Riding Bitch’s dog was as bad as it ever had been. I clung to a horny growth, glaring at Imp’s back, and Tattletale’s beyond her. I twisted my head, looking back at the rubble-strewn streets. We were long gone from the headquarters, heading further north. According to Tattletale, they’d found Phir Sē, or at least where he was hiding. Close enough his apparent bodyguard had dealt with Imp handily.

  Tattletale’s reassurance that my projection would hold didn’t help. I’d already learned its limits, between the Siberian and Dennis; I wasn’t exactly ready to find another weak point via a sucking chest wound or missing limb. But...she was right, this was my job, whether I liked it or not. I’d done it to myself. I’d kept Amy as safe as I could, but now it was time for cape work.

  For hero work.

  Behemoth was busy being harried by the Triumvirate, apparently intact despite Taylor’s best efforts. I vaguely recalled some body-snatcher taking over Alexandria’s body, but I couldn’t care less when they were putting the hurt on Behemoth. He was moving slow, though not quite as slow as when Dragon had half a dozen mechs blasting him.

  Still, we were pretty far away, the dog tearing down side streets, avoiding the worst of the rubble. At least there weren’t many people, beyond the wounded and dying who we couldn’t stop to help. I said a silent apology as civilians gave us haunted looks, there was nothing else I could do for them though; beyond trying to make sure their country survived this.

  “Another minute!” Tattletale called over her shoulder.

  I tried to figure out where we were. Not that I knew the city, but relative to the headquarters. Behemoth was half as tall as he’d looked from there and the final line was what, three klicks from him? That felt right, and sure as hell felt like I’d lugged sixty pounds of medical supplies that far. At least my projection stopped me from getting blisters, though not a sore back.

  Fuck we were a ways, but even from here I could see where Behemoth was. He peeked out behind towering buildings, sometimes glowing scintillating white, sometimes crackling with lighting, always on the attack despite the heroes giving him everything the had. God, hopefully Phir Sē wasn’t full of shit and neither was my memory.

  The dog skidded to a halt outside a building with a tremendous, circular hole through its fa?ade. Me and Tattletale clambered off, then charged in. I followed her through another hole that led to a staircase, why not a door she didn’t say. Did Tattletale have a fucking hole Tinker in her back pocket or something? I shook my head; the long day was getting to me, and it was far from over.

  “We didn’t get far,” Tattletale spoke quietly as we headed into a tunnel system that even made me feel claustrophobic. “Me and Byway got into this place on a hunch, paid another Tinker called Radio Net to find the highest energy levels in the city and—”

  “Radio Net?” I asked. “Poor guy got shafted on a name.”

  “That’s what I said,” a voice behind me made me start and whirl, fists raised.

  “Imp, stop fucking around,” Tattletale snapped. “Enemy territory. Radio Net is whatever I can figure out from the sounds of his Punjabi name. Fourth-hand translation, get it?”

  “Sure,” I nodded, turning back and following again. “So the energy levels?”

  “That’d be…” She took four more steps and stopped, pointing to a seam that sort of looked like any other in these tunnels. “Ten feet straight down. Problem is, we cross that line and a Manton-bypassing teleporter guts us, even if he can’t see us. Working theory is his power has something to do with air and matter displacement, sound familiar?”

  “My projection,” I sighed. “God dammit. So we’re testing to see if this guy’s on the Siberian’s level?”

  “You’re the expert there,” Tattletale replied, holding out a small pistol with a wide dish at the muzzle. “Leave it to you. Point that straight down at the seam, stand to the side or you’ll fall in. It’s already set, but you’ll only get one shot. I’m trusting you here, Amaranth.” I shot her a glare and snatched the pistol.

  “Goes both ways.” I took a deep breath and steadily walked forward.

  Nothing happened when I reached the seam, which was weird. Nothing happened when I drew and aimed the pistol either. Curious, I looked over at Tattletale. She shrugged, and so did I. I began to squeeze the trigger, when a sudden blow knocked the wind out of me and pushed me aside. Lucky for me, I managed not to jerk the trigger and blast a hole in the wall like an idiot.

  I clambered to my feet just in time to see a man flicker out of existence. It looked like he’d been clutching his hand, but I only got the barest look. I scrambled back to the seam and this time didn’t hesitate, aiming down and pulling the trigger. A circle of ground, three feet across, simply vanished. Looking into the hole, I could see the faint glow of light in a room below. I gestured to Imp and Tattletale, then got in and slid rapidly down the steep ramp I’d made.

  I landed in a small room with several TV screens playing footage of the fight with Behemoth and...some soap opera. A man sat watching them, unkempt but swaddled in some fine clothes. He slowly turned his head, though my gaze was drawn to the burning golden disc behind him.

  “Phir Sē,” I croaked. There was no one else it could be.

  “That is what I am called,” he replied. I heard the others slide down behind me and his gaze flickered. “It is not fair that I do not know you, but you know me.”

  “Sorry,” I offered, eyes locked on what had to be the bomb. “I’m Amaranth, a Ward from Brockton Bay, uh, USA. The blonde bitch behind me is Tattletale. Please don’t have your teleporter kill us.”

  “Visthaapan, has unfortunately been hurt.” He narrowed his eyes. “You worry, you are here to stop me?”

  “No, definitely not,” I said quickly, finally looking at the man. His hair was all messy, beard too, and it looked like he hadn’t slept in months. Despite that, his gaze was sharp, and he was sitting on a weapon that could annihilate everything within a thousand mile radius. “No, I’m here to make sure your plan works.” His face lit up with a smile.

  “Ah, you understand then,” Phir Sē said.

  “It won’t kill him,” I added carefully. “But it will hurt him and slow him down long enough to be killed. That is, if we can coordinate this.”

  “Coordinate, I do not understand this word.”

  “We need to work together,” I tried again. “Make sure we hit him at the right time.”

  “Behemoth’s a dynakinetic, energy isn’t the best—”

  “Please.” He held up a hand, stopping Tattletale. “Slower. I am tired, have been preparing for the First for a time.”

  “He’s an energy manipulator,” Tattletale said. “And if you die or your focus shifts, it blows up right? That won’t just destroy the city, your country will be gone.”

  “I know,” Phir Sē replied simply. “It is worth the risk.”

  “I agree,” I said, drawing his attention.

  “You agree?” He stared at me quietly for a moment. “Girl, how long have you been a hero?”

  “Three months,” I said with a sigh, staring at the TV where Behemoth was being forced into a grid of wires frozen in time and space. “My first fight against an Endbringer was my second day with powers, Leviathan; then the Slaughterhouse Nine a month later, then…” I nodded my head.

  “I misjudged, you look like the bright heroes.” He paused and frowned. “But your Tattletale does not sound like a hero, or the asura behind you. You work with them?”

  “There are worse things in the world than the meanest bitch in the universe,” I said. “Behemoth’s one of them. As soon as we’re home, she’ll be at my throat again, and vice versa, but—”

  Please, speak slower,” Phir Sē said, shoulders sagging.

  “After we finish this battle, we’ll be enemies again,” I said, glancing over my shoulder and suppressing a flinch at Imp’s leering mask. “Fighting again. They want revenge for me taking down Skitter, I want their gang annihilated.”

  “Next month,” Tattletale said.

  “Next month,” I agreed with a sigh. “I’m not a very good hero I think. I make deals with warlords, I abandon my job to look after my girlfriend, and then I abandon her to come find you.” I shook my head, tugging at my mask. It was making it pain to breathe. “I knew Behemoth was coming here, today, a week before it happened and I let it happen. I knew the alternatives, and I knew this was the best one because we have a shot at killing him.”

  “But it can go badly,” I continued. “Like Tattletale said, continent-ending bad. That’s not how I remember this going, but Skitter was here and I wasn’t. I’m not her, never will be, but I have to try. Work with me, give me a chance to get a better outcome than we could on our own.”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  “You put your faith in memories?” I scoffed at his question.

  “No,” I replied. “But I’ve learned that I can put my faith in people listening, when the cards are down. I can get out there, tell the people who are in charge, and we can keep deaths to a minimum. Is there anyone you care about in the city up there?” I continued before he could reply: “There is for me. I want to see Behemoth dead, and I want to keep her safe. We can do both, I know we can, but only if we work together.”

  “I have a daughter,” Phir Sē said hesitantly. “A bright hero, like you. But for this, I would not hesitate if she were to die. Spend my life in mourning after, maybe. I have made this sacrifice before.”

  “I’m asking you to give me a chance to see that you don’t have to again.” A moment of silence passed as Behemoth brought his hands together and flattened half a block of buildings on the screens. Even down here it shook us.

  “A chance,” he said at last, his gaze stuck on the screen. “Go. I will hold it until the heroes cannot, or fifteen minutes. It is...difficult.”

  A chill ran up my spine and I scrambled back to the hole the gun had made. Getting through was a bitch, but all of us managed. When we reached the dog, I swore as I realized he’d shrank. Tattletale clambered on, then I gave Imp a boost to get up. I grabbed onto a bony growth to hoist myself up, but a hand clamped around my shoulder and I flinched.

  The first thing I felt was heat, and I belatedly realized I was way too fucking close to Behemoth. The teleporter? Phir Sē that rat fuck. He’d given me a headstart but may have just killed me. I turned and sprinted away, ducking through the ruins of what may have been a market. The Endbringer was glowing white and I hoped against hope that I wasn’t getting a lethal dose of radiation.

  A tremendous cannonade tore overhead without warning and struck him. I turned on my heel and charged to wherever the fuck that had come from. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Eidolon pummeling Behemoth with icicles the size of semi trucks, while Alexandria dove in and out, putting him off balance.

  He stopped glowing and lightning rained down. I shrieked and ducked into and alcove. Rubble struck my cheeks as the building across the road was struck, pulverized. I didn’t spare another look back, running through the ruined market and onto a wide street. Behemoth was focused on the Triumvirate, now sweeping a tremendous wave of fire across the remaining buildings.

  I practically cried when I saw the headquarters, the glowing barrels of dozens of guns cooling down. Chevalier was with the Tinkers, directing their fire, coordinating them. I paused and glanced towards the building, the hospital. I shook my head and slapped my cheek, more important things. I sprinted over to Chevalier, briefly pausing to catch my breath.

  “Chevalier, we found Phir Sē,” I panted, sweat stinging my eyes. “He’s...fuck, somewhere north, past India Gate. He’s willing to work with us, given us fifteen minutes or til our lines are broken.”

  “Fifteen minutes from when,” Chevalier demanded instantly. My eyes widened and I cursed violently.

  “Since fiveish minutes ago, however long it takes at a headlong sprint from here to him.” The cannons fired and made my ears ring; my point. “We need to pull back and put a forcefield between us and him, strongest possible. When this thing fires, I don’t want to be in the splash zone.”

  “We don’t have anything on that scale.” He glanced toward Behemoth. “Eidolon might, if he gets time to switch. We need to contact him.” I followed his gaze.

  “I—”

  “No, you’re not a Mover,” Chevalier cut me off. “Thank you for bringing this information to me, Amaranth. You’ve done your part, now get back to your duties.” I gave him a sharp nod as he turned, then ran off towards the hospital again.

  Things were getting uglier. I was dragged to another tent before I could reach Amy, joining a cape in familiar, green robes. A number of sparkling little...things danced around a cape on a cot, apparently responding to whatever the cape was whispering under their breath. I didn’t have long to look, being ordered to get to stabilizing the waiting patients as best I could.

  Where had I seen the cape before? They were familiar sure, but it just wouldn’t come to mind. I shook my head and focused on keeping a cape in a white shirt, with mesh undershirt, from bleeding out. He’d been burned badly, face covered by translucent gauze. His breathing was unsteady and ragged, but I worked doggedly to keep him breathing at all.

  He was next in line at least, and I watched from the corner of my eye as the healer’s lights flitted around, fixing burns and sealing cuts. It was only minutes before he was healed, and his friend came to collect him. His friend Grue. I blinked and shook my head, focusing on the villain in front of me with a wicked skull logo on their chest; cut in half like they almost had been.

  The scene around me grew brighter, and I heard a series of startled gasps and curses. I made sure the gauze was in place, then turned my head, eyes widening. A pillar of brilliant, golden light lanced up into the heavens. I could see a massive, purple wall on our side of it, and where it ended high above the cityscape, the light beamed outwards as it flew towards the sky. I let out a single, sharp laugh, then went back to my job.

  My hands were shaking bad enough that I wasn’t much help really. We’d done it, I’d done it. Even with Taylor dead, Behemoth would be following soon enough. I heard a series of dejected moans and cries, and looking again I saw the Endbringer begin rampaging. He was skeletonized, but it didn’t seem to slow him down one bit. The ground rumbled as he buried beneath it and I once again went back to working.

  The tone had shifted from despair, to elation, then straight back down again. I could hardly blame people being upset, but I knew it was just a delaying tactic. Now, somehow, we had to figure out how to hold him off until Scion showed up and ended this for real. That I could trust to Chevalier and his plan, at least I hoped.

  Earthquakes grew stronger as I worked frantically, making it more and more difficult to help the injured. We weren’t winning, at least it didn’t seem like it between the frantic shouts for backup to wherever Behemoth surfaced and the constant stream of dying capes on the stretchers around me.

  This was really a gamble wasn’t it? I was betting that, despite everything I’d fucked around with, Scion was still on his way to finish this. And maybe that was true, the heroes were still banking on it after all. But there was a good chance he simply wouldn’t come, for any one of a million reasons. He wasn’t really a hero, just a grieving god wandering around in the middle of a depression. At least, until Jack got to him.

  The ground rumbled harder than it ever had, throwing people to the ground, knocking cots over and spilling their patients to the ground. I grabbed and held the legs of the one the robed cape was working with, and they gave me a nod from where they had fallen to their knees. The few, intact buildings around the plaza collapsed, and I could see beyond that the effect had spread for kilometers around.

  How many capes were trapped in that rubble? Fuck that, how many people? I’d never know, and right now couldn’t worry about it; I had a girl who was missing her arm at the shoulder and crying in a language I didn’t understand. I pressed a pack of gauze to the wound, offering the kindest reassurances I could...even though she probably didn’t get it.

  Someone grabbed me and pulled me away from the tent, shouting something about a ‘last stand’. I raised my head and froze. Behemoth was no more than two-hundred feet from the guns, and the healers scrambled to gather and get away. I joined a sooty Vista and weary Kid Win by his guns. Win worked frantically, cursing about warped lenses or something. Vista just stared at the rapidly approaching Endbringer.

  I couldn’t bring myself to say anything, just watching with Vista. I’d be trying to get capes out of the danger zone if they were injured now. The hospital was close enough that we didn’t really need Movers to get to the front lines and back. I kept an eye on my armband, waiting for directions, but it remained silent. I spared a glance over my shoulder towards the hospital, wishing I could see Amy just to make sure she was okay. The healers were gone though, and only we—

  “Scion!”

  My head snapped around at the hopeful cry, and I felt my shoulders slump in relief as a streak of gold rocketed down and hammered the Endbringer. I wouldn’t relax, not until he was dead and gone, but...we’d held out as long as we needed to. I jumped as Vista grabbed me suddenly, practically beaming through the dark coating of dirt covering her face.

  Behemoth couldn’t even escape when he tried going underground again. Scion rose up into the sky a moment later, carrying the Endbringer up before dropping him to the earth and blasting him with a beam of radiant, golden light. Wind whipped past us seconds later, then stilled. I could only see Behemoth’s silhouette as he thrashed and tried to bury his way away from the attack.

  No dice. Scion appeared above the city a moment later, holding him aloft once more. The Endbringer struck a blow and freed himself, but a forcefield caught him a moment later. He was blasted by another beam from Scion, hitting the ground a few blocks away from us. His body began glowing, painfully bright, when one final strike lanced down from the sky. The glow vanished, suffused by gold light. Then that slowly faded as well, with glowing golden embers drifting on the gentle wind wafting through.

  Behemoth was dead.

  There was a brief second of utter stillness, then the crowd of capes erupted with cheers of joy. Vista slammed into me, wrapping me in a tight hug, and Kid Win grabbed us both barely a second later. They were cheering loud enough to make my ears ring. I didn’t mind, they deserved to celebrate. We all did.

  A sudden hush fell across the crowd, and glancing up I saw Scion had landed in the center of the plaza. Some thanked him, others fell to their knees in supplication, most just gave him a wide berth. Our group hug broke up as he silently turned towards us, and Kid Win and Vista stepped back when he floated our way.

  I froze as his eyes locked on me, and I felt a distinct sense of curiosity. I started running before I had the chance to think about it, heart hammering in my chest and blood roaring in my ears. My ears rang loudly as I tore down an alley, breath coming in frantic, desperate gasps as I tried to get away.

  Why was I running? It didn’t matter, I just had to get away, get away from Scion before he got me. His expression hadn’t changed, he hadn’t said a word, but I knew he was after me. I shrieked and slipped as he suddenly appeared before me, falling to the ground with a pained grunt. I scrambled back as he slowly floated closer, flinching as my back hit rubble.

  The first hero loomed over me, leaning down, getting way too fucking close. I held my breath, eyes wide. Why was he coming after me? I was just a kid hero from Brockton Bay. I’d survived the last three months against all odds, sure, but I was no one special; just the luckiest unlucky girl on the planet. His eyes held my gaze hostage as curiosity gave way to a faint feeling of disgust.

  And he was gone. I sat with my back against a pile of rubble, panting and sweating like I’d just run a marathon. The fuck had happened? Why had I just started running away from Scion? He was on our side, fuck he’d just killed Behemoth. I should have been shaking his hand, not shaking like a leaf.

  Well, it had been a hell of a day. Between holding countless heroes’ guts in and getting dragged off by Tattletale to talk to some Indian cape who wound up being a key player, I was beyond overwhelmed and exhausted. At least that job had turned out to be an important one, maybe she wasn’t as bad as I thought. A villain, sure, but one who could put old grudges aside when the cards were down. I could admire that, after a fashion.

  I limped from the alley, not injured just sore, and made my way back to the headquarters. I pushed through the crowd of celebrating heroes, rejoining Kid Win and Vista. I just shook my head when they asked what the hell that had been, lacking answers. I was jostled a moment later as Amy tried to tackle me with a hug.

  “Hey,” I croaked hoarsely, wrapping my arms around her back. “I’m okay.”

  “I know,” she whispered, grip tightening. “Thank you.”

  “I promised,” I murmured, burying my face in her neck. She smelled like smoke, sweat, and blood.

  “You did,” Amy agreed. “And so did I.”

  “Guess no one’s sleeping on the couch tonight,” I said dryly, getting a choked chuckle from her.

  “Wards, Pandora.” I pulled away and turned to see Miss Militia, rifle in hand. It didn’t look like she’d been part of the fighting which...fair enough; bringing a gun to a Behemoth fight was a hell of a choice. “It’s time to go home.” I held Amy’s hand tightly and followed her with a smile.

  Against all odds, I’d survived my second-ever Endbringer fight.