The Five Evolution

『"Shove it."』

The simulation appeared, and with it, a red glowing countdown high up above.

The simulation was based on someone. Amara could tell by the specificity, the way it moved, the casual confidence in its posture.

This wasn’t a generic threat. This was modeled after someone strong.

It looked human. Male. Mid-thirties. Dirty blonde hair. In his right hand was a key, bigger than normal, and around him was an aura that felt like standing at the edge of a collapsing star.

"Ten minutes," the simulation said, its voice pleasant and cocky.

"It’s not real... it’s still just a simulation guys," Hiro said with fake smile. "...right?"

"You’re trembling." The simulation pointed at Hiro’s hands. "That’s how you know I’m real," it said, then moved.

In an instant, it was simply there, fist driving toward Amara’s face with force that would vaporize her skull if it connected.

Amara’s eyes widened as a fist approached her at breakneck speed, but Ethan’s shields came up in time to intercept.

"The fuck?" Sophia said from across the arena as the first layer shattered on contact.

The second fractured a half-second later, and the third absorbed just enough of the remaining momentum to keep the punch that sent her flying from being lethal.

But from Amara’s perspective, it looked like the impact shattered three layers of force field at once, and still sent her flying backward twenty feet.

She hit the white floor so hard, she bounced, rolled twice, and came up on one knee with Angel’s Bane already in her hand.

"Ethan—" she started even while her ear rang.

"I know," he said tightly, both hands raised as all five of them were wrapped in a barrier that coated their skins, allowing for free range of motion.

"What the hell is that thing?" Raj asked, very quietly while staring at the translucent coating around his body.

"It’s still just a simulation," Hiro said again, though now he sounded like he was saying it for himself.

The simulation rolled its neck once. Unhurried. Then it looked at the key in its hand and flipped it once between its fingers like a coin.

Above them, the gallery had gone very still.

Director Okoye had risen halfway from her seat before catching herself, and several of the other Directors had stopped talking entirely.

Then Director Arthur Blue of the Levi branch, who had not said a single word since the Kelpie scenario, spoke. "Konstantin." His voice was low. "Perhaps you ask too much of the young ones."

Director Mikhail’s expression hadn’t changed. "What they face is merely a benchmark." He gestured toward the arena floor." It does not even account for a fraction of him."

"Even so." Hale’s voice came out controlled, like he was exercising restraint. "You cannot simulate that man. Whatever that thing is down there is still—"

"I’m aware," Mikhail said.

"Hmmm." Hale’s jaw tightened, and the gallery went quiet again.

Down in the arena, the five of them had no access to that conversation. What they had was the simulation standing thirty feet away, studying them.

"I don’t like this thing," Sophia said flatly.

"Great, we agree on something," Raj responded.

The simulation didn’t press its obvious advantage. Instead, it stood where it had struck Amara, rolling its shoulder once as though warming up before a workout.

Its gaze swept lazily over the Five. "Huh." It looked disappointed. "That’s it?" It twirled the oversized key around one finger. "You people really know how to oversell yourselves."

Amara pushed herself upright, jaw tight. Her cheek still burned from the shockwave from the punch.

The simulation noticed. "Oh, don’t look at me like that." It smiled. "You were the one standing there."

Raj took a step forward and the simulation turned to him. "Easy, big guy." It pointed the key at him. "You already lost to a horse five minutes ago. Let’s not make this a habit."

Ethan exhaled slowly. "Don’t let it bait you. And don’t engage directly."

"So what the hell do we do?" Hiro asked.

Amara pointed at the countdown above. "Whatever this is, the simulation can’t sustain it for long," she said, standing fully now despite the ringing in her head. "We just have to wait it out."

The simulation smiled. "Smart girl."

"Don’t call me that," she said immediately.

It tilted its head again. "Noted."

"In other words..." Amara looked at her team before yelling, "scatter!"

"You don’t have to tell me twice." Hiro vanished first, red lightning bursting from his calves as he streaked toward twelve o’clock, refusing to remain still long enough to become a target.

Sophia didn’t retreat so much as reposition. Telekinesis lifted her backward and upward toward ten o’clock, widening her field of perception as she expanded her range.

"Five minutes." Raj slammed a fist into the ground, ripping up a jagged wall of stone between himself and the simulation before bounding away in massive leaps. "We can do five minutes."

Simultaneously, Amara sprinted left toward seven o’clock, boots skimming across the white surface as she created distance without taking her eyes off the simulation.

And Ethan moved in the opposite direction.

Within seconds, they’d surrounded it from every angle, each of them far enough apart that a single attack couldn’t catch more than one of them.

It was a formation built for one purpose: survival.

From above, the pattern was obvious to the Directors watching. Five points surrounding a single threat. A star.

The simulation turned slowly, oversized key resting across one shoulder as its gaze swept from one Awakened to the next.

Then its smile widened as it drove the oversized key into empty space and twisted, causing everything to go to shit.

Gravity’s downward pull was locked, then unlocked in a reverse direction, causing upward acceleration as up became down.

Hiro’s momentum betrayed him instantly. Already moving at full speed, he shot helplessly into the new ceiling, red lightning scattering wildly behind him.

"I’m not a fan of flying!" He looked down. "Or is it falling? I can’t tell!"

Raj, still in his expanded form, was hit by the change just as hard. His increased mass worked against him, and he crashed upward into the sky-floor, shattering it.

With another twist of its wrist, Sophia’s telekinetic aura disappeared. "What—?" she questioned as she was disconnected briefly from her powers. "What in the—"

Meanwhile, panic surged through Amara as her own body hurtled upward. She drove her sword into the white expanse beneath her, carving a long groove and arresting her momentum.

Across the battlefield, Ethan anchored himself with overlapping force barriers, locking them into the surface before the gravity shift could send him flying.

But the simulation was already moving. It blurred toward Hiro without warning, most likely hoping to pick them off one by one.

One moment it stood at the center of the formation. The next, its hand was wrapped around Hiro’s throat. It seized him mid-flight and drove him into the ceiling-floor with horrifying force.

The impact sent cracks spreading outward in every direction as Hiro’s body bounced once and went still. The red lightning around him vanished and his body went limp, unconscious, or worse.

Hiro! Sophia’s ability immediately returned, her mental voice tearing through the team’s minds, filled with anguish and rage.

The simulation turned to her next. "That forcefield around him was really a life saver," he said and began taking measured steps toward her. "Hopefully, it saves yours too."

"That’s enough," Director Hale said, and the chaos seized.

The simulation froze, gravity returned to normal, and Hiro dropped from the crater, caught by Raj’s expanded hands before he hit the ground.

"Simulation terminated," Hale said, trying to keep his voice in check. "That was excessive, Konstantin. No matter how limited the simulation may have been, it was still an Omega."

"That was the point." Mikhail leaned back in his chair. "They need to understand that their potential as the Five means nothing against true power."

In the arena below, Ethan helped Amara to her feet. If this had gone any longer, who knows what could have happened. Her gaze swept through the arena and landed on Hiro.

"Hiro..." He was sprawled across the fractured surface where the simulation had left him.

Sophia sprinted past her without a word, and Raj was right behind her.

Please be okay. Amara ran after them. Please.

Sophia dropped to her knees beside him, hands hovering uselessly over his chest as she checked for injuries.

A heartbeat later, Ethan arrived. "How is he?" he asked and grabbed Amara’s hand.

For one awful second, nobody had an answer. Then Hiro groaned as a weak, pained sound escaped his mouth. His face twisted into a grimace and he cracked one eye open. "Ow..."

"Okay." Hiro blinked slowly at the empty white sky above. "That one definitely sucked more than getting stabbed through the gut with a knitting needle."

Amara immediately felt relief, her grip on Ethan’s hand tightened without realizing it.

Sophia couldn’t conceal hers as well. She let out a shaky breath that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

That was when Director Yuri’s voice echoed through the arena. "Evaluation complete."

Amara’s relief evaporated instantly, and she looked up.

The Directors sat above them in their floating gallery, calm and composed as though they hadn’t just watched one of her friends nearly die.

"The Five will await our decision in the loop-room," Yuri continued smoothly. "The Council will reconvene in twenty minutes to discuss your fates."

Amara glanced at Hiro and something inside her snapped. She pointed up at the gallery. "You can take your evaluation and shove it."

Silence crashed over the arena. Every Director’s attention shifted to her, but Amara didn’t care.

"If this—" she pointed toward Hiro, who was still leaning heavily against Ethan, "—is what working for you people means, then you can go..."

The next word caught in her throat and her jaw clenched. "You can go..." She exhaled sharply. "...fuck yourselves."

Raj’s eyes widened.

Sophia’s eyebrows shot up.

Even Hiro, barely standing, looked like he was about to break into a wide grin.

Ethan’s mouth twitched.

Above them, several Directors looked scandalized. Director Mikhail’s expression hardened, and Director Yuri merely smiled.

Arthur Blue’s fingers drummed against his armrest as he yawned.

Beside Hale, Yelena couldn’t help but grin, while he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Only Director Okoye seemed genuinely amused by this. "Feedback appreciated." Her smile widened. "We’ll see you in twenty minutes."

Before any of them could protest, the floor vanished beneath their feet, and all five of them dropped through empty space, landing in another room. At least, Amara thought it was another room.

The space was circular, lined with too many identical doors.

Sophia immediately stalked toward the nearest one. "Well, fuck this, I’m leaving." She stepped through it—

—and walked back into the room through a completely different doorway.

"The hell is going on?" She stopped, turned around, and looked at the door she’d emerged from. Then looked back at the one she’d entered.

Raj snorted. "Okay." He pointed at another door. "My turn." He strode through it confidently. Three seconds later, he emerged from a doorway behind Ethan.

Raj stopped dead, staring at his hands. "These rooms are tripping balls."

Amara threw her hands into the air. "Are you kidding me?" She began pacing in a tight circle, still shaking with leftover adrenaline.

"Those..." She pointed vaguely upward, toward where the Council had been. "Those..." Her frustration built for a moment. Then she let out an exasperated sigh.

Sophia folded her arms. "Those motherfuckers."