George's POV
A pulsating pain wracked my body, leaping from cell to cell until every part of me drowned in it and my mind fogged over.
I'd been set up.
I had suspected it since yesterday, but I knew after that first punch.
Artisan had finally gotten around to giving Gina a meta-gene, and she was stronger now. Much, much stronger.
I was no longer number one.
I tore through one tree, then five more, ripping through brush before finally coming to a stop on the far side of a small knoll. A boulder crumbled around me, and only faint light filtered through the soil and rock, but I stayed alert.
And I was changing.
My bones snapped and extended, my muscles ballooned, and my skin hardened, turning pale white.
If Artisan thought a fancy meta-ability was enough to stop me, she didn't know me very well.
Gina was going free today, whether she liked it or not.
My Curse Energy surged, and I moved. The knoll exploded as I rushed forward, bathing the area in dust and debris. My fingers dug into two massive chunks of stone, and I hurled them at my sister, who carved a straight path through the storm toward me.
She splattered the first with a casual wave of her hand.
My Curse Energy signature dipped just before she punched through the second chunk. I spread it thin, lowering its volume until it blended with the ambient energy, fading as it dispersed.
I struck from behind.
My fist slammed into her lower spine with a thunderclap. Something cracked, and the air ignited as she launched into the forest. I followed, catching up instantly and driving her into the ground with an axe kick that she barely blocked.
The forest around her shattered like glass as she endured the blow, legs still rooted. I flipped off her forearm and came down with claw strikes. She sidestepped and countered. I slipped under her punch and tore into her side with two sharp swipes.
She exhaled sharply. A clawed palm shot forward, knocking the air from my lungs and splitting the air itself.
Gina had begun to shift, too.
She pressed forward with a flurry of slashes, and I barely sensed them, but instinct carried me through the parries.
My scales split. Blood ran down my hands from the scratches, but I ignored it.
Maybe I shouldn't have.
She completed her transformation a heartbeat later, standing taller than me. She hit like a Mack truck—but her blows felt off. Sloppier. Hollow.
And I understood immediately.
She wasn't used to manipulating Curse Energy in a larger body.
I took advantage of it, blasting off into the forest and higher up the mountain.
We shattered ledges, hollowed out fresh caves, and carved into each other without restraint. Every sudden direction change and burst of speed bought me breathing room as we tore each other apart. Dodges flowed into claws, strikes, twists, and punches.
Then, faster than I expected—faster than I thought possible—she flared her technique, collapsing a portion of the mountain with a Maximum Anti-Gravity Domain.
Domain Amplification settled over me just before everything came down.
Gina's POV
I stumbled forward, bloodied and gripped by a hunger so deep I couldn't find words for it.
My wounds were healing, my muscles were strengthening, and my Curse Energy control was improving as I reverted to my human form, but I still felt fragile. Like a stiff breeze could knock me over.
Artisan had warned me about the side effects of overtaxing my new meta-ability. I had managed them well enough in spars and training, but I had never pushed it this far—never combined it with an evolved transformation.
I was glad the fighting was over.
I leapt from my perch and landed at the base of a massive cascade.
My heart clenched at the sight.
Trees, soil, stone, and bits of dead animals were piled together in a massive heap. Beneath it all, buried under layers of destruction, was my brother.
His Curse Energy signature was fading.
I clawed through the rubble—slowly at first, then frantically.
George was still transformed when I found him.
Half his face had been torn away by my claws, and one of his hands bent in the wrong direction.
"You got me good, sis," he choked, coughing up dust and sand.
I almost dropped him in shock.
I pulled him into a tight hug. "You're lucky I didn't kill you."
"You couldn't, even if you tried," he said automatically.
I rolled my eyes. "I suppose it's time I take you home."
The words came out smaller than I expected.
"You were rooting for me, weren't you?" he asked.
I pulled back as he snapped his hand back into place. His transformation faded, leaving him disfigured but healing slowly.
"It was a long shot," I admitted. "I've never been more disappointed to win."
George's grin turned sharp. He twisted his middle finger around his index.
"Who said you've won? Domain Expansion: Infinite Void."
His Curse Energy surged, output flaring wildly to match his all-time peak, even though he was clearly on the verge of collapse.
This asshole.
I formed my hand sign and called up my Domain. It expanded instantly, rising to meet his simple domain...
"Did you just bait me?"
George's grin widened.
"You know I can't hold back!" I snapped.
"Then don't."
Gritting my teeth, I brought my Domain crashing down on him. Gravity spiked violently until the walls of my Domain trembled, and a splitting headache tore through my skull.
George endured through it with a Simple Domain, a broken body, and dogged determination.
"Stop!" I pleaded, my voice shaking.
It was insane. He was insane to risk everything like this—for me.
I can't let him—
My hands trembled, and my Domain collapsed.
The ground rushed up to meet me as my knees gave out. My limbs felt like lead, even though I still had enough Curse Energy to open another Domain Expansion.
My brother crawled toward me, that same stupid smile on his face as he healed in uneven bursts, burning through his reserves.
"To think it was that simple," he said. "Just let you punch yourself out."
I didn't have the strength to respond.
He pulled out the strange talisman and pressed it against my chest. I tried to resist, more out of reflex than thought, but I was too weak.
"I got you, sis," he said softly. "Let your big brother handle things from here."
The talisman blazed like the sun.
And then there was nothing.
Read up to Chapter 153 on Patreon.com/artandcreativewriting
What do you think about the mini-arc's conclusion?
Also, for that one guy who's been wondering about Tyler's Dad, Yes, his father is a transmigrator.
Yes, Artisan is transgender, I guess. She was transfigured into a man upon her request by Tyler at first, and has maintained that gender even if she's swapped bodies over the years. Her preferred appearance is a woman with criss-crossed scars, but sometimes she'll appear as a blonde.