Carmen knew she lived in a world of monsters and advanced tech and even living gods, yet she’d never considered the existence of vampires. And not the hot and brooding vampires they made into movies — no, real ones that sucked the color out of human skin and let the blood dribble down their chin.

Montana wiped it away. He had a fair complexion just like hers, with swept back hair and a square jaw matching his wide build, filling the width of the entire alleyway as he rose and stepped into the flickering streetlight. Carmen’s eyes drifted past his white robe, past the blood stain on his sleeve, to the five-foot katana sheathed at his hip.

His hand drifted to the handle. “Back away,” he said, Mexican accent thick in his tone, as if studying the few English words that came out of his mouth.

Carmen gulped, tightening her fists. Chip faded in behind her in his muscular form. “I’m not here for that. I matched against you.”

He scoffed. “Hablas español?”

“Por qué tuviste que matarla?” she said, following his lead, switching languages without a thought.

The man spoke better Spanish than he did English. “I offer my services in the only way my kind can exist these days. I give lonely individuals approaching the end of their lives a chance at romance, and—” he licked his lips. “They give me blood. Are you squeamish, girl?”

“It’s gonna take more than blood to scare me. I, Electrica, challenge you to a ranked fight, Montana!”

As soon as she recited the words in Spanish, menus appeared between them, displaying each other’s stats. Carmen studied the menu in front of her.

His size alone made her guess he’d be a Grappler or a Tank, but if he had such low Long-Range, he had to be a Tank. The higher Damage wasn’t a surprise either — his massive katana gave him that and the range, too. Her only hope would be to stay close, to not give him time to wind up for his devastating swings.

But winning wasn’t her true goal. The Memory Mint was still in her pocket.

Time for an experiment.

Montana threw his head back in laughter, though the smile on his face spoke of noble respect. “You’re a class lower than me, and you still come all this way to challenge me? I acknowledge your ambition. Perhaps you will truly be a challenge.”

He pressed the button to accept the fight, and blue lines traced the border of their arena as the female referee spawned in, speaking Spanish just as fluently. “Electrica VS Montana. Best of three! Fighters, enter your starting positions!”

Carmen stepped over into the glowing blue spot on the floor marking her starting position, a few feet away from Montana. He pulled a white mechanical mask over his face and unsheathed his long katana with a metallic screech as it reflected the flickering streetlight.

He was an entire Class above her. This wouldn’t be easy, but if the Memory Mint would apparently make her that much stronger, she wouldn’t find out against an easy opponent. On the small chance she did win, she could still hide it from the others, since he was barely higher than her in ranking.

“Round one! Ready?”

You were our top candidate for testing out our experimental enhancer.

Time to see if Mei was right. As Montana entered a stance, Carmen raised her fists, dispeling Chip. She wouldn’t use the vial yet, but since she was in range of his katana, speed was of the importance. She couldn’t move at full speed with Chip out.

“Fight!”

Carmen sprang into the air to catch Montana off guard with a jump-in attack, but Montana’s katana swung upwards with a flash of light. She couldn’t put her arms up in time. The edge of his katana slashed across her abdomen; crimson flashed across her vision, and the next thing she knew, she was flat on the concrete.

Her heart pounded in her chest as the pain stung through her entire body. Barely out of Montana’s range, she panicked and felt her stomach. Blood stained her fighting outfit, but it had only left a scar.

Montana licked a splatter of blood from his mask. “Ay, Electrica. You need more Iron in your diet for someone so young.”

Carmen grit her teeth, steeling her resolve against the pain. Mr. Stone had taught them the danger of blades during a training session long ago. Guns were weakened during a Fight, sure, but the System only balanced swords by scarring over serious dismemberment as long as they were above half-health. But, his singular anti-air slash had already taken a quarter of her health.

She wouldn’t survive a combo.

Montana pressed the offensive with a wide, quick slash. She rolled underneath the blade and fired a low Electroshock, but Montana blocked it and returned a blockstring of his own. Back to back, all four slashes spaced her out to a range only he could attack from.

And then he disappeared.

An afterimage remained where he last stood as he teleported a few feet to her right, then again to her left, closing the distance. He flexed for another upwards slash, and Carmen flinched into a block, but Montana disappeared once again.

Behind me!

A fist and the butt of his katana slammed into her spine a breath before his blade slashed up the length of her back. Tears welled in her eyes, and Carmen let out a shout of pain as the slash launched her forward.

Only a quarter of her health remained; the next cut would be lethal. As her own blood splattered onto her fists, a black haze swelled at the edges of her vision and her body began to go numb.

On wakeup, Carmen stumbled to her feet and sent in her only other option. Chip rushed in with a blockstring of jabs, but the final hit left Chip close enough for Montana to grab his outstretched wrist.

Carmen froze, too. Montana pulled Chip closer and sank his teeth into his ghostly shoulder. Ghosts didn’t have blood, yet her neck still burst with pain, and hitstun froze her in place. Ahead, Chip faded away.

Montana gripped the handle of his katana. The edge blurred through the air. She barely felt it touch her neck before it all went dark, and she woke up with the referee over her, reviving her from the dead.

Carmen gasped, feeling her face and her neck and the now-gone cut across her abdomen to make sure she was still in one piece.

Ahead, Montana licked the bloodied front of his mask and lifted it, his lips stained with crimson as his eyes gleamed. “Disappointing. With more training against a blade, you would’ve stood a chance.”

The timer on Carmen’s wrist increased back to ninety; she only lasted fifteen seconds. Carmen scoffed and dug into her pocket, soon staring into the entrancing, gleaming pink lines on the Memory Mint.

Time to find out what you do.

She popped the mint into her mouth. It was tasteless for a few sparse seconds, but a frigid cold sensation burned in the back of her mouth, spreading through her throat.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Round two! Ready?”

The referee’s words faded into the background, yet drew into the foreground louder than ever before. Her senses kicked into overdrive, like someone had turned the wheel up to eleven. When she glared at her opponent, thoughts shot through her brain like bullets, tracing every weakness in Montana’s stance.

He was wide open.

“Fight!”

The streetlight flicked to darkness. Carmen sent Chip forward and leaped into the air, this time easily blocking Montana’s predictable anti-air. Chip swung at Montana’s block, keeping him in blockstun as she landed behind him.

Down. Backwards.

She recognized the directions from the last time he teleported immediately. Her body moved without a thought, firing an Electroshock into the position she somehow knew he would appear at.

Electricity crackled through his paralyzed body as Chip started the combo with two blows and an uppercut. She followed Montana into the air, landing a few more hits before knocking him back down — right into the path of Chip’s hands charging with electricity.

“Electroshock!” she shouted.

Half a bar of meter disappeared, and the EX Electroshock blasted Montana into the the streetlight, bending the metal.

Chip rose into the air, charging a second Electroshock. Her eyes darted back and forth, tracing every possible action Montana could take on wakeup, watching them each play out in front of her. He could teleport to the right; she’d follow and catch him on the exit. He could block the blast; from here, she could pivot to his side and get him from behind.

She saw the third possibility before he even put it into action. In one movement, he weaved past the aerial Electroshock and elbowed her guard, ending the blockstring with slashes to space her out.

Down. Forward. Back.

As Montana pointed, a second Montana dashed towards Carmen, stance screaming for a low slash. Yet, at the same time, the first Montana looked up at Chip, floating above him.

But her mind was still faster than him. The second Montana was a transparent clone, and its stance made the exact direction of his slash obvious. She easily sidestepped past the clone’s attack and dispelled Chip, leaving Montana to slash at mere air.

His heavy slash left him in recovery long enough for her to plant a fist right into his kidney. Montana’s body contorted as he grunted in pain, but she aimed her second blow for his throat like it was second nature, finishing it with a heavy kick to his temple.

Montana stumbled to the ground, falling into a roll, his stance swaying afterwards. She backed out of his range, expecting an attack, but he instead proceeded to teleport side to side, three times. She raised her guard in a confused caution.

Deep crimson light gleamed from underneath Montana’s mechanical mask. With a hiss, it exploded from his face, revealing glowing eyes and bared razor-sharp fangs, the same Montana she’d met in the alley. He cackled, every trace of humanity gone from his eyes.

Forward. Down. Back. Forward. Down.

A blood-red crimson hue consumed his blade as he finished the commands for his ultimate. Light traced the katana as he lunged towards her, and every instinctual alarm in her body told her to stay blocking.

But the voices didn’t.

The newfound voices in her mind read his stance like a book; it was a purposefully obvious slash. He expected her to block, because he still had the one thing that would let him cut right through it.

“Burst!”

The red light around his sword intensified. Carmen dropped her guard and jumped towards him, flipping midair as wind lashed from his blade. It barely missed her. As Montana’s eyes widened in surprise, she summoned Chip’s fist over her own, and aimed right for his temple with all the strength she could muster.

With a crack, the mountain crumbled.

“Down!”

As Carmen landed on the concrete, the referee swiped her hand down, marking the end of the round. Montana’s blade clattered to the floor. Carmen jumped right to her feet, bouncing in place on her tippy-toes as she gazed at her palms. Mei was right. It made her smarter, helped her react faster, and it felt good — great, even!

But, as Montana stood, scorn painted his face more than the blood. “You’re lucky I am forbidden from forfeiting a ranked match. I see I was wrong to believe your ambition, to trust that you’d be an honorable opponent.”

Carmen’s breath caught in her throat. “What?”

“Do not believe me to be blind, girl,” he spat. “You’ve resorted to whatever you just ate to win this match.”

Carmen’s stance melted like butter. Her shoulders dropped, and the new voices in her mind faded to the background as she gazed at her hands once again.

How was she any different than a bodybuilder resorting to steroids for quick gains? How was the vial different from hiding cards under the table?

He was right.

“Final round!” the referee shouted.

Carmen raised her hand. “No. I forfeit the match.”

The referee paused, glaring at her. “I’m sorry, can you confirm your decision, Electrica?”

“I confirm. I forfeit the match.”

Ahead, Montana relaxed his stance, too. His mechanical mask folded from his face, revealing shock.

The referee swiped her hand down. “Electrica has forfeited the ranked match! By default, Montana wins!”

A new window appeared in front of Carmen in the air, displaying how the loss affected her Class. She didn’t have anything to lose, since she was already ranked below him.

Montana sheathed his katana, nodding. “Well. I retract my previous statement. While I will not forgive you to resorting to a cheap tactic, you have my admiration.” He bowed.

“I’m sorry,” Carmen said. “I was only fighting you to test something out.”

“Actions mean more than words, Electrica.” He turned away. “My real name is Izan. I hope we face each other again, when you learn to rely more on your own strength.”

Carmen blinked, and Izan was gone, a shadow in the night. A camera shutter flicked from behind. Mei Akiyama stepped out from the shadowy overhang of a closed store, wearing a different outfit under the same white labcoat. She took another picture, beaming.

“That was amazing! I was right, wasn’t I? Did the Memory Mint help? It sure looked like it — you did great!”

“Yeah, but…” Carmen shook her head. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

Mei’s shoulders sank, and she put her phone away. “What? Didn’t it feel good?”

“It did, but isn’t this cheating? It feels like I’m taking the cheap way, instead of getting stronger myself.”

Mei gasped. “Cheap? No, no, Carmen, not at all. The Memory Mint is only pulling knowledge that the user already possesses. You’ve been training for a while. You already know all this,” she said, burying her hands in her pockets.

“Then why do I even need it?”

“Because that extra knowledge is trapped in you. Our studies show that everyone’s mind places subconscious limits on their true potential, whether on purpose or by a fear of failure. So, the Memory Shot temporarily removes those limits, to let who you really are shine.

Carmen wet her lips, crinkling the wrapping paper in her hand. She felt herself at a crossroads, between Izan’s words, Mei’s encouragement, and her own craving to experience that boost once again.

What would Daniel think if he saw you taking this?

“I know, you’re still unsure, but we really need you, Carmen. No one else has higher readings of potential strength than you, so…they sent me to sweeten the deal.”

Mei raised two shiny golden tickets, and Carmen gasped. “Are those—?”

“Two tickets to Stylus’s gala?” Mei nodded. “We put our money together as a team, because we want to see you, with the Memory Mint, take him on. All you have to do is use it to win, and the tickets are yours!”

“I don’t know…can’t I get in there myself? That just sounds like I’m really taking the easy way.”

Mei shrugged. “I mean, you could buy the expensive tickets yourself, but are you really trying to take the hard way out? Or do you want to show everyone that you can take Stylus down on your own?”

Carmen scratched the back of her neck.

“Tell you what. I’ll give you time to think, and we can meet up again before Stylus’s gala. I’ll bring the tickets and another dose of the Memory Mint, and you can choose if you want them or not.”

“Can you meet me on the roof of the hotel a block that way?”

“Sure can! You’re the one who can make demands here,” Mei said. “We’re the ones kinda depending on you. See you then!”

And with that, Mei waved and strolled down the street, walking away, leaving Carmen alone underneath the flickering streetlight. Chip returned to his tiny form and perched on her shoulder, giving her a ghost hug at the neck.

She thought she was sure of herself, ever since she learned how bad of an idea it was to live by proving herself to others. She thought she was sure of herself, when she revolved to prove herself to herself instead. Yet now, between Izan’s scorn and Mei’s promises, she didn’t know where her heart truly lied.