Hannah felt like a fighter jet in the middle of aerial combat, spinning between volleys of bullets and sending out wave after wave of blinding blue energy to any Pete she could find. The Underground was cramped quarters for flight, but there was at least twenty feet to zip up and down every time she spotted another clone attempting to shoot her.

  Using her Air power was more like violent bursts of propulsion rather than seamless flight, her body launching and lurching with every use. Good work for being unreadable, but terrible for seeing straight.

  Apex saved her life more than a dozen times, either catching bullets or sending waves that redirected deadly blows. Seeing him in action was like watching a perfect, protective machine.

  Whenever Pete tried to shoot him or dash dirt in his face, Apex’s hands were there, catching and obliterating every attempt with the support of Goldshine. Seeing him flow from one spot to the next with bursts of Sonic Wave, Hannah wondered if HUE was too small for Apex. Single handedly, he was taking on an army of deadly armed men without so much as a scratch, and keeping herself and EUE safe along the way. Wherever a threat appeared, Apex was already there, glowing gold, intimidating, and righteous.

  Predator’s powers confused her, he seemed to be supervising more than he was attacking, but simultaneously she felt enhanced by his presence. Like her mind was sharper, clearer, and lacking the usual dregs of fatigue that would enter during a longer fight. Even from the corner of her eyes, she felt like she could absorb the entire scene, moving behind rubble before a bullet flew into her or washing wind over Petes to cover their faces in their hats and errant debris.

  Chanter boomed down the deep tunnel lined with guns and cowboys, the earth quivering under the full might of his power. Flo sped through with effortless grace, aiming Chanter as quickly as he could breathe.

  The whole thing was exhilarating. It was the first time she was taking on Pete without feeling like she was on the back foot. Every blue shot she fired was decisive, taking down dozens of clones while maintaining only minimal scuffs and grazes. She could even see the smarmy grin bleed away from Pete, as though he finally realized that he couldn’t handle everything on his own.

  “Backup’d be much appreciated!” a Pete screamed toward the everlong darkness of the Underground tunnel.

  Aiming down the sight of her thumb, Hannah shot him as soon as he spoke and the Pete sputtered at the hole in his chest before melting in collapse.

  Suddenly, more powers sprouted from deep in the tunnel. Two different burning lasers, acid, paint, and dirt raced in as though blasted from a cannon. Without her sensory enhancements, Hannah would have been hit by at least one of the projectiles, but she waved under it and pinned herself to a dirt wall as it all flew by. The gross combination only grazed Chanter, but it was enough to sear through his forearm and cause him to howl in pain.

  Flo immediately stopped forward momentum.

  “Chanter’s hit! Retreating!” Flo pulled Chanter and Predator from the fray.

  The Petes filled in. With the mental boost dissipating at Predator’s distance, Hannah felt confidence spill out. Clones were still innumerable, and in every direction. Nowhere could she see the original Pete that Magnus had been describing, and the only one left with her on the front lines was Apex.

  He had a hand on his head. The migraines were kicking in.

  “Target’s down!” one of the Petes said suddenly, a wry grin on his face. “We best skedaddle!”

  Like a game of telephone, that same message was passed backward, echoing down the passage of darkness. Deep in the chamber a cheer went off, but none of the clones moved away from their positions around the cave. Left behind to defend while the Underground presumably escaped.

  Hannah couldn’t allow that.

  “Apex, I’m going in! Pete’s not getting away this time!”

  Apex bit his lip, ambivalent as he caught and crushed eight different bullets in the swipe of a hand. “I was going to say I should go alone. Are you sure you’re coming too?”

  Hannah grinned, answering by releasing from the wall and dashing forward in a series of wind bursts, like a spacecraft firing all of its fuel casings at once. Pete wouldn’t be anywhere near the front if he was trying to escape. The earthen walls were a blur of gold and blue as Apex kept up with her speed.

  At her reckless velocity, she started to catch stray bullets, wounds dashing through her arms and legs. None of the Petes could properly aim at her and were firing randomly, sometimes hitting one another in the process. But she was astounded by the fact there were hundreds. It seemed Pete had either been training hard or holding back all this time. Or possibly more likely, there was always a battalion of Petes at home base to keep it safe. That made the most sense, considering they were already around when they entered and she imagined he couldn’t have summoned them all in the minutes it took to descend.

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  Straining her eyes to see more than splotches, Hannah noted one Pete looked somewhat more distinct than the others. Hanging back. Poncho raised a little higher over shoulders. The way its hat was over its eyes looked exactly as Magnus described it. The magician really came through. She would finally have her nemesis.

  Pulling herself into a controlled speed, she adjusted herself in midair just as the tilted-hat Pete raised two revolvers at her head. Five other Petes stepped in front of him, more guns to her face.

  Hannah didn’t care.

  Blasting forward, she let out a scream as she showered everything in front of her in a wild array of blue energy, using all the power she could muster. Dozens of blue shots, like a meteor shower, ripped through the Petes, the smell of ozone filling the air, and the sounds of bullets mixing with blue energy and pained screams. Outputting so much that she blinded herself, the world felt as though it was being obliterated in front of her. Enough to bring down the entire Underground on top of her.

  Whatever it took.

  Crashing into a body, Hannah collapsed to the floor, rolling to a halt. Spitting dirt from her mouth, she rose and tried to see through the plumes of blue-white smoke her energy filled the space with. She could feel blood spilling from her ear and arms, and she was almost totally out of energy, but she was too close to stop now.

  Apex dashed overhead, completely missing Hannah in the confusion and leaving her on her own. Not that she minded. He was after an Antiserum. She was after Pete.

  The silhouettes of Pete in the smoke ran confused, scrambling around in search. Hannah saw them approaching a single body laying on the floor, arms pinning a wound on his side, hat tilted low. The clones must have been moving to protect their original. Aiming down her shaking, fatigued hand, Hannah charged one final shot. The last, decisive blow to take down Pete the Plenty.

  Crying in effort, her hand recoiled, flying up as she let out all the energy she had left, blasting right through Pete’s heart. Vision blurring at the edges, Hannah toppled forward on all fours, coughing as she breathed in the noxious fumes of her own rabid attack.

  “Nice shot, Sheriff,” Pete said from behind her.

  Shivering, Hannah contained little whimpers in her chest. Magnus was mistaken. She put everything into her attack, fully trusting in the magician without considering how often he’d had magic go off incorrectly before. The tilted hat could have been from anything, it didn’t mean the original. And now she couldn’t even find the strength to stand, much less run.

  Lowering her head, she shivered, overwhelmed by the agony of loss after putting all her effort into what she thought would be the end.

  Then, fueled only by pure willpower and rage, Hannah pounced up and tried to punch Pete in the jaw. Pete caught the fist effortlessly, smiling lightly and tipping his hat.

  “Easy, Sheriff, you already won.” He nodded to the last Pete she shot.

  The unsettling look in his eyes made Hannah pause, but she tore her gaze away and focused on what he was indicating towards, a chill running down her spine.

  Pete the Plenty was on the ground with a hole through his chest. And he was bleeding. The clones never bled before. Blinking, she turned back to the Pete as he released her hand and surveyed the tunnel with hands on his hips.

  To Hannah’s shock, the standing Pete had a small splotch of his arm melt off. He looked at the fallen chunk and tutted his tongue.

  “Shame really that I have to be the one to do this. I know how much he wanted to, but I reckon it’d be difficult with that hole in his lungs.”

  In her bleariness, Hannah was only just putting it together. The real Pete was dying. And therefore, so were his clones. She’d actually got him. Magnus was right. Letting out an exasperated sigh of relief, Hannah fell back to the ground and nursed her aching body.

  “You’re not gonna shoot me?”

  “I don’t reckon that’s very sporting. I had about a thousand tries to stick ya, but you wormed outta every one. Feel like it’d be cheating to nab a hit once you were done killin’ me.”

  Hannah rubbed her forearms, both of them numb from her efforts while also screaming with pain from her bullet wounds. Looking around the dark, dirty cavern, Hannah hovered on several Petes looking her way as limbs or hats melted away. A silent audience, all looking with respect at their killer.

  “Was this worth it? I don’t know exactly how to phrase this, but you seemed better than someone that would die in a cave for some shady organization.”

  “I knew you knew me.” Pete gave her a lopsided grin. “Y’know, I shoulda been the strongest Awakened. I kept the memory of every clone when it died. And I could make hundreds. I coulda learned everything there was to know in a coupla weeks, I reckon, sitting in a library.”

  The arm holding the gun melted off, and he scoffed at it with a smile, placing his arm on the putty mess of his shoulder. “I just never had the patience for that kinda learnin’s. This was fun while it lasted. I just wish our bosses had a more excitin’ plan about all this.”

  Hannah perked up. “Your bosses? Who do you work for? Boli?”

  “The science man has the same boss!” Pete laughed a dry, raspy cough.

  “Who?”

  “Ah, if I ain’t cheating, then neither can you.”

  Hannah saw several clones flatten into a puddle. It was only a matter of time.

  “Bye Pete. I won’t miss you. Any last words or parting secrets about your bosses?”

  “You ain’t allowed to ask dead men to tell tales.” Pete tipped his hat one last time and melted away.

  Looking over at the true Pete, Hannah saw his chest pump a few times before a final, long exhale. Officially dead.

  Laying back on the dirt, Hannah was enveloped in darkness. She could feel the battle between Apex and the others up ahead, but she couldn’t be bothered. To her, the Underground was defeated. Pete the Plenty was gone. The people could start to reclaim Indus.

  A grateful smile played at her lips as Flo approached with a flashlight in hand. She’d make it out alive.

  Maybe she could finally stop with battles and destruction and finally be a part of the rebuilding.