light leaving his body and disappearing creating giant tsunamis. Moving faster than time.

Xeno's hand crackled with power.

Zoe shut her eyes.

And then... she screamed.

"GRANDPA!!!"

And the universe answered.

A sound, no, a shockwave, ripped the sky apart. Clouds parted like water before a storm. Light twisted, bent, screamed as something arrived not at the speed of light but faster, so fast time itself flinched.

BOOM.

He stood between Zoe and Xeno, hand gripped tight around the tyrant's wrist.

Xeno's eyes widened as power bled from his gauntlet, crackling uselessly. Zoe tumbled safely to the ground.

The man holding Xeno's arm didn't speak at first.

He didn't need to.

His black suit clung to his muscular frame, seamless and silent. The once-proud star emblem on his chest was gone, burned away, leaving only shadow. His hair was longer now, strands falling across his eyes. A thick beard framed his jaw. His eyes glowed dimly, not with rage, but with something heavier.

Resolve.

Montana Bunker – Hopeless Shelter

The screens glowed.

No one moved. Not a breath.

Then a child, wrapped in a faded Bubble Boy costume, stood up slowly, eyes wide. The family who had once cleaned the statue of Starman stood beside him.

The father grinned, ripping off his jacket.

Beneath it, a Starman T-shirt.

"HE'S BACK!" the boy screamed, fists raised.

"STARMAN!!" the father shouted.

The mother joined.

Then the entire room.

Cheers erupted like a dam breaking. Hope spread like fire.

Blaze watched in stunned disbelief.

This doesn't make sense.

He lost to Dravus. Dravus was a scout. Xeno is a hundred times stronger. They know that.

So why… why do they still believe in him?

But she knew the answer.

Because he came.

Meanwhile at Troy's Garden

Zoe looked up. "Grandpa?"

Starman glanced at her, his face softening for a heartbeat. He knelt.

She threw herself into his arms. He hugged her tightly, whispering.

"I'm here, baby girl. I'm here."

"Go to your parents."

She lets go of her grandfather and runs to her parents.

Annie sobbed, trying to wriggle free. "Zoe,no...don't get close to..."

Sam shouted, "They're gonna hurt you!"

Troy, bloody in the dirt, screamed hoarsely, "STAY AWAY FROM HER!"

But Zoe turned with tears in her eyes, pointing at the soldiers pinning them down.

"Get away from my parents."

She looked back at her grandfather.

"Make them disappear."

Flash.

In the blink of an eye, Starman was gone.

Flash.

He reappeared behind the first soldier, ripping him apart with a fist that shattered sound.

Flash.

The second soldier didn't even get to scream before he was hurled into the sky, disintegrating mid-flight.

Flash.

The third, snapped in half before his feet left the ground.

All that remained was silence.

Zoe ran to her family. Annie wrapped her in trembling arms. Troy, still gasping, stared up at his father.

"…Dad?" he whispered.

Global Feed – Exploding

@HeroInSeoul: HE CAUGHT XENO'S HAND. HE CAUGHT IT.

@Phoenix92: STARMAN. STARMAN. STARMAN!!!

@BubbleDad23: I TOLD MY KIDS HE'D COME BACK. I TOLD THEM.

@StarmanLives: He's older… bearded… but GOD he's beautiful.

@XyphoriteDoom: One second there were three soldiers. Then none.

@DaughterOfMars: That little girl called for him, and he came.

@ZoeFanForever: Grandpa saved her. I'm not okay.

@AnnieShield: The way he looked at her. He's not just a hero. He's a grandfather.

@RebelStar42: This is no longer a war. This is a reckoning.

@BlazeWatcher: He didn't come back to win. He came back so we'd believe again.

Backyard – Ground Zero

Xeno stumbled back, gripping his arm, eyes wide.

"You were dead," he hissed. "You died with your legacy."

Starman stepped forward, voice cold as the void.

"Then this must be your hell."