KidPinoy aftermath #1

The acrid tang of sweat and something far fouler filled the air. Bien Regalado, the boy who had been KidPinoy, lay slumped, his body a testament to brutal efficiency. Lord Rapis’s foot remained a constant, grinding weight on his ribs, a physical anchor to the crushing reality of his defeat. The initial, defiant fury had been systematically leached away, replaced by a hollow ache that resonated in every cell. The livestream, a cruel window into this private hell, continued to broadcast. Milions watched, their hopes for Manila embodied in this small, broken figure, now dissolving before their eyes. Each shuddering breath, each strained whimper, was amplified and sent out into the digital ether, a requiem for a hero. Mastermind, ever the showman, knelt beside Bien. His fingers, long and pale, traced the lines of muscle beneath the dark, sun-kissed skin. “Look at him,” Mastermind purred into a small microphone pinned to his lapel, presumably for the broadcast. “Seventeen years old. A...