Kagami moved first.
Not fast—efficient.
The air warped as his arm elongated mid-strike, skin hardening into black scales. Rei barely had time to react. His body twisted on instinct, shoulder dislocating then snapping back into place with a sickening crack.
Rei hit the wall.
Hard.
Concrete fractured behind him.
Mitsuki screamed.
"You see?" Kagami said calmly."My evolution has intent."
His spine rippled beneath his suit. A tail burst free, thick and muscular, slamming into the ground and shattering tiles.
Rei forced himself up.
Pain registered—but didn't slow him.
His body corrected. Adjusted. Learned.
Rei lunged.
He didn't think.
He knew.
His fist collided with Kagami's ribs. The impact echoed like metal struck by steel. Kagami slid back a step—just one.
His smile widened.
"Fascinating."
Mitsuki circled the room, claws scraping against concrete. Her movements were erratic, feral, driven by terror and rage.
"Don't let him touch you!" she shouted."He learns faster when he feels pain!"
Kagami laughed softly.
"That's the difference between us," he said."You evolve to survive. I evolve to dominate."
His jaw split.
Teeth reshaped themselves into something ancient.
He struck again.
This time Rei caught the blow.
His arm screamed—then hardened, muscles compressing unnaturally. He felt something inside him rewrite.
Rei pushed back.
Kagami staggered.
For the first time, his smile faltered.
"You shouldn't exist," Kagami muttered.
Rei met his gaze.
"Neither should you."
Kagami roared.
Not a human sound.
The ceiling collapsed as he fully transformed—towering, reptilian, eyes burning vertical gold.
Mitsuki froze.
This was the form that haunted her nightmares.
Rei felt fear—real fear.
But something else rose with it.
Purpose.
He stepped between Kagami and Mitsuki.
"You want her," Rei said."You go through me."
Kagami's gaze shifted.
Interested.
"Gladly."
The blow sent Rei flying.
His body crashed through metal piping, sparks raining down. He lay still for half a second.
Half a second too long.
"Mitsuki!" Kagami lunged.
She didn't run.
She screamed.
A sound ripped from her chest—raw, broken—and her body changed.
Her ears elongated. Her tail split and hardened. Her pupils burned crimson.
Evolution driven by desperation.
She collided with Kagami mid-air.
They tore into each other—claws, scales, blood.
Rei forced himself up, vision sharpening again.
He realized something terrifying.
They were both evolving.
But only one of them was losing control.
Rei jumped.
He drove himself into Kagami's back, hands digging into scales.
Kagami howled.
The three of them crashed through the floor.
Down.
Down.
Into the heart of the old laboratory.
Lights flickered on.
White walls.
Steel restraints.
The place Mitsuki was born.
Kagami rose slowly, body half-human, half-beast.
"This," he said, spreading his arms,"is where your love ends."
Rei stood, blood dripping from his mouth.
"No," he said quietly."This is where it learned how to fight."
Mitsuki stepped beside him.
Terrified.
Determined.
Together.