Sami, Claire, Gutshot, Francine, Kutso, Dawson and Wingerella looked down a dark alleyway, the dark overcast exacerbated by the lack of street lights to show the way. Holding up his phone light with an extended Shadow Hand, Sami scanned the area to make sure there weren’t any traps before they entered. Outside of some overflowing trash bins and cracks running through the pavement, it looked totally innocuous.

  “Are we sure this is the right place?” Sami asked. “Gutshot, do you recognize it?”

  “I remember it being in an alleyway.” Gutshot nodded his bald head.

  “But this alleyway.”

  “There are a lot of alleys!”

  Nodding in agreement, Sami looked to Claire for confirmation. Claire glanced at the chicken leading them.

  “Bok!”

  “Wingerella says that this is definitely the way in, and that we should follow closely to make sure we don’t get lost. She suggests that the shape of the maze actually changes over time, but the blackout might help stop it from shifting since the last time she figured out the way inside.”

  “You got all that from a single cluck?” Kutso asked skeptically.

  “We followed the chicken this far. You wanna start questioning the translation now?” Claire asked.

  “No, you’re right.”

  Francine held a flame aloft, lighting up the way better than any phone flashlight. “Let’s go kick this guy’s teeth in. Are we allowed to kill him?”

  Eyes turned to Claire. Pushing two fists into her eyes in thought, she seethed through her teeth.

  “I don’t know! We didn’t get any direction on that! We should try to capture him. I feel like that’s the ‘HUE’ thing to do.”

  “Even if he killed Lightcrown?” Dawson noted.

  “I think Claire’s right,” Sami said, remembering the conversation he had with Apex. The Antiserum would be a means to keep the Awakened captured. That, and Boli didn’t kill Lightcrown.

  “We can still beat him up, right?” Francine asked.

  “If he tries to kill us, don’t hold back.” Claire nodded. “All right, Wingerella. Let’s get this over with.”

  Wingerella scratched the ground with a talon, pecking at nothing.

  “Wing?” Claire prodded.

  The chicken looked up, confused at the audience of heroes surrounding her. Clucking suddenly, she seemed to remember the reason they were in front of the alley and started to lead them within.

  Surprised, Sami took notes of the passages between the buildings. From Francine’s firelight, he could see deep scratch marks on the ground, suggesting that the walls really did shift and keep the maze impossible to solve. There was also a lack of any garbage, debris, people or anything deeper in the alley. Moving walls meant nothing could be stored. A maze built to protect Boli.

  Glancing at Gutshot, he wondered how he managed to navigate it once before. Determination in his eyes and hand on his stomach, Gutshot was set on the path ahead.

  Wingerella stopped in the middle of the alley, not even at the end of any path. Bowing, she scratched a smooth wall three times then clucked.

  “This is it,” Claire said, taking a small step away from the door.

  “I got it.” Sami reached out with his Shadow Hand and pushed against the wall.

  It didn’t budge in the slightest. Pushing with three hands, he put all his weight behind his effort. Nothing.

  “We sure this is the right place?” Sami asked.

  “That’s what the chicken said.” Claire shrugged.

  “I can try cutting through.” Dawson held a hand up at an angle, measuring how best to slice inside.

  “Not if it’s a deep concrete slab,” Francine said, leaning into it. “Kutso, you can handle this, right?”

  “I knew one of you was going to ask. I don’t like going into stuff that I don’t understand,” Kutso grumbled.

  Sami remembered that Kutso’s power wasn’t tied to her sword, but in general object possession. If she could hop into the secret door, she could overpower its lock and open it up for them. Stepping away from the door, Sami waved her over excitedly.

  “You’re going to make me do it, aren’t you?” Kutso asked.

  “You want the power in the city to be restored and the walls to shift again? It might slam shut and crush us,” Francine said.

  “I think I could prevent that.” Gutshot puffed out his stomach.

  Francine gave him an annoyed squint.

  “Yeah, but we don’t wanna tire your power out before the big fight,” Sami added. Gutshot nodded in understanding.

  “All right, fine,” Kutso said. “Make sure I stay safe, I don’t know what it’ll be like in there and I don’t wanna get lost.”

  “I’ll hold onto you,” Claire offered. “I don’t think my power’s gonna be a big help once we’re inside.”

  Sitting and leaning her back on Claire’s knees, Kutso let out one last exasperated sigh before closing her eyes. Head slouching, a clink sounded from the wall, followed by movement side to side. Like a box in a moving van it jumbled around in quick, staccato movements until suddenly a large thunk sounded from the other side and the door opened inward enough for light to spill out.

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  Heaving, Kutso breathed back into life, doubling over to catch her breath.

  “That was huge. Wow, I didn’t think I would pull that off. There was so much, it just…” Kutso trailed as she breathed deeply, looking up at the opening she revealed.

  Carefully moving forward, Sami shifted the door further open and revealed a bright hallway, lit by high powered fluorescent lights on the ceiling.

  “This is the place,” Gutshot said gravely.

  “He still has power in his bunker,” Dawson noted.

  Hesitating before taking a step inside, Sami looked at the others.

  “We don’t all have to go in. If anyone wants to stay behind and not go up against murder bots, I don’t think any of us will judge.”

  “You don’t wanna go in?” Gutshot asked, confused.

  “Not me! Anyone else!”

  “Just… No one else brought up the idea of staying behind, so I thought you were trying to drop a hint.”

  “No, I’m trying to give the opportunity—”

  “Sami, shut up, we’re all coming,” Claire declared.

  Nodding with a wide grin, Sami took the lead inside. Taking light steps, he patted around the hall with his Shadow Hand in search of any traps. Francine put out her flame once inside and Dawson Sharpened his arms in preparation. A metal door at the end of the hall was closed and Sami turned to Gutshot.

  “Last time, he opened it before I got there. He might not know we’re coming.”

  “Great, we can use that. Stay quiet, everyone. Kutso, if you find a gun, try and hold him hostage the moment you get a chance.”

  “Right.”

  Looking over his shoulder to make sure everyone had followed behind, Sami saw the silhouette of Wingerella flap her wings and leave in the alleyway. They would have to figure their own way out of the maze without the chicken.

  Reaching the other end of the hall, Sami placed his Shadow Hand on the handle and pushed it open. Creaking quietly, it opened without resistance and the heroes scrambled their way inside.

  The massive room was dark, spots of lights from consoles and tiny computers covered the walls and desks like its own set of colorful constellations. Metal grinded somewhere in the distance as either things worked in automation or were being destroyed for scrap.

  A quiet, somewhat robotic voice came from the ceiling. “Okay, now.”

  Suddenly, blinding lights filled the area and it was revealed that the HUE members were standing at the edge of a large, flat arena. Ahead of them, on a raised stage surrounded by thick glass, was a man in a swivel chair who turned at the exact moment the lights came on.

  “Well, well, well. If it isn’t another bunch of intruders,” he said confidently.

  Boli.

  The man was very old, about the same age as Lightcrown. Black hair was cut short on his head with a small scar on the left side of his chin. The lab coat he wore looked two sizes too large and could have doubled as a trench coat. Two drones stood at his side and he wore a smarmy smile on his lips.

  “I can’t get to the robots behind the glass,” Kutso said quietly. “He’s safe in there. At least from me.”

  “Surrender, and we don’t have to beat you up!” Francine warned.

  “Beat me?” Boli laughed. “You should really be concerned for yourselves. You’ll have to make it through my Gauntlet of Horrors, just to have a chance to make it out of here alive!”

  As though waiting for his voice cue, several plates on the floor ahead of them shifted to allow four oversized Gatling guns to poke through, directing themselves toward the young heroes. Before Sami could even register the first threat, rocket launchers, charging lasers, and spinning blades appeared from more floors and walls, all pointed to his group.

  A wall of flame appeared around them, but Francine put it all out with an arc of her arm, her eyes defiant.

  Staring down each of the deadly weapons, Sami heard the door shut and latch behind him. Countless weapons, each one a surefire instrument of death, stared back in the harshly lit room, filling the space between HUE and Boli. Threatening to blast, maim, shred, or completely destroy them. Sami had a single thought fill his mind.

  They were woefully unprepared.

  “First stage the Gatling guns. Stage two, rockets and lasers. For a cooldown, you get the spinning blades of doom,” Boli explained giddily. “I might even add some moving platforms and acid if I’m in the mood. Once you’re done with those stages, you’ll have to survive grueling death fights with my bots! Unless, of course, the guns kill you first. But I’m hoping to see some bots in action.”

  Sami looked at his friends, concern in his eyes. The mortification spread through them all, fear written starkly on everyone’s faces save for Francine, who glared.

  Sami thought they might end up injured, but he never imagined that they would all die here. There was no way their powers could withstand the full force of the arsenal.

  “What do we do?” Dawson swallowed, his voice dry.

  “Kutso, can you break that door down?”

  The guns started whirring.

  “I can try, but if the door fights me to stay shut, I don’t think I can make it happen.”

  “What about taking over a rocket launcher and shooting the other guns?” Claire asked, but her voice was monotonous, like she’d already accepted they weren’t going to leave.

  “I can try,” Kusto slumped back, caught into Claire’s arms.

  With a deafening groan of stressed metal, a launcher resisted Kutso’s attempts to adjust its aim, firmly locked. Ice shrouded Sami’s heart. Kutso breathed back into her body, shaking her head with bloodshot eyes. Nothing could be done.

  The Gatling guns were at a high, consistent whine, ready to fire. Sami found it ironic that the first deployment that he actually wanted would be the one to kill him. He had overhyped himself to get to Boli.

  Even with that realization, he wouldn’t have done anything differently. Someone needed to stop Boli, and he just wished it would have been him. And that he had actually prepared himself with some real experience before meeting one of the worst villains to face.

  For some reason, Sami was disappointed to find that Boli had no Power Sense bubbles. He thought the one to defeat Lightcrown would need to be Awakened.

  “Now…” Boli began haughtily, scooting to the edge of his seat to get a better look, “Get ready for Stage…”

  Face scrunching, Boli abruptly tilted his head to the side in confusion. Squinting, Boli leaned forward in his chair.

  Eyebrows descending, Boli shook his head in fear. “Oh my God, it’s Gutshot! NIS! It’s him! No more stages! Fire everything! Now!”

  The voice from the ceiling chimed in. “Even the—”

  “Everything!”

  A warm hand went firm on Sami’s shoulder. “I guess that’s my cue. Try and find my real dad to tell him I love him.”

  Sami blinked in shock, the sudden, forceful tug from Gutshot tossing him back into the group as he took daring steps forward. HUE’s members stared, their faces frozen and etched with a mix of agonizing fear, hopeless resignation, and bafflement at the only one of them to advance. Gutshot was totally on his own, shoulders squared and bearing taller than they had ever seen him.

  By his fourth step forward, everything in the building erupted, firing from every single weapon at once. Bullets, rockets, bombs, blades, flames and shrapnel all flew at everyone in HUE.

  For only a moment.

  Fists at his hips, Gutshot puffed out his stomach. Every single projectile stopped in its path, hovering in midair, and twisted down toward the young hero. Even as more ammunition came out, it was all immediately stopped and redirected right for Gutshot’s expanded stomach. Then, everything launched at once, perfectly aimed for his belly.

  The ultimate gut shot.

  An earth-rumbling crack ripped through reality, followed by a deafening explosion, blowing everything back in a blinding shockwave. As Sami flew back into the wall, one of the last things he could see of Gutshot was the Power Sense Bubbles shattering above him.

  Just before the erratic blast engulfed his brave stance.