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“Come on!” I yell. “Bring it towards the lawn!” We’ll have more space to fight it there and, considering how clumsy the monster seems, it’s probably best if we keep it moving. Hopefully, I can figure something out while it chases us.
“Oh man, I don’t feel so hot,” Daniela says. Normally a graceful and fast runner, Daniela stumbles over her own feet as we sprint towards the lawn. I grab her by the arm and drag her along. “Something happened to me in that vision shit. My head is pounding.”
Chunks of cement erupt from the Mogasaur’s latest forward step and pelt my shoulders.
“I’m gonna try something, Johnny!” Nine says, and breaks off from us.
“Do your thing,” I say, trusting Nine not to get himself killed.
Nine sprints to the edge of the plaza, where there’s a row of metal binoculars on poles stuck into the ground, the things meant for tourists to admire the view of Manhattan. He rips two of these out of the ground, holding one in each hand like clubs. Then, he charges right towards the monster. His super speed kicks in and he’s a blur streaking across the plaza.
I could use that. I try to focus on Nine, imagine the way his muscles work overtime, how he builds up that speed with his Legacy. But nothing clicks.
The lumbering creature actually seems confused when Nine runs right at it. The thing hesitates, trying to decide whether to go straight at Nine or to keep chasing the rest of us. Then, maybe reasoning in its tiny brain that it’s easier to stay stationary, the Mogasaur lets out a welcoming shriek in Nine’s direction. It raises up one of its giant hands, preparing to swat Nine as soon as he gets close.
“Does he know what he’s doing?” Sam asks.
“Does he ever?” I reply.
We reach the edge of the lawn across from the Statue of Liberty. At that point, Daniela straight up falls to her knees, unable to go any farther.
“Oh man, my head’s going to explode,” she moans. She curls up into a ball and massages her eyes with the heels of her hands.
“What’s wrong with her?” Sam asks me.
“I don’t know!”
Our eyes meet and we both realize something at the same time. Together, Sam and I turn towards Daniela.
“She’s getting a new Legacy!” Sam says.
I crouch down next to her. “Whatever’s happening to you, Daniela—let it happen! Let it out and—” I’m cut off as the Mogasaur swipes at Nine.
The impact is massive. The beast leaves a six-foot-deep hand-shaped indentation in the plaza’s concrete. At first, I think there’s no way Nine could’ve survived that. But then I see him, using his antigravity Legacy to run right up the muscled, black-veined forearm of the Mogasaur.
The monster roars, enraged, and swats at Nine with its other hand. Nine runs along to the underside of the creature’s forearm at just the right moment, avoiding the impact. He’s fast and he’s stuck to the Mogasaur, moving farther and farther up his arm like an annoying little bug. I’m not sure what he’s going to do when he gets to the beast’s head. If I had to guess, I’d bet Nine doesn’t know yet either.
“John!” someone shouts from behind me. “John! Release me!”
I turn around to see Five struggling across the grass on his knees. We’d left him there all tied up with the ropes we got from the coast guard boat. He doesn’t have his blade weapon or his ball bearing to change his skin to metal, so Five’s about as harmless as he’ll ever be.
“Oh, hell no,” Sam says, glancing at Five.
“I know what that thing is,” Five says, reaching us. He sits back on his knees, his hands bound in front of him, and looks up at me. “I know how to kill it. I can help you.”
“Tell me,” I say.
“Setrákus Ra calls it the Hunter,” Five says quickly. “He was building it while I was still on board the Anubis. It has Loric pendants in its eyes and can use them to sense the location of any Garde. There’s no retreat, we have to kill it.”
As Five speaks, Nine reaches the crux of the Hunter’s shoulder. The beast gives up on trying to swat him off. Now, it tilts its spiny head over and tries to swallow Nine whole. Nine responds by jabbing the broken end of one of the metal poles straight up into the roof of the monster’s mouth. The creature whips its head away and howls.
Next to me, Daniela moans. Sam kneels down next to her and rubs her back. “Come on, uh, do what John said,” Sam tries, but Daniela’s only response is to groan. He looks up at me. “We need to figure something out! If you guys have some new badass powers, now is the time to use them!”
“He needs to go for the eyes, John,” Five insists, ignoring everything but me. “Let me free. I can help you.”
“Why the hell should I trust you?” I ask.
Five’s expression darkens. I see him strain against his bonds, testing them. He looks up at me, and I can tell he’s making a concerted effort to control his anger.
“Because I could break out of these if I really wanted to,” Five answers me. “But I won’t. You saved my life, John, and no matter what you think, I’m not like him.”
I know exactly what Five’s talking about. Setrákus Ra and Pittacus Lore. Mercy followed by betrayal.
“I want to help,” Five growls. “Let me help.”
“Screw it,” Sam says, making the decision for me. He takes out Five’s wrist-mounted blade, extends it and slashes through Five’s bonds. “All hands on deck.”
I glance back at the monster. Nine jabs his remaining metal pole into the side of the beast’s neck over and over. I can see some black blood spilling out, but he’s definitely not doing much damage. Then, shrieking, the monster swats at him again. This time, he clips Nine a little, and he’s forced to retreat down the monster’s back.
Above the Hunter’s bellowing, I hear the familiar whup-whup-whup of helicopters. A pair of sleek Black Hawks just took off from the Brooklyn Bridge and are on their way. So, Agent Walker’s not totally useless after all.
“Can I have that back?” Five asks Sam, holding a hand out for his weapon.
“No,” I say, putting myself in between the two of them. “You said you could help. Go help.”
Five sighs. “Fine. I’ll do it the hard way.” He floats a few feet off the ground, then looks at me. “All right, John. Light me on fire.”
“What?”
“Light me on fire!” he shouts.
I don’t need much more convincing to hurt Five. I let my Lumen go and lob a small fireball at him. He lets it hit him and immediately his skin is covered in flames.
“Thanks,” he says, and streaks off towards the Hunter, our very own flaming missile.
I crouch down next to Daniela and press my hands against her head. I let my healing Legacy flow, hoping that will help ease her pain. It’s not really my healing Legacy, though, is it? It’s Ximic, and healing is just the one Legacy I’ve gotten really good at copying. It doesn’t help Daniela, but something does happen when the energy flows between us. Suddenly, I can sense exactly what’s happening inside her.
I can feel it too. A pressure behind the eyes. A heavy weight that feels like it’s trying to punch through my face.
“It’s tearing me apart!” Daniela screams.
“Agh, I know! I feel it too!” I reply, holding the sides of my head like my cranium might split apart.
Meanwhile, Five, pure velocity and white-hot heat, flies himself right into one of the Hunter’s eyes. There’s a sick puckering sound and the monster screams louder than ever. A moment later, a hole explodes through the back of its head and out comes Five. He holds something aloft. It must be one of the Loric pendants.
“Holy shit,” Sam says. “That was nasty, but it worked.”
The Hunter just took a human bullet through the brain. I bet he feels pretty similar to the way Daniela and I do right now. It doesn’t topple over dead like I hope. Instead, it just gets angrier. It flings itself towards Five, who zips away quickly. Still clinging to the beast but now getting the idea of how to really hurt it, Nine s
tarts climbing up towards its remaining eyes.
That’s when the Black Hawks arrive. They bombard the Hunter with missile strikes that only annoy the monster further. While I appreciate the help, their weapons aren’t going to hurt this thing. There’s a good chance those pilots are just going to get themselves killed or hit Nine and Five by accident.
The Hunter thrashes around, smashing through the plaza, and nearly backhanding one of the choppers out of the sky. It makes it extremely hard for Five to line up another strike at the creature’s eyes.
When the Hunter tilts its head back and roars, the powerful gust of bad breath is enough to blow Nine right off the monster’s face. He flies away from the Hunter’s body and plummets the hundred or so feet back towards the concrete ground. I try to reach out with my telekinesis, but the distance is too far and my head is pounding so much that I can’t focus.
Five swoops down, flames extinguished. Instead of going in for another strike, Five catches Nine by the wrist in midair. He lowers him gently to the ground. In response, Nine punches him right in the face. Because of course he does.
The chopper pilots are coming in for another pass. Grounded now, Five and Nine are right in the Hunter’s path. Things are going south in a hurry.
“If you guys are going to do something, now is the time!” Sam yells.
I don’t know what to do. I can feel this Legacy I copied from Daniela building up inside of me, but I have no idea what it does or how to use it. I’m flailing here. All I’ve got is a splitting headache. There has to be more to it.
With an anguished cry, Daniela springs to her feet. She shoves both of us aside and screams.
