Emma had finished her hang out with Liam,
She was already halfway home when it hit him.
That feeling.
That sharp, wrong pressure in his chest.
Liam slowed his steps, turning his head slightly as Emma's back grew smaller in the distance.
"…Let me walk you home," he said suddenly.
Emma stopped. Looked over her shoulder.
"It's fine."
Her voice was calm. Certain.
Liam hesitated. His fingers twitched.
"…Alright," he said, forcing it out.
She nodded once and kept walking.
The rain had stopped, but the ground was still wet. Streetlights reflected faintly on the asphalt. Quiet. Too quiet.
Emma turned into the familiar path near her house.
And then—
Clap.
Slow applause echoed from the shadows.
"Wow," a voice said. "So this is her."
Emma stopped instantly.
Her eyes narrowed.
From between two abandoned buildings, a figure stepped out.
Vex.
Hands in his pockets. Smile sharp, ugly, amused.
"So," he continued, tilting his head, "the great Emma Elarat."
Emma's jaw tightened.
"You really outdid yourself," Vex said lightly. "Making your own mother afraid of you."
That did it.
Emma turned fully toward him, eyes cold, fury flashing across her face.
"…Shut up."
Vex grinned wider.
"Oh? Did that hurt?"
The ground behind him trembled.
Emma felt it before she heard it.
A heavy, dragging sound.
Metal scraping against concrete.
Her eyes widened slightly.
From the darkness, it emerged.
The bear.
the bear she killed.
Half its face was gone—replaced with exposed steel and glowing red optics. One arm was reinforced with thick mechanical plating. Wires wrapped around torn flesh. Its chest moved unnaturally, forced, mechanical.
Alive.
Barely.
Much stronger.
Much heavier.
Much angrier.
The thing let out a distorted roar—half animal, half machine.
Emma stepped back instinctively.
Her breath steadied—but her body reacted.
This is bad.
Vex watched her carefully.
"You remember it, right?" he said softly. "The one you enjoyed killing."
The bear lunged.
Emma dodged—but slower than before.
The ground exploded where she had been standing.
She rolled, barely avoiding a massive metal claw smashing down inches from her head.
She sprang up, breathing hard.
It's faster.
She rushed in anyway—gripping its neck like before—
—but her fingers slipped.
Metal.
Too thick.
The bear slammed her into a wall.
Crack.
Pain shot through her spine.
Emma coughed, blood hitting the ground.
Vex laughed quietly.
"Aww. What happened?" he mocked. "Adrenaline not enough this time?"
The bear swung again.
Emma blocked—arms shaking violently.
Her boots dragged backward across the concrete.
It's overpowering me.
She ducked, struck its knee joint—
Metal didn't bend.
The bear roared and headbutted her.
Her vision blurred.
She staggered.
Still standing.
Barely.
Emma wiped blood from her mouth, eyes burning—not with fear.
With rage.
"…You should've left it dead," she growled.
Vex leaned against the wall, completely relaxed.
"Oh, Emma," he said. "This isn't about killing you."
The bear charged again—faster.
Emma braced.
She knew it.
This time—
She would struggle.
The bear didn't stop.
Metal claws tore through the air again and again, each swing heavy enough to shatter bone. Emma kept moving—side-steps, slides, sharp pivots—her breathing controlled, but her thoughts weren't.
If Mom sees this…
Even from this far away, the fear crawled up her spine.
Not of dying.
Of becoming used to it.
Her hands were already trembling—not from exhaustion, but from restraint. She knew what she could do. She knew how easy it would be to end this the way she always did.
And that terrified her.
The bear lunged again.
Emma ducked low, rolled across wet concrete, came up on one knee. The ground shook as the thing smashed down behind her, cracking the pavement.
Vex clicked his tongue.
"Look at you," he said. "Still holding back."
Then—
Arms wrapped around her from behind.
Tight.
Too close.
Vex.
His breath brushed her ear as he laughed.
"Hah—got you."
Emma froze for a fraction of a second.
Not because she couldn't move.
Because the bear was already charging.
Heavy footsteps. Metal screaming.
Vex tightened his grip.
"Go on," he whispered mockingly. "Show me that monster your mother's afraid of."
Emma's eyes widened—
Then sharpened.
No.
If violence was inevitable—
Then she'd choose how.
In one smooth motion, she bent forward sharply, breaking his center of gravity.
Vex barely had time to react.
"What—"
Emma grabbed his arm and hip, her muscles screaming as she lifted—
And flipped him.
Hard.
She hurled him straight into the bear's path.
Vex screamed.
The bear collided with him like a freight train.
Bone cracked.
Metal shrieked.
Vex was sent flying, smashed into the ground as the bear stumbled, momentarily thrown off balance by the impact.
Emma staggered back, chest heaving.
She stared at her hands.
Still shaking.
Still human.
"…I won't become you," she whispered—whether to the bear, to Vex, or to herself, she didn't know.
The bear recovered, turning its glowing eyes back toward her.
Damaged.
Angrier.
But now—
Emma was free.
And she stood ready, eyes dark, jaw set—
Determined to end this without losing herself.
Vex pushed himself up from the ground slowly.
Too slowly.
Blood ran down the side of his face, mixing with oil and rain, but he was smiling—wide, crooked, delighted.
"…Hah."
He let out a low laugh, almost impressed.
"I didn't expect that," he said, rolling his neck as if the pain was nothing. "That was… Seductive."
His eyes locked onto Emma.
And they sparkled.
"I like that."
Something in Emma snapped.
Not the cold, controlled violence.
Not the adrenaline rush.
This was different.
Her fingers curled so tightly her nails bit into her palms. Her breathing went shallow, sharp. Her face didn't twist into rage—no, it went empty.
That smile.
That enjoyment.
"Stop," she said quietly.
Vex tilted his head. "Hm?"
"I said," Emma repeated, her voice low and flat,
"stop looking at me like that."
The bear growled behind him, gears grinding as it tried to rise again.
Vex spread his arms slightly, taunting. "What? This?" He grinned wider. "This is admiration."
That was it.
Emma stepped forward.
One step.
The ground seemed to tense with her.
"I warned you," she said.
Her eyes weren't wild.
They were focused.
Vex's grin widened even more—until he noticed something was wrong.
She wasn't rushing.
She wasn't attacking blindly.
She was approaching him the way an executioner walks to the block.
The bear lunged again—
Emma didn't even look at it.
She kicked a shard of metal off the ground with perfect timing. It spun through the rain and slammed straight into the bear's jaw, snapping its head sideways with a metallic screech.
Then she was in front of Vex.
Too fast.
He barely had time to react before her hand slammed into his chest—not a punch.
A grip.
Her fingers dug into his coat as she lifted him just enough that his feet scraped the ground.
"You think this is fun?" she asked calmly.
Vex coughed, still smiling—until her knee drove up into his stomach.
Hard.
The air left him in a violent gasp.
Emma leaned in, her forehead almost touching his.
"This," she said quietly, voice shaking now—not with fear, but restraint,
"is the part I hate."
Behind them, the bear roared again.
Emma released Vex and turned—back straight, eyes burning.
She moved instantly.
Her heel slammed into the bear's skull with a sharp crack of metal and bone. The machine-beast staggered, servos whining as it reeled sideways, momentarily blind and unbalanced.
She didn't finish it.
She turned back to Vex.
Slowly.
Blood ran from the corner of her mouth. She spat it straight onto his face.
"You enjoyed that?" she asked coldly. "When you grabbed me?, grinded on my ass?"
Her eyes burned—no thrill in them now. Only disgust.
"Filthy," she added. "Disgusting."
Vex wiped the blood from his cheek, still smiling, though his eyes narrowed just a little.
Emma took one step closer.
Then another.
Her voice dropped, sharp and controlled.
"How about I make sure," she said,
"you never do that again"
Her knee striked his penis.
Vex's screamed out of pain, and fell on the ground. Growling, shaking.
Behind them, the bear growled again, struggling to regain balance.
The bear slammed her into the ground.
Hard.
The air was ripped from her lungs as metal claws pinned her shoulders. Its weight crushed down, gears screaming, jaws snapping inches from her face. Emma's boots scraped uselessly against the wet asphalt.
For a second—just one—she couldn't breathe.
Then her hands moved.
She gripped its head, fingers digging into torn plating, and twisted her body violently. Using the bear's own momentum, she slipped behind it, locked her arm around its neck assembly, and pulled herself up.
Elbow.
CRACK.
Again.
CRACK.
Blood and oil sprayed the ground in thick, black-red streaks.
Emma didn't stop.
She hit faster. Harder. Her elbow pistoned into its head again and again, metal denting, circuits bursting. The bear roared—then glitched—then screamed in static.
And Emma—
She smiled.
A wide, unrestrained smile.
A laugh escaped her throat.
Then another.
She laughed as she hit it.
Laughed as it weakened.
Laughed as it tried—and failed—to fight back.
Her laughter echoed, sharp and wrong, mixing with rain and grinding metal.
"Is this all?" she muttered between breaths, hitting again. "Is this really all you've got?"
Elbow.
Elbow.
Elbow.
Then—
A hand clamped around her arm.
Firm. Human. Strong.
"Emma."
Her body froze instantly.
She turned her head.
Still smirking.
Eyes bright. Too bright.
And then—
"Oh."
The smile faded.
Her arm lowered.
The laughter died in her throat as reality rushed back in all at once.
Ethan stood there
Tall. Still. Unmoving.
The broken bear twitched weakly on the ground, sparks coughing from its ruined skull. Emma's knuckles were red—blood and oil mixed together, dripping from her fingers.
Ethan didn't look at the bear.
He looked at her.
His face wasn't angry.
That was worse.
Disappointment sat heavy in his eyes… and behind it, something even deeper—sadness. A kind that came from recognition.
He spoke quietly.
"You lost."
Emma's breath slowed. Her shoulders stiffened.
"Against yourself," Ethan continued. "Not the bear. Not Vex."
He took a step closer.
"Your real self."
Another step.
"Your Elarat blood."
The words hit harder than any blow.
Emma looked down at her hands.
They were shaking now.
"I—" Her voice caught. She swallowed. "I stopped. When you touched me. I stopped."
Ethan nodded once.
"Yes. You did."
Then his jaw tightened.
"But you liked it."
Silence fell between them, broken only by rain hitting metal.
Emma closed her fingers into fists.
"I didn't choose this," she said, low. "It happens. It just—comes out."
"I know," Ethan replied immediately.
That surprised her.
He exhaled slowly, rubbing a hand over his face. "That smile. That laugh. I've seen it before."
Emma looked up.
"In the mirror," he said. "Years ago."
Her eyes widened slightly.
Ethan crouched in front of her so they were eye level. "Power feels good. Violence feels honest. When the world finally shuts up and it's just you and survival."
He paused.
"That's the curse."
Emma's voice dropped to almost nothing.
"Mom was scared."
Ethan didn't deny it.
"Asuka isn't afraid of you," he said. "She's afraid of losing you to that part."
Emma's jaw trembled.
"What if I can't stop smiling next time?"
Ethan reached out, hesitated for half a second, then placed his hand on her head—firm, grounding.
"Then you don't face it alone," he said. "You face it awake."
He looked her dead in the eyes.
"You are not a monster because you enjoy the fight."
His voice hardened.
"You become one only if you stop questioning it."
Emma swallowed hard.
The rain washed the blood from her hands.
Slowly.
Quietly.
She nodded.
The bear twitched once.
A weak, mechanical growl crawled out of its chest, metal plates grinding as it tried—tried—to stand again.
Emma noticed.
Her muscles tensed instantly.
But Ethan was already moving.
One step forward.
No hesitation. No anger. No wasted motion.
He grabbed the bear by the head—fingers digging into torn metal and fur—and twisted.
There was a sharp, final CRACK.
Not loud.
Not dramatic.
Absolute.
The lights in the bear's eyes went dark. The servos died mid-whine. Its weight collapsed forward and hit the ground like an empty shell.
Done.
Ethan released it and wiped his hand against his jacket as if he'd just shut a door.
Emma stared.
That… was it?
"That's how you end it," Ethan said calmly. "Not rage. Not pleasure."
He turned to her.
"Certainty."
She nodded, imprinting the moment into memory.
Then she looked around.
"Vex?"
Ethan's gaze slid to the cracked pavement where scorch marks traced a hurried escape.
"Gone," he said. "Backup escape unit. He planned for failure."
His jaw tightened slightly.
"But running doesn't mean winning."
Ethan placed a hand on Emma's shoulder and guided her away from the body.
"Come," he said. "Your mother doesn't need to see this."
They walked off.
Behind them, the bear lay motionless.
Truly dead.
And somewhere far away—
Vex was already planning his next move.
Chapter end