The night air was heavy, still choked with sulfur.
Sam and Dean lowered their weapons, their eyes never leaving Miyu. She stood protectively in front of Melinda, her shadows twitching with exhaustion, her body battered and burned.
The hunters' tension lingered like an unsheathed blade.
And then—
the ground split open.
A surge of demonic energy erupted in a spiral of black fire. It lashed outward like chains, slamming into Sam and Dean. They shouted in pain as the energy wrapped around their arms and legs, pinning them to the dirt, forcing them to their knees. Their guns fell from their hands, useless.
From the smoke rose the demon. Its body, half-destroyed from before, regenerated into something far worse—towering, grotesque, wings of ash spreading wide. Its grin burned like fire.
"You thought I would flee?" it roared, its voice shaking the trees. "No, little girl. This ends now."
---
The Last Battle
Miyu didn't hesitate. She launched forward, shadows exploding from her body in a storm of blades. The demon met her mid-strike, their collision blasting a shockwave that split the road.
Claws ripped into flesh. Shadows coiled like snakes around demonic fire.
Miyu screamed as her tendrils lashed, tearing chunks from the demon's form. But for every piece she destroyed, its rage only grew.
"You're nothing!" it bellowed, slamming her into the ground. Her bones cracked under the weight. Blood spilled from her mouth, staining the dirt.
She coughed, trembling, yet her many eyes glowed brighter. Her shadows surged again, pulling her up.
"No…" she whispered. "I'm not nothing. I'm… Miyu. And I choose… to protect."
---
The Killing Blow
With a final cry, she unleashed everything. Her shadows pierced the demon's chest, dozens of spears of pure will. They tore through its body, binding it, sealing it, shredding it apart from within.
The demon shrieked in rage, fire bursting from its mouth as its form split with cracks of blinding light.
"Miyu!" Melinda screamed.
Miyu pushed harder, every vein in her body glowing with strain.
The light consumed the demon—until it exploded into nothing but ash, the earth trembling from its death.
---
The Price
Silence followed. The chains around Sam and Dean dissolved, setting them free.
But Miyu was on her knees, her shadows fading like smoke in the wind. Her body was broken, pale, barely breathing. She turned her head toward Melinda, a weak smile curling at her lips.
"See… I told you… you'd be safe…"
Then her body went still.
Her many eyes dimmed to black.
Her shadows vanished entirely.
"Miyu!"
Melinda rushed to her, dropping to the ground and cradling the girl's lifeless body against her chest. Tears fell onto Miyu's pale face as she rocked back and forth, whispering through sobs:
"You were never a failure. You were my family."
---
The Hunters' Eyes
Sam and Dean stood silently, their breaths ragged, watching the scene unfold. They had seen countless monsters die, countless victims mourn. But this… this felt different.
They exchanged a glance—conflicted, pained. Dean finally stepped forward, his voice rough.
"Melinda… we need to talk."
Melinda looked up at them, her eyes blazing through tears. She held Miyu tighter, as if daring them to come closer.
"You've hunted her for so long. Called her a monster. But she saved me. She saved all of us." Her voice broke. "If that makes her a monster, then maybe we're not so different."
Sam's lips parted, but no words came. The only sound was the night wind and Melinda's quiet sobs.
---
That night ended with ash on the ground, hunters in silence, and a woman holding the broken body of the girl who gave her life for love.
Miyu, the failed experiment, had finally proven herself.
Not as a weapon.
Not as a monster.
But as a protector.
And in death, she found the humanity she had been searching for all along.