Adrian smiled through blood.
Looked up at Tudor.
"...Swish."
The sound was soft.
Almost playful.
Swap.
In less than a blink—
Adrian vanished.
And Dravers stood where he had been.
High above, on the rooftop of a fractured skyscraper, Adrian reappeared mid-air and dropped hard onto the concrete.
His legs gave out instantly.
He hit the ground flat on his back, chest heaving.
"…Took you long enough," he muttered weakly, staring at the sky.
Below—
Dravers adjusted the hem of her black shirt.
White hair drifting in the ocean wind.
Calm.
Unbothered.
Across from her, Tudor blinked once.
Then slowly grinned.
"I knew it."
He rolled his shoulder, wiping blood from his lip.
"There was no way that kid came alone."
His eyes sharpened.
"The plan was obvious. Let him exhaust me. Then you step in and finish the job."
He chuckled darkly.
"I'm afraid that's not what's going to happen."
Dravers tilted her head.
"Do you always talk this much?"
Silence.
Tudor's eyebrow twitched.
The grin faded.
Cracked.
He vanished from his spot—
The ground detonating under his takeoff—
His fist tearing through air straight toward her face.
It stopped.
Inches away.
Swish.
Swap.
Tudor's vision flipped.
The ocean.
The sky.
The city lights.
Wrong angle.
Wrong direction—
And then—
BOOM.
A fist slammed into his jaw from behind.
Dravers' punch detonated against his skull and launched him like artillery into the forest beyond the dockyard.
Trees exploded on impact.
Wood splintered.
Birds scattered into the night.
Silence.
Smoke drifted between shattered trunks.
Tudor slowly stood up.
Head tilted.
Eyes narrowing.
"What…?"
Dravers walked toward him through the broken trees.
Casual steps.
Hands in her pockets.
He lunged again—
Faster this time.
A feint left.
Real strike right—
Swish.
Swap.
His punch struck empty air.
And a heel crashed into his ribs from the opposite side.
CRACK.
He flew sideways through three more trees.
Before he even hit the ground—
Swish.
She appeared above him mid-air.
Hammered her fist downward.
BOOM.
The earth cratered.
Dust geysered upward.
Tudor coughed—
Blood spraying from his mouth.
He roared and swung blindly behind him—
Swish.
Swap.
He punched his own afterimage.
And Dravers' knee buried itself into his spine.
THUD.
He dropped to one knee.
She appeared in front of him.
Uppercut.
KRAAAM.
His body launched skyward.
Mid-air—
He twisted—
Trying to regain control—
Trying to track her.
Left.
Right.
Above.
Below—
Swish. Swish. Swish.
Each blink rearranged the battlefield.
Each blink rewrote direction.
Each blink disoriented him further.
She was everywhere.
Nowhere.
Every strike landed from a blind spot.
A hook to the temple—
Swap.
A kick to the liver—
Swap.
An elbow to the throat—
Swap.
Punch.
Swap.
Kick.
Swap.
Uppercut.
Swap.
Swap.
Swap.
Swap.
The forest turned into a storm of shockwaves.
Explosions erupted in random directions as Tudor's body was launched like a pinball between trees, rock faces, shattered buildings.
His massive frame crashed through a water tower—
Steel twisted like paper.
He hit the ground—
Rolled—
Tried to stand—
And Dravers' fist smashed into his face again.
This wasn't a duel.
It wasn't back and forth.
There was no rhythm.
No exchange.
No build.
Just—
Overwhelming repositioning.
Tudor roared in fury.
"I CAN'T—"
Swap.
Her fist slammed into his mouth mid-sentence.
Teeth scattered.
He skidded across concrete.
His vision swam.
Left felt like right.
Up felt like down.
Every time he recalibrated—
She moved him.
She moved herself.
She moved the axis of the world.
Her ability—
Switch.
As long as he was within her field of vision—
She could swap positions with him.
Instantly.
No cooldown visible.
No wind-up.
No tell.
And she was faster than his perception.
Which meant—
He was never attacking her.
He was attacking where she had been.
And every miss placed him exactly where she wanted.
Another swap—
She grabbed his collar mid-air—
Swapped with a point high above—
And released him.
Tudor plummeted like a meteor.
He smashed into the dockyard again—
The entire coastline cracking from impact.
Before he could rise—
She swapped with a position above him—
And drove both heels into his chest.
The shockwave parted the ocean behind them.
Water rose in a wall.
Collapsed violently.
Tudor's body trembled on the ground.
He coughed.
Blood running from his nose.
From his ear.
His arms shaking as he pushed himself up.
Dravers landed softly a few meters away.
Expression unchanged.
Breathing steady.
Tudor's hands dug into the rubble.
His teeth ground together.
This—
This wasn't the kind of fight he enjoyed.
There was no clash of titans.
No exchange of power.
No roaring collision of equals.
This was humiliation.
This was being played with.
His grin was gone now.
Replaced with something darker.
Angrier.
The air around him began to vibrate.
The ground cracked beneath his feet.
Veins bulged along his neck.
His killing intent erupted outward like a furnace.
"You… little…"
Dravers' eyes narrowed slightly.
For the first time—
She adjusted her stance.
Tudor slowly rose to full height.
Blood dripping down his chin.
Breathing heavy.
Fury burning in his eyes.
"Stop running."
Dravers blinked.
Then gave a small smile.
Dravers slid back several meters after her last strike.
Dust drifted between them.
Tudor stood hunched, chest rising and falling like a furnace bellows, blood dripping from his chin to the cracked earth.
For a split second—
She didn't attack.
Instead—
She glanced at her wrist.
A slim black watch.
Digital numbers ticking down.
00:03
Tudor frowned.
"…What are you—"
00:02
She reached into her pocket calmly.
Pulled out a small crimson capsule.
The surface shimmered like liquid sealed in glass.
00:01
She crushed it between her canine teeth.
A sharp crack.
The capsule burst—
Thick metallic blood flooding her mouth.
Her fangs extended slightly as she swallowed.
And then—
THUMM.
An energy pulse exploded outward from her body.
The air rippled.
Dust blasted away in a circular wave.
Her pupils thinned.
Veins glowed faintly beneath her pale skin.
Narrator:
Dravers' original ability—
Blood Mimic.
By ingesting a person's blood, she could temporarily replicate one of their abilities.
However—
She had a reset time of one minute.
One minute before the mimic ability faded.
One minute before she could ingest again.
This time—
She had chosen—
Speed.
Not Tudor's.
Not Adrian's.
Someone else's.
A pure acceleration-type ability.
The ground beneath her feet cracked.
Tudor's eyes widened.
She vanished.
Not swapped.
Vanished.
The air detonated behind her.
BOOOOM—!
She reappeared directly in front of Tudor mid-sprint—
Her fist already buried in his abdomen.
The impact compressed the air in a visible sphere.
Before his body could react—
She was behind him.
Elbow to the spine.
Before he could turn—
Knee to the jaw.
Before he could fall—
Palm strike to the chest.
It wasn't swapping anymore.
It wasn't disorientation.
It was velocity.
She moved so fast afterimages stacked over each other like frames skipping.
The sound barrier cracked repeatedly—
Sharp SKRAAAT—! bursts tearing through the battlefield.
Tudor swung.
His fist cut through air.
Too slow.
She ducked under his hook—
Reappeared to his left—
Hammered six punches into his ribs in the time it took him to blink.
BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM!
Shockwaves stacked.
His body trembled.
He roared and stomped—
The ground exploded upward—
But she was already airborne—
Spinning—
Aerial kick smashing into his temple.
His head snapped sideways.
He staggered—
And she was already in front of him again.
Punch barrage.
Left.
Right.
Left.
Right.
Up.
Down.
Each hit detonating like contained artillery.
The forest behind them shredded from stray shockwaves.
Windows shattered across distant buildings.
The ocean churned violently.
Tudor tried to grab her.
Missed.
Tried to predict.
Missed.
Every attack he launched carved craters into empty earth.
She moved like a red streak of lightning.
His massive frame was being pushed back—
Step by step—
Under relentless impact.
For the first time—
Tudor's smile disappeared completely.
He planted his feet.
Crossed his arms—
And took the barrage head-on.
Fists hammered into his guard.
Forearms trembled.
Skin split.
Blood sprayed.
But—
He didn't fall.
He didn't fly.
He endured.
Dravers noticed.
Her eyes narrowed mid-combo.
His stance adjusted.
Slight shift in weight.
Slight tilt of shoulder.
His breathing steadied.
Another punch—
He blocked earlier than before.
Another kick—
He turned his ribs just enough to minimize damage.
Another strike—
He partially caught her wrist.
Not fully.
But enough to feel her trajectory.
Tudor's grin slowly returned.
Through blood.
Through bruises.
Through broken skin.
"Heh…"
He spat red onto the ground.
"You're fast."
He pivoted sharply—
Her next strike grazing his cheek instead of landing clean.
"But speed…"
He swung wide—
She dodged—
But the gust from his fist clipped her shoulder.
A shockwave alone sent her skidding several meters.
"…has rhythm."
He stomped.
The ground shattered outward in a radial explosion—
Forcing her into the air.
This time—
When she dashed in—
His arm moved before she fully committed.
Not fast enough to hit.
But fast enough to intercept space.
Her punch grazed instead of drilled.
His other hand brushed her ribs.
Just brushed—
Yet the pressure alone felt like being struck by a moving truck.
She flipped backward to create distance.
Landing lightly.
Chest rising slightly heavier now.
Tudor rolled his neck.
Cracks echoed.
His body bruised.
Swollen.
Bleeding.
But his eyes—
Burning brighter.
"You hit hard."
He stepped forward.
The ground sinking beneath his weight.
"But you're repeating yourself."
He lunged—
Not aiming at her body—
But at the space she had been using to pivot.
She dashed—
And his backhand clipped her forearm mid-motion.
The shock traveled up her arm.
For the first time—
Her expression shifted.
Just slightly.
Tudor laughed.
Deep.
Thrilled.
"Now this…"
He spread his arms wide.
"THIS is starting to get interesting."
The air thickened.
He was adapting.
Learning her tempo.
Reading the pattern in her acceleration.
The next exchange—
Would not be as one-sided.
And the minute on her watch—
Was still ticking.
Dravers darted in again—
A red blur carving through broken air.
She aimed for the jaw.
Tudor tilted his head just slightly.
The punch grazed.
Too shallow.
His hand moved.
Too late—
No.
Not late enough.
BOOOOOM.
His fist connected with her side.
Not clean.
Not perfect.
But it landed.
The sound was wrong.
Not like flesh hitting flesh—
More like a battering ram slamming into reinforced steel.
Her body folded mid-air.
Breath exploded out of her lungs.
For the first time since she activated speed—
She felt it.
Pain.
Real pain.
Her vision flickered.
The world tilted sideways.
She forced her feet down—
Skidded across shattered asphalt—
Boots carving two deep trenches.
Tudor didn't give her space.
He was already there.
A shadow swallowing her.
"You slowed down."
He grabbed.
She twisted—
No.
Too late.
His arms wrapped around her torso.
Locked.
A spine-crushing bear hug.
His hands clasped behind her back.
And then—
He squeezed.
The sound of pressure.
Subtle at first.
Then louder.
Her ribs compressed inward.
Her lungs flattened.
Her spine bent unnaturally.
Cracks spidered through the ground beneath his feet from the force he exerted.
Dravers' eyes widened.
Her watch.
00:05
Five seconds.
Five seconds until the reset.
Tudor leaned his chin near her ear.
His breath was hot.
Heavy.
"You dance well," he muttered.
His arms tightened.
Her vision flashed white.
Her heartbeat thundered in her skull.
She tried to pry his arms apart—
Her fingers dug into muscle that felt like forged iron.
No movement.
He squeezed harder.
The air inside her lungs escaped in a weak hiss.
Her body trembled.
Her speed ability flickered.
Static crackled around her.
"Where's that confidence now?" Tudor laughed softly.
Her vision blurred.
Her ears rang.
She could feel the microfractures forming along her ribs.
If he tightened just a little more—
They would snap.
00:04
She couldn't breathe.
Her field of vision narrowed.
00:03
A sharp pop.
Something shifted in her back.
Pain flared.
But she didn't scream.
Her teeth clenched.
Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
Tudor felt her body weaken.
His grin widened.
"I'll crush you slow," he whispered.
"I don't want this to end too quickly."Tudor's arms tightened.
Bones creaked.
Dravers' vision dimmed at the edges, her spine screaming under the pressure. His chest was a wall. His forearms were iron beams compressing her ribs inward millimeter by millimeter.
"You're done," Tudor muttered, tightening the hug. "This is where you break."
Her watch ticked.
00:02
Her lungs were empty. Her fingers trembled.
00:01
Her eyes sharpened.
Cold.
Predatory.
The second the timer hit zero—
She moved.
Not outward.
Not to escape.
She leaned forward.
And sank her fangs into his neck.
SHKKT.
For the first time—
Tudor made a sound that wasn't laughter.
A sharp inhale.
"What—?!"
Her teeth pierced through skin that had tanked skyscrapers.
Blood flooded her mouth.
Hot.
Dense.
Powerful.
It didn't taste like iron.
It tasted like voltage.
She swallowed.
And the world exploded.
WHOOOOOOOM—!
A shockwave detonated from her body.
Crimson lightning cracked across her veins.
Her pupils dilated, then shrank into vertical slits.
The ability registered instantly.
Supreme.
Not one stat.
Not one enhancement.
All of them.
Strength. Speed. Agility. Stamina.
Enhanced beyond natural limits.
Her body didn't just fill with power—
It roared.
Tudor's grin disappeared.
He felt it.
His own ability.
Flowing out.
Flowing into her.
His arms tightened instinctively—
But it was too late.
Dravers' hands shot to his forearms.
And squeezed.
Concrete beneath them shattered.
The ground caved in from the pressure.
Tudor's eyes widened.
"…Impossible."
Her ribs straightened.
Her spine aligned.
Cracks sealed under the overwhelming flood of reinforced stamina.
She inhaled—
Deep.
Full.
Effortless.
And then—
She flexed.
BOOOOOOOM!!
The shockwave blasted outward in a perfect sphere.
Tudor's arms were forced apart.
Not pried.
Forced.
His boots tore trenches through the earth as he was blasted backward, skidding across ruined asphalt like a missile.
Dravers landed lightly.
Snow and dust spiraled around her.
Her hair lifted slightly from the residual energy.
Her eyes glowed faintly red.
Not wild.
Focused.
Tudor dug his heels into the ground and stopped.
He touched his neck.
Blood.
His blood.
He looked up slowly.
And laughed.
Not mockingly.
Not loudly.
Low.
Thrilled.
"You…"
He rolled his shoulders.
The air around him vibrated.
"…you stole it."
Dravers cracked her neck slightly.
Flexed her fingers.
The ground beneath her boots spiderwebbed outward from sheer passive pressure.
"Borrowed," she corrected calmly.
Then she vanished.
Not like before.
Not quick.
Not tricky.
Gone.
A vacuum ripple tore through the air.
Tudor's eyes snapped to the right—
Too late.
Her fist buried into his ribs.
SKRAAAA—BOOOOOOOM!!!
The explosion bent the forest behind him flat.
Trees uprooted in a spiral wave.
His body shot sideways—
She was already above him.
Heel drop.
CRAAASH!
He was driven straight into the earth, a crater forming instantly.
Before the dust rose—
She was inside the crater.
Punch.
Punch.
Punch.
Each impact detonated like artillery fire.
The ground trembled with every hit.
Tudor caught one of her wrists—
And smiled through blood.
"Yes!"
He headbutted her.
The collision cracked the air like glass shattering.
They both flew back.
Both landed.
Both grinning now.
Because now—
It wasn't one-sided.
It was equal.
No.
Worse.
She had his enhancement stacked on top of her precision.
She moved first.
He matched.
Fists collided mid-air.
BOOOOOOM!!!
Shockwaves carved through clouds.
Their bodies blurred across the battlefield—
Trading blows too fast for the eye.
Each collision splitting the air apart.
She ducked a hook—
Uppercut him through a building skeleton.
He twisted mid-air—
Grabbed her ankle—
Slammed her across three streets—
She flipped—
Landed—
Dashed—
They collided again.
The sky cracked with thunder not from weather—
But from fists.
Tudor laughed.
Full.
Unrestrained.
"This is it! THIS is what I wanted!"
Dravers' expression didn't change.
But her strikes grew sharper.
More efficient.
More surgical.
She wasn't fighting for excitement.
She was calculating.
Supreme enhancement wasn't endless.
She could feel it ticking.
She stepped inside his guard—
Palm strike to sternum—
Elbow to jaw—
Knee to ribs—
Each blow amplified by his own stolen power.
Tudor staggered.
For the first time—
His balance broke.
She grabbed his collar.
And whispered—
"Now we're even."
Then drove him straight through the ground.
The earth split.
A shockwave rippled outward across the island.
Far away—
On a rooftop—
Adrian, barely conscious, felt the tremor.
His lips curved weakly.
"She did it…"
Back in the crater—
Dust swirled.
Tudor slowly pushed himself up.
Bruised.
Bleeding.
Laughing.
"You're… incredible."
Dravers stood above him.
Energy flaring around her.
But faintly—
Very faintly—
Her watch ticked again.
And the question wasn't whether she could overpower him now.
It was—
Could she finish him before Supreme ran out?