The Five Evolution

『"Mutually assured destruction. Except, it isn’t mutual."』

The glow along Faith Breaker’s inscription deepened, and the atmosphere around Michael grew heavier.

Raj clenched his fists. "Well that’s just cheating."

Ethan remained silent, but his mind was moving. Every construct Ethan made relied on one thing: absolute belief that it would hold. The less certain he became, the weaker Bastion grew.

Unless—

His eyes narrowed. Belief wasn’t limited to instinct. Belief could be built. Engineered.

His gaze swept over the battlefield, and numbers, internal supports, and load distributions filled his mind. His constructs had to go beyond merely a shell or a hollow shape given form.

For the first time since shaping his forcefields, Ethan stopped thinking like an Awakener. And started thinking like an architect.

Blue light gathered around his fingertips as thousands of tiny lines created the framework and skeleton of his constructs.

He was certain of every inch because he was creating every inch. Every bolt, nut, and load-bearing joint had to exist in his mind before it could exist in the world.

Michael tilted his head as six translucent mine discs materialized around Ethan. Except they weren’t discs.

Within each construct, gears rotated in synchronized patterns as interlocking rings distributed force across multiple vectors.

Ethan knew exactly how they worked. Therefore, he knew exactly why they would work, and his belief that they would withstand Michael’s attack grew in turn.

"Here goes," he said as the discs launched.

Michael raised Faith Breaker and knocked the first aside. Then the second.

The third exploded against the flat of his blade, releasing a burst of concentrated force that shifted his footing half an inch.

The battle was a paradoxical one. Constructs that wouldn’t falter as long as the user believed it wouldn’t, clashing against a weapon that destroyed the very idea of belief.

The fourth approached from above, while the fifth and sixth curved around behind him.

Michael moved, intercepting each construct as the crimson script along Faith Breaker burned brighter, some exploding before he could destroy them.

However, the discs were never the real attack. They were simply a distraction for an incoming Raj with blue light wrapped around his hardened skin.

His feet broke through the ground with each step as he charged. And when Michael pivoted toward him, another barrage of constructs arrived from Ethan’s flank. This time they were hands.

He cut through the first that tried to grab ahold of him, quickly leaping away from the second that slammed down hard from above in an attempt to crush him.

A dust cloud was created, and from it, Raj emerged, slamming into him from the side.

Michael’s feet left the ground as Raj drove forward, carrying him like a battering ram across the battlefield.

Ethan saw his opening, and three enormous walls formed ahead of Raj’s charge. Each one twelve feet high and five feet thick.

Boom!

Raj drove Michael through the first wall, and the construct exploded into blue fragments.

The second wall shattered moments later, and a few seconds after that, he rammed him into the third.

Michael finally planted a foot, cracking the floor beneath him as he brought Raj’s charge to a dead stop.

Then he drove an elbow downward, slamming Raj face-first into the ground hard enough to create a crater.

Before Raj could recover, Michael held out Faith Breaker with both hands as the script ignited crimson, and swung the greatsword upward like a golf club.

Faith Breaker’s broadside connected beneath Raj’s ribs, and he was shot skyward.

For a moment, he disappeared into the haze of dust and debris before crashing back down hundreds of feet away with an impact that cratered the floor.

Smoke rose around him and silence followed.

Michael watched as Raj groaned while trying to push himself up but failing. "The fact that you believed that would work already meant it wouldn’t."

The crimson glow along the blade’s inscription intensified, and Ethan’s jaw tightened.

Michael’s gaze shifted from Raj to Ethan. "Your friends care about you," he observed, taking a step forward.

The moment he took another step forward every speaker in the Convergence activated simultaneously and Michael stopped, looking upward.

A holographic display materialized in every room and corridor, and a sharp tone of throat clearing echoed through every pocket dimension.

Director Daniel Hale appeared on the display, and on the top of his cane rotated the Axis Core. "Attention, all..."

In the shattered remains of Yuri’s battlefield, the glacier that held her began to crack.

On their way to the War Room, Sophia stopped mid-flight and Hiro nearly tripped.

Amara’s heart skipped a beat. "The Director."

Even the Collector, who had been casually walking toward the War Room, halted, his expression darkening.

Back in the War Room, Sebastian paused as well. The exhausted guard he’d been fighting dropped to one knee, gasping for breath, but Sebastian didn’t press the attack.

His attention had shifted completely to the hologram.

Elsewhere, Arthur Blue slowly stood. The lazy amusement had vanished from his face. "Daniel..." he murmured.

Beside him, Thalia adjusted her frames. Neither of them looked particularly comfortable anymore.

"The Axis Core has been extracted, and in sixty seconds..." He raised his cane, thumb firmly pressed against a small button along its side. "...I’ll be triggering the Core’s meltdown."

At almost the same moment, a streak of red burst through the shattered entrance of the War Room.

Sophia flew in next with Amara. The instant they touched down, the golden glow vanished and Sophia stretched her aching shoulders.

"I don’t know what that means," she said, looking up at Hale’s hologram. "But it doesn’t sound good."

Hiro stared at the display of the Axis Core behind Hale and went visibly pale. "No, it’s really bad."

Sophia glanced at him. "Define really bad."

Hiro pointed toward the hologram. "The Core is most likely the thing holding all the dimensions together." His eyes remained fixed on the display. "A meltdown means all that energy gets released at once."

Sophia blinked. "...And?"

Hiro swallowed. "Imagine a Big Bang."

Sophia frowned. "Okay..."

"Now multiply it by a hundred."

There was a moment of silence before Sophia slowly turned back toward the hologram. "...Oh."

"Yeah," Hiro said weakly. "That kind of bad."

Amara barely heard the rest. Her eyes were busy searching for Ethan and Raj amidst the ruin.

Raj noticed her first. "Hey—"

The rest of his sentence vanished as Amara limped forward and wrapped her arms around him.

Raj froze. Then awkwardly patted her shoulder. "Uh..." A grin slowly spread across his face. "Nice to see you too."

Amara pulled away after a moment, then immediately moved toward Ethan. Her limp was more noticeable now that the adrenaline had faded.

Even so, she crossed the distance and hugged him without saying a word.

For a brief second, Ethan went completely still. Then one arm rose and settled across her back.

Behind them, Raj rubbed the back of his neck and squinted at Amara. "You look like you got the shit beat out of you. But I’m not one to talk."

Amara shot him a tired look over Ethan’s shoulder. "Thanks."

Sophia shrugged. "She got folded."

"By who?"

"The Collector."

Raj winced. "Ah."

That explained everything.

Above them, Hale’s hologram remained. "This whole facility will collapse," the Director confirmed.

His gaze swept across everyone watching. "Shortly afterward, the larger pocket dimension containing the Convergence itself will follow."

The Collector moved faster. "The Director is bluffing," he muttered to himself as he ran. "He would never destroy his own facility."

"Thirty seconds..." Director Hale said through the speakers.

The Collector’s smile disappeared as he arrived in the War Room, and Amara tensed when she saw him.

Ethan noticed, placing his arm around her, and she leaned into it.

The Collector looked back toward the hologram. "You’re serious."

Hale finally spoke again. "You have ten seconds."

The Collector laughed. "You’re insane."

"Nine." The countdown continued.

"You all might be World Forgers. But you are welcome to test the limits of what that means if you wish," Hale said.

The laughter stopped and the Collector’s eyes narrowed.

"Eight."

Far away, the ice imprisoning Yuri cracked further as more deep fissures spread across its surface.

"Seven."

The Apostles looked uncertain as they exchanged glances with each other. Babydoll stood up from the corpse she sat on and sighed dramatically.

At this point, flashes of blue light appeared across the Convergence as small capsules were Alpha-beamed beside survivors.

One materialized in front of Ethan. Another beside Amara.

"What the hell is this?" Sophia held up her capsule, studying it.

Hiro placed his in his mouth, chewing on it. Then stopped. "Oh. It unfolds." The capsule expanded between his teeth and he spat it out quickly, holding the now-larger material.

He studied it for a moment. "Seems like a suit designed to help us either survive or lock on to the Alpha beam outside this place."

Amara looked up at the hologram. "Well I hope it’s the latter."

"Ow," Raj groaned as his own capsule bounced off his forehead.

Across the Convergence, more appeared as Arthur caught one out of the air and Thalia received another.

A capsule landed beside Okoye as well, and another beside her guard.

Hale held the final one himself. "Emergency Zero-Suits," his voice explained. "Put them on."

Sebastian noticed the capsules and took one massive jump, landing next to the tear in space where Babydoll was waiting. "It’s high time we left."

"Five."

"The one month still stands," the Collector said, already backing toward the spatial tear. "This changes nothing about our terms."

"Four."

The crack running through Yuri’s prison exploded outward and a wing burst through as she emerged roaring before collapsing to the floor.

"I’ll kill him..." she whispered to no one. She lifted her head and spotted Konstantin, still unconscious in a pool of his own blood. "Mikhail..."

"Three."

Babydoll sighed again. "This sucks." She skipped toward the portal.

Sebastian closed his eyes briefly. Then opened them. His decision was made.

He looked toward the wounded guard he’d been fighting. The man could barely stand now. "You should find your Director." He turned away and stepped through the tear.

Arthur watched all of it. "You’re cutting it too close Daniel..." he muttered.

"Two."

Michael locked eyes with Ethan one final time. "Until next time." He turned away, moving toward the tear.

"Yeah..." Ethan muttered.

"We’ll call this your move, Director." The Collector stepped backward into the spatial tear.

"One."

The moment all four Apostles stepped through the spatial tear, it sealed behind them.

The War Room fell silent except for the groaning of the injured, and the steady drip of blood from multiple wounds.

At the same time, Director Hale dismissed the kill switch immediately and surveyed the carnage. Eight guards were dead. Seventeen injured. Four Directors dead, three injured.

Hale finally exhaled, the sound carried through the speakers. Then he straightened. "Med teams." His voice returned to business immediately. "Move all wounded to the Med Room."

Around the Convergence, exhausted survivors began moving again.

Some collapsed. Some sat down. Some simply stared at where the Apostles had disappeared.

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