The Five Evolution

『"Even distance is a lie."』

The Elder vampire came at her and Amara responded by cutting space again. This time it was intentional, following those lines in a sensation that was indescribable.

It felt like stepping through a door that didn’t exist. She was there, and then she was not.

Her new position now was behind the vampire, and Angel’s Bane was already descending toward its neck in an executioner’s arc.

The Elder vampire spun, centuries of combat instinct kicking in as his backhand caught Amara across the ribs before her blade could connect.

The impact lifted her off her feet and sent her flying into a wall hard enough to snap two of her ribs like dry twigs and make her vision go white with pain as she dropped to the ground.

"A spatial ability?" the vampire hissed, arm fully regenerated now. "Impossible," he said, stalking towards her. "No matter... you’re still too—"

Yelena’s wind blade took his head off mid-sentence. The vampire’s body stood there for a moment, headless, still moving on muscle memory.

His rolling head came to a stop and he looked up at Yelena. "...huh?"

Then his body collapsed, crumbling to ash.

"Dead," Yelena finished flatly, standing over the remains with her wind blade glowing green. She was breathing hard, blood still dripping from her forehead. "I told you to run."

"I know," Amara said, pushing herself upright.

She immediately regretted it as her broken ribs sent spikes of agony through her torso. She pressed one hand against her side, feeling the damage. "But I couldn’t. Not when you were—"

"You ranked up." Yelena interrupted, her eyes finding the second bar glowing orange on Amara’s ribs where her gear had torn. Her normally stoic expression shifted to one of approval. "You are shaper... well done."

But Amara’s eyes were already shifting to where Meredith lay motionless in a pool of her own blood. She staggered over, not caring about the pain and dropped to her knees beside the older woman.

Slowly, Meredith pushed herself up to one knee, one hand pressed against the hole in her chest. Her face was pale, drawn with pain, but her eyes remained clear.

"You shouldn’t be moving," Amara said, trying to support her despite her own injuries. "It’s my fault. If I had just been faster, if I hadn’t let him grab me, if I—"

"Stop," Meredith said firmly, gripping Amara’s shoulder with surprising strength. "This is war, child. People get hurt. People die. And sometimes people get stabbed through the chest by ancient vampires." She smiled. "You did exactly what you needed to do. That is what matters."

"But you got hurt because of me—"

Meredith coughed weakly, blood staining her lips as Amara tried to support her. "No." Her voice sharpened. "I got hurt because I chose to protect you. That’s what veterans do. So don’t insult my decision by turning it into guilt."

Medical teams rushed into the area then, agents in their own special gear.

One of them was supporting a battered Ethan who was covered in concrete dust, and limping heavily, but walking under his own power.

When she saw him, Amara ran to him despite her broken ribs, despite every protest from her body, and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug that made them both wince.

"I-I cut the space between us," Amara spoke into his shoulder, still sounding dazed. "Like... like the distance just stopped existing for a second and then suddenly I was there and—"

She pulled back slightly to look up at him almost helplessly. "Ethan, I think I cut reality. Does that make any sense?"

Ethan smiled at her. "You get all adorable when you go into these rambling states."

"I’m being serious!" she protested, standing on her toes.

"I know. That’s what makes it adorable." He kissed her forehead gently.

Around them, the others were regrouping, checking injuries, securing the area, trying to process everything that had just happened.

Raj moved to stand beside Amara, folding his arms. "Vampires scare the crap out of me," he said as his shoulders sagged. "And I never even got to use my stake shotgun."

Amara rubbed the side of his arm in a comforting gesture.

As for Angel’s Bane, it had gone quiet in her head, the desperate desire to cut from before was completely silent now.

"So let me get this straight," Hiro limped over as medics swarmed the area. "We’re adding ’ancient vampire aristocrat’ to the list of things trying to kill us now?"

"Honestly?" Sophia winced as a medic checked her shoulder. "Still less creepy than string-creep over there."

"Wow," Hiro said. "The vampire literally drank blood and somehow the string-man is still winning in your book?"

"By a landslide." Sophia shrugged. "And string-man really? You gave him a nickname?"

Hiro gestured towards her with one arm. "So did you!"

Somewhere nearby, Ishigami looked mildly offended, although choosing not to react.

Björn emerged from the shadows. "I was about to throw my beautiful weapon at the bloodsucker’s head, but little Yelena beat me to it." He grinned. "She is very efficient, that one."

Dante appeared behind him. "Had a sonic blast charged and everything. Guess we weren’t needed after all."

"You were backup," Yelena said. "That’s what backup is for. Being ready but not needed."

Björn laughed. "Always so serious! But yes, you are right. Today was a good day. We all live, vampire dies. This is victory!"

"Load up," Yelena commanded. "We go back to base now. Debrief in the morning. And Amara," she turned to face her, " you go to medical whether you like it or not. Cracked ribs don’t heal themselves, even for Awakeners."

Amara’s face brightened up. "Did she just call me..."

"I think she did." Ethan kissed her hair and found her hands as they moved towards the transport to board. "What you did? That was incredible Amara," he said quietly. "You... are incredible."

"I don’t know if I can do it again," Amara admitted. "It all just... sort of happened." She paused, looking down at her hand. "Instinct. The sword showed me and I followed."

"You’ll figure it out. You always do." His arm came around her shoulders carefully, avoiding her injured ribs. "But maybe next time don’t get grabbed by ancient vampires? My heart can’t take it."

Amara leaned against him carefully and smiled. "I’ll try my best."

The Medic that had been with Meredith finally stood up. "Tyrant with thoracic perforation stable," he announced. "Nanite treatment administered. She’ll live, but needs immediate evac to full surgical."

Another medic came to check on Amara. "You’ve got two fractured ribs, minor internal bleeding. I’ll set you up for medical once we return to base."

"I know," Amara said, wincing as the medic prodded her side. "Yelena already told me."

The medic smiled. "Alright then. Let’s get out of here."

The transport rumbled to life, engines engaging as they all loaded in and were carried away. Through the windows, Amara watched the factory recede into the distance.

Outside the shattered factory, the wind carried away the last traces of ash that had once been an elder vampire.

For the first time since awakening, Amara truly understood how deadly their world really was.

And in two days, they’d take these hard-won lessons to Tokyo.

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AMARA MURRAY | The Sword

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Spirit Weapon: Angel’s Bane (Sword of Truth)

Rank: Shaper

Ascendant Sigil: ▮▮ (2 Bars - Right Ribs)

Abilities Unlocked:

┣ Lie Detection

┣ Blade Memory

┣ Shockwave Slash

┣ Intent Sight

┣ Adaptive Combat Evolution

┣ Selective Slash

┣ True Fire

┣ Reality Slash

┣ ??? [LOCKED]

Status: Two cracked ribs, guilt-ridden but shut down, probably just broke physics, still going to worry about everyone else first