The portal spat them out into an abandoned overpass on the outskirts of the city. The world beyond was swallowed by mist, the kind that clung to your clothes and made the air feel heavier than it should.
Gia stumbled slightly as the portal sealed shut behind them, its faint shimmer dying out like a blown candle.
Kyle's first instinct was to scan the area—dark concrete pillars, rusted railings, trash scattered in the corners. His second instinct was to check for blood loss. His side still burned from the Hunter's strike, and every movement made the wound throb.
Felix leaned against one of the pillars, brushing the last of the splinters from his coat. "You know, for a first date, this whole running from a murder blender thing is kind of killing the mood."
Kyle shot him a glare sharp enough to cut glass. "You talk too much."
"And you brood too much," Felix countered, smirking. "See? We all have flaws."
Gia ignored them both, kneeling to check Kyle's wound. "It's not deep, but it's… strange. Almost like it cauterized itself."
Kyle's jaw tightened. "The Hunter's blades weren't steel. They were lined with something else. Something meant to work against me."
Felix's smirk faded, his tone dipping into seriousness. "If it can drain your blood powers and track portals, that means it's an adaptive model. It'll be back—and worse."
Kyle knew he was right. Hunters didn't just hunt. They learned.
The Uneasy Walk
They couldn't stay under the overpass; too exposed. So they started moving through the industrial backstreets, sticking to the shadows.
The silence was thick, broken only by the crunch of gravel underfoot. Every so often, Kyle would glance at Gia—her shoulders tense, her gaze fixed ahead. She hadn't said much since the fight.
"Gia," Kyle said quietly, catching her pace. "Back there… when you amplified my blood—how did you know it would work?"
She hesitated before answering. "I didn't. But… I've been experimenting with my portals. They're not just doors—they can… carry energy. If I anchor one to you, I can push what you create into more than one place at once."
Felix's voice cut in from behind them. "That's not just 'portal manipulation,' that's battlefield artillery. Imagine the possibilities—"
Kyle turned sharply. "Don't."
Felix raised his hands in mock surrender. "Just saying. If I had that kind of synergy with someone—"
"You don't."
Gia glanced between them, sensing the sharp edge in Kyle's tone. "Both of you, drop it. We have bigger problems."
The Scent of the Hunter
They ducked into an old freight yard, the air filled with the smell of rust and oil. Kyle's pulse was steady, but his instincts screamed that they were still being tracked.
Felix seemed to sense it too. He stopped suddenly, crouching low, his hand brushing over the ground. "Something's wrong. The air's heavier here."
Gia frowned. "You mean the fog?"
"No," Felix said. "I mean the way it's… listening."
Before Kyle could ask what he meant, a metallic scraping echoed from somewhere deep in the yard.
Kyle's breath slowed. That sound—he'd heard it before.
"It's here," he whispered.
Gia's head snapped toward him. "Already? We've been moving for less than an hour—"
"It's not just tracking us," Felix interrupted, his voice grim. "It's herding us."
The scraping grew louder, joined by a faint hum, like a machine charging up. Then, out of the mist between two cargo containers, the Hunter stepped forward.
But it wasn't the same.
Its frame was bulkier now, its movements heavier but more deliberate. Jagged armor plating covered the chest where Kyle's spikes had pinned it before, and the vertical slit in its face pulsed brighter than before.
Worst of all—two new, claw-like appendages extended from its back, each tipped with glowing blades.
It had evolved.
The Clash Begins
The Hunter didn't rush this time. It walked toward them slowly, almost tauntingly, the red light in its face fixed on Kyle.
Felix drew his knives without hesitation. "Alright, broody, I'll take left, you take right. Gia—don't get cut."
Gia opened a portal beside Kyle, another behind the Hunter, but before she could use them, the creature's back-blades slashed through the air, sending a ripple that distorted the space around it. The portals flickered and collapsed instantly.
Gia's eyes widened. "It—It just disrupted my portals—"
Kyle's blood burned in his veins. "Then we do this the hard way."
The Hunter moved first. Kyle met its strike with a crescent-shaped blade of solidified blood, the impact rattling his arm. Felix darted in, slashing at the armored chest, but the metal barely dented.
Gia kept moving, trying to find an opening, her mind racing for a way to bypass the disruption.
The Hunter adapted with every strike—parrying faster, countering quicker. Kyle could feel it learning his rhythms, anticipating his attacks.
"Felix!" Kyle barked. "Switch pattern, now!"
Felix didn't argue this time. He dove low while Kyle struck high, but even that only bought them seconds.
The thing wasn't just learning their moves—it was learning them.
The Breaking Point
The fight dragged toward a dangerous stalemate, until the Hunter suddenly shifted targets—its face slit locking onto Gia.
It lunged, faster than before.
Kyle's chest clenched. "No!"
He threw himself forward, blood whipping into a shield just as the Hunter's blade came down. The impact blew him backward into a shipping container with bone-jarring force.
Felix was there in an instant, catching the Hunter's arm before it could follow through, knives sparking against metal. "Go!" he shouted at Gia. "Run!"
But Gia didn't move. Her hands trembled, the air around her rippling faintly.
Kyle saw it even through the haze of pain—she wasn't scared. She was angry.
And whatever she was about to do… he had a feeling it was going to change the game entirely.
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