Hannah locked eyes with Dawson’s immobile head. Breathing erratically, she looked up to her opponents, eyes burning with rage. Blue energy danced in sparks at her fingers, approaching an explosion.

  “Are you out of your mind!?” She was shaking now, ready to fight everyone in the room, no matter the odds. “He was just a kid!”

  Analyzing the room, she assessed how best to engage her enemies. Chancing a glance to the broken window panes lining the top of the building, she saw sunlight streaming through the dusty Indus air from the West window. She had a chance. No one would be leaving unscathed.

  “Oh, calm down,” Rektor said nonchalantly.

  Hannah gripped her fists tightly, her nails driving so far into her skin it cut through. The madman was acting like he’d spilled a glass of water, not decapitated an innocent teen.

  Rektor looked over a balled up fist, dropping his axe aside. “I told you to listen, not speak.”

  Hannah pointed her hands at one of the Petes, manic. Then another, the group of them moving toward Dawson. Hannah flinched in disgust as one tied a fabric over the mouth like a gag. Other Petes tied the headless body down to the chair, handcuffing the limp wrists to the arms of the seat. Bile bubbled in Hannah’s throat. She watched the sun and its consequential shadows, desperate for the right moment to destroy her enemies.

  Rektor smiled to himself and snapped the fingers of his left hand. Like a video playing in reverse, Dawson’s head bounced upwards back onto his shoulders. Hannah breathed in sharply as Dawson gave a muffled yell through the cloth over his mouth, life returning to his body.

  * * *

  Breathing in short, shocked bursts, Dawson’s eyes scanned the room in utter confusion, his brain burning and neck itching. His instinct to scratch the itch was stopped by handcuffs that had just appeared on his hands. The last thing he remembered was accidentally killing Pete the Plenty, but he must have been knocked out.

  Eyes squinting, he glanced up to Rektor, scanning him for an explanation.

  “I killed you,” Rektor announced matter-of-factly, then held up his left hand in a fist. “And then I Captured the Moment. I can now monologue in peace knowing I’ve already taken care of you. Any funny business and I can just go back to the moment where you were dead.”

  His Studio Audience gasped, but Dawson blinked. Breathing steep through his gag, he tested to be sure he wasn’t dead. Definitely not. Unless death was uncannily similar to the life he was just living. Turning back to his leader, he hoped Hannah would have a plan.

  She turned to one of the many remaining octuplets. With a huff of disappointment in himself for not noticing sooner, Dawson realized they weren’t siblings, but clones. The one that melted away was a destroyed copy, not a real man. His Sharpen had nothing to do with the body melting away, it was just what happened when Pete gave up on an image of himself. It brought some ease into Dawson’s heart, despite the dire situation.

  “And what about you? Since when did you start working with others? Don’t you already have enough partners?” Hannah gestured to seven remaining clones.

  “I founds myself another line o’ business. One that pays me my worth.” Pete gave her a cocky wink.

  “So, what now?” She turned her attention back to Rektor. “Seems he’s dead no matter what I do.”

  Dawson raised a confused eyebrow, not understanding. Why were both his allies and enemies talking about his death like it had already come to pass? It was like there was an inside joke that he was the only one outside of. He hated when that happened.

  “Oh, he’s alive, but that’s only because I hold the Moment in my hand,” Rektor said, modeling his closed fist with his other hand. “A few crucial seconds. If I snap my fingers, he goes back to being decapitated. But if I open my hand, the Moment slips and he goes free. So, for the last time… Listen.” He held up his left hand preparing a snap to let Hannah know he was serious.

  “I’m listening. What do you want then?” Hannah asked, frustration drawn across her face.

  Rektor gave Hannah a broad grin like a teacher finally getting his student to pay attention in class.

  “We have one demand, and it’s very simple.” He paced about in peace, confident in his control. “HUE leaves Indus and never returns. Because if you do return, the next member to lose their head won’t be so lucky.”

  Dawson stared between them, not comprehending who it was that had died and lost their head. With a jolt in his heart, he realized he hadn’t seen Magnus since waking up. Was he killed when Dawson lost consciousness?

  “Then you’ll let him go? Alive?” Hannah clarified.

  “Maybe…”

  “Maybe!?”

  “If you don’t like the terms, you could always attack me and possibly cause the Moment to slip. Or maybe I get spooked enough to snap some fingers. Do you really want to risk that?” He turned to Dawson and mimed a knife across the neck.

  Hannah looked up at the sun like she was measuring something. Eyes flitting back to Rektor and the Petes, she ground her teeth in frustration. Wincing, she looked like she was searching for an opening. All of her assailants smiled at her and Rektor wiggled a few fingers, toying with her.

  With an exasperated sigh through her nose, Hannah’s hands stopped glowing and she began to lower them in defeat. The situation felt too tense. Surrender made sense to Dawson, as much as he hated the idea. He felt useless for being a pawn in the enemy’s game. But if Magnus’s life was on the line, he would do the same.

  Without warning, one of the Petes sneezed absurdly loud and doubled over, drawing all eyes to him. When he stood back to full height, he ran his arm under his nose and then stopped to peer closer at what came out. Dawson was a few steps away but thought it looked like the entrails of a party popper.

  As if struck by a horrific realization, Pete stood rigid before literally exploding, erupting in a confetti shower. Everyone in the room, Petes and otherwise, recoiled and screamed in shock at the festive death. When Dawson had recovered his composure he realized there was still a body where the clone had once stood. But it was slightly taller than Pete, and more… Orange?

  Magnus the Magnificent emerged from the cloud of falling color, presenting himself with open arms in the shower of confetti. Before anyone could get their bearings, he bowed and jogged over to his waiting hat.

  “Sorry about that.” He placed his hat over his heart in a show of humility to Hannah. “I promised you I’d come in handy this time, didn’t I?”

  Hannah looked back to Rektor, dread written on her face. Dawson knew the madman would use his Captured Moment, but the significance of that power was still hazy to him. Glancing up to him from his chair, he saw Rektor’s left hand was open. He had let the Moment slip in the surprise of the explosion!

  “Magnus! Cover me!” Hannah fired a concentrated blue shot at the closest Pete, blowing his head off, before running towards Dawson. She propelled herself forward with a precise burst of Air, spinning in a graceful corkscrew. “We need to get him out of here!”

  Rektor finally composed himself and grunted in frustration at his open palm. Dawson watched him warily. He’d search for a new Moment. Immediately, Dawson’s captor rolled on the floor and both to grab his rusted fire axe and avoid the barrage of blue energy passing where he once stood.

  “Pete! Time to earn your worth!” Rektor leaned to dodge the emitted attacks from Hannah as he struggled to reheat his weapon with unbalanced hands.

  “I’d be much obliged.” The five Petes pulled out their revolvers simultaneously and trained their weapons on the onrushing Hannah.

  “Magnus, cover me!”

  She fired two more shots towards Rektor’s legs, but he nimbly shifted out of the way, sliding behind Dawson. Light on his feet, Rektor stayed close to Dawson as he repeatedly dodged waves of blue energy. A human shield that Hannah had to keep safe while applying the pressure. Dawson felt humiliated as he pulled against his restraints.

  Five cloned guns took their aim at Hannah, all in slightly different directions, to anticipate her trajectory.

  Panicking, Magnus stuck his hand deep into his hat and dug around frantically. Whipping his hand out, he stared in confusion, then disgust as he tossed aside a dead chicken. Urgency rising, Magnus upended the hat and smacked the back in search of its contents.

  A pile of guns fell out.

  “Sorry, Sheriff,” Pete almost sounded disappointed at having to end the fight so soon. He had locked onto Hannah. “But I told you, you wouldn’t last in these parts.”

  All five revolvers fired, perfectly aimed for Hannah’s chest. Without looking, Hannah threw a desperate blast of Air around her hoping to repel the oncoming bullets.

  But no bullets came.

  All with a cocked eyebrow, the Petes looked at their respective guns. The five weapons had a white flag sticking out with the word “BANG” scribbled on it in a hasty red marker. Magnus smiled sheepishly as five Petes looked at the pile of guns at his feet. The real guns that had been magically swapped. In a panic, Magnus threw his hat on top of the pile of guns as fast as he could to hide them.

  Then, with a yelp, Magnus threw out his hands in a panic as his hat floated away. The floor was empty of guns, but the hat that swallowed them drifted right toward the Petes.

  “Pete has Telekinesis!” Hannah informed him as she closed the gap on Rektor. “Small stuff, I’m pretty sure, otherwise he’d be throwing us around.”

  Magnus tried jumping to grab his floating hat but Pete raised it far too high with a swish of his finger. The hat came down to Pete like a perfectly delivered air package. Grinning, he reached in to retrieve his weapons.

  His hand barely got a foot in before punching the bottom. “What the devil? Where’d ya put my guns?”

  Magnus looked around in equal confusion. Dawson thought it was incredible how he had the showmanship to pretend he wasn’t sure where the guns had ended up either. Life or death, Magnus was always performing.

  “A magician never reveals his secrets!” Magnus scanned the room in desperation, as though searching for the guns. More clever mind games that blew Dawson away. His mentor was a genius.

  How could Magnus be so cool and playful in the middle of a fight?

  “Ain’t no matter.” All the Petes were now focused on Magnus, hands spinning to prepare for fisticuffs. “We can fight ya, man to man to man to man…”

  In a flashy move, Magnus pulled at his waist and revealed a magic wand, spinning it with the flair of a man drawing a revolver. The Petes hesitated, unsure of what Magnus was capable of. The magician tapped it against his side and it extended into a bo staff.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “I still have some tricks up my sleeve,” he said, a stack of cards spilling out of said sleeve.

  Dawson’s Audience laughed, and it spooked him, having forgotten they were there in the battle’s intensity. It cracked him back into focus. At the moment, he was a useless strain on Hannah’s attention.

  As the fighting continued around him, Dawson strained against the binds on his arms and legs. They had strategically cuffed his hands so he couldn’t cut through effortlessly. The rest of his body was bound in rope, but all his Sharpen ability could cover was his arms. By the time he grinded through the handcuffs, the battle might be over. Or he would exhaust his Sharpen power and not be able to assist.

  With a shower of shame, Sami’s words rang in his head. This is exactly what he was warning about at Headquarters. Enemies knew the limits of his Sharpen because he told the world exactly how it worked on his live stream. What kind of idiot was he to tell someone exactly how to hold him hostage?

  He looked towards Hannah who was still trying to get in close, but Rektor dragged and shifted the chair in the center of the battle to place Dawson in the line of fire. Hannah’s Air blasted past his hair as Hannah pushed Rektor, but not enough to clear the distance.

  Continuing to strain against his binds, Dawson then glanced at Magnus who looked to be aimlessly swinging his staff to ward off Pete the Plenty. Spreading out, the clones began flanking him. Sweat rolled out from under Magnus’s hat.

  Frowning, Dawson finally looked down at himself in his pathetic state. Racing through thoughts to find a way out, his mind drifted back to Hannah’s question before their mission started.

  Why had he wanted to join HUE? Yes, it was cool, but he wanted something much deeper than that. He wanted a purpose. To be recognized, but not just by virtue of being in HUE. More than that, he aspired to be known as someone people found useful.

  Dawson wanted to be wanted.

  And what better way to start than to show he was capable of taking care of himself?

  Pushing his feet out, he put all energy into the rope at his legs. They felt the loosest, and he didn’t care what kind of damage it took to free himself. He’d break his legs if it meant getting out of the way and letting Hannah really handle the situation. Whatever it took.

  Straining his calves, he flexed with all he had. Veins bulging, his thighs exploded in pain as he pushed beyond his pain limits. It didn’t matter, he wouldn’t be defeated by a couple strands of string. Just when he couldn’t push anymore, he felt it.

  One of his ankles Sharpened.

  Breathing heavily, Hannah closed in on Rektor, but his axe blade was already glowing red. Rektor swung down hard, forcing Hannah to jump back and narrowly avoid losing her arm. She expertly carried her momentum into an attack of her own and fired a blazing blue finger shot through his chest. A hole tore clear through Rektor’s entire body, light streaming from the other side.

  Rektor looked down as he spit up a wad of blood. “Pete told me you shot to kill, but I didn't believe you had it in you.”

  Head lulling and chest slumping over, he snapped a finger. Hannah tensed in shock.

  Before Dawson could fully process the victory, Rektor’s wound healed itself and a blast of blue energy came flying at Hannah from the entry wound. She jumped aside at the sudden counter attack. Rektor flicked his left hand as if throwing something away.

  Dawson caught on, dreading the implications. Rektor had Captured the Moment of his own defeat and allowed it to slip. How could Hannah defeat someone who could undo every mistake? Seeing the determination in her eyes despite Rektor’s new aspect, Dawson fought even harder to free himself.

  A rope on his leg snapped free.

  “Magnus! Get the Petes to the East side of the building!” Hannah pointed.

  Magnus was on the verge of being overwhelmed by the five Petes in front of him, but with this new command he looked relieved that he was given the order to run. He turned to the Pete blocking his way East and focused his attacks on a single target. He took multiple swings of his bo staff, but the Pete let it hit him without even attempting a block. The others closed in.

  Frustrated, Magnus smacked the Pete across the head and watched in awe as its body inflated like a balloon animal and popped. Magnus whipped his face to the others menacingly. The other Petes shrank back, uncertainty in their posture.

  Magnus used the opportunity to bash his bo staff into the ground. As the Petes regained enough composure to rush him, the staff extended out, sending Magnus soaring above and over them before it turned into a long stream of paper. The remaining Petes ignored the trick and continued their pursuit as Magnus crashed to the floor, rolling to continue running.

  Hannah kept up her spar with Rektor, but every time she got a hit in, he’d just rewind to before receiving a wound. She was breathing heavily now, having spent much of her energy to both defend Dawson and keep up an offensive. Rektor, meanwhile, wore a confident smile, fully aware of his advantage.

  Rektor came in for another swing of molten hot fire axe, but instead of dodging, Hannah executed a new tactic. Air blasted in all directions and blinding blue light concentrated into her palm. She grabbed the axe blade in midair.

  “How?” Rektor’s eyes trembled in bafflement. “This should be burning right through you!”

  It was Hannah’s turn to smile. “I blew concentrated Air at the blade to cool it down and then imbued my right hand with enough energy to match the energy remaining in your axe. You can’t burn what’s the same temperature. That, and you used rusty garbage instead of something honed and sharp. My power can shield me a bit.” She squeezed the blade and snapped it off its handle.

  Rolling his eyes, Rektor snapped his fingers to bring his weapon back to whole again.

  “You’re delaying the inevitable. What did that gain you but another fleeting moment of life?” He raised his axe again for another assault.

  This time, Hannah didn’t raise a hand. Instead, she kneeled down and gave Dawson a tiny glance before placing a palm on the floor.

  “I trust you.”

  Rektor looked further baffled, but was not one to question an opportunity. Grin returned, he brought his heated axe down on his defenseless opponent.

  The axe stopped short. Fuming, Rektor turned to his new opponent.

  Dawson stood above his squad leader, straining to keep her safe with his Sharpened bare arm under the rusted, heated blade. Handcuffs swung from one of his wrists, but Dawson was standing strong and defiant.

  Rektor pushed down harder, trying his best to use his strength advantage. As he pushed down, Dawson roared. Eyes burning with determination, his arm let out a piercing shriek of metal grinding against metal. Then, yelling as he put the full force of his weight behind it, Dawson’s arm cut through the axe like a knife through cake.

  Dawson stood to full height and looked at the stunned Rektor. “I guess I really am the sharpest tool in the shed.”

  His Live Studio Audience erupted in an explosion of cheers, applause and laughter, elated that he barely skirted by death.

  “Oh, enough of this!” Rektor tried to bring his fingers together in a snap but something held him back, his thumb and forefinger trembling less than an inch away from each other like magnets repelling.

  “What now?” Rektor looked behind to confront someone new but saw nothing but a shadow.

  As he spun back around, Dawson got a smidge of happiness at seeing Rektor’s smile now locked into a frustrated frown.

  Hannah continued to kneel, eyes closed. Dawson was standing in front of her, arms held defensively above Hannah, but his Sharpness ran out after cutting through the axe. If Rektor could restore his weapon and come in for another swing, he’d have nothing to stop it. Magnus ran around behind him, trying his best to avoid Pete the Plenty. Bruises littered his face, Pete having closed in multiple times in the span of the fight.

  Frustrated, Rektor tried again to snap his fingers, but they remained obstinate, only an inch away. Blinking, Rektor looked like pieces fit together in his head and he turned back around.

  His own shadow was off to the side. But Hannah’s shadow was moving on its own, its form watching him with cruel, powerful intimidation. With the sun at its late afternoon point, the shadow was as large as the two story walls. It towered over the entire scene, the black mass that made up its left arm launching forward and gripping him in a tight squeeze. Raising Rektor high up, it held him tightly in place, his arms pinned to his sides.

  Mouth open wide in incredulity, Dawson observed the other Shadow arm scoop up a handful of Petes. Between deep breaths, Hannah finally opened one of her eyes to address her captives.

  “Which…” She faltered and took a deep breath, her Shadow Puppet clearly taking a sharp toll on her stamina. “Which one of you is the real Pete?”

  She squeezed immediately, giving them no time to plan a response.

  “Speak now, or forfeit your life!”

  She continued to tighten her grasp, clenching the Shadow’s fist past what Dawson felt anyone could handle. No Pete spoke out. She squeezed still harder until several pops exploded like someone punching bubble wrap. Large palm opening, the Shadow’s right hand dripped with dead clone ooze.

  “Hannah!” Magnus cried out. “There’s one more Pete!”

  He pointed to the main entrance with its scattered splinters on the floor. There, the real Pete the Plenty stood. Grinning, he winked.

  “Well, Sheriff…” He tipped his hat to Hannah, “Seems I’ve underestimated ya once again. Next time, we’ll end this here duel, once an’ for all.” With that declaration, he cast a dozen splinters and a cloud of dust as cover with Telekinesis and bolted from the building.

  “Um, Hannah?” Dawson held a concerned hand out to her when she sweated profusely in her kneeling position, all her body focused on her Awakened technique. “I think you can let go now. We got him.”

  Craning, he was watching Rektor who fruitlessly struggled against the Shadow’s grasp. The Shadow Puppet held him above her head, well over where the roof of this two-story home used to be.

  “No,” she whispered. “Not… yet. We… We can’t let him undo this moment. I have to be sure he’s been up there long enough that he could only rewind to his time in the air.”

  Eyes desperate, Rektor registered her plan. If he fell from the height he was held, he could only Capture the Moment to be suspended in the air. Then fall right back down.

  “HUE,” he called out. “Let’s talk this through. Put me down slowly and we can speak new terms.”

  Hannah didn’t respond, instead collapsing to the ground. Face flat on the scratched wood, it looked like she struggled just to keep her eyes open. The shadow technique dissipated like leaves under a leaf blower.

  Rektor yelped as he entered free fall. He tumbled towards the ground and snapped his fingers just a moment before collision. In reverse, his body lurched back up to only fall right back down with Rektor covering his face. Smashing into the ground, his body rang with a sickening crack of bones. Eyes glazed over, his body did not move.

  Wincing, Magnus and Dawson looked to Hannah for instruction. She breathed, but didn’t acknowledge the victory. Dawson gestured to Rektor and held his hands defensively over Hannah, making sure he couldn’t sneak up on her.

  Nodding, Magnus mustered the courage and approached Rektor. Placing a couple of fingers to his neck he raised a thumbs up to Dawson, confirming Rektor was still breathing. Rubbing one of the fresh bruises under his eye, Magnus flipped his hat off his head. Reaching inside, he pulled out a continuous string of colorful flags and used them to bind Rektor. Tightening the multi-colored string all over his body, he tied the fingers doubly well to avoid any escape attempts when Rektor regained consciousness. Magnus also made sure Rektor’s palms were turned towards his body so he’d burn himself if he attempted to use his other Awakening.

  Speaking in almost a whisper, Dawon leaned down to Hannah to check on her. “Hannah, you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’ll live.” She took in some deep breaths. “And so will you, thankfully. Go help Magnus with Rektor and let’s get back to headquarters.”

  “What about you? Can you even get up?”

  “Yeah, just give me a minute.” Grunting, she lifted herself into a sitting position. Then she granted him a rare grin. It looked surprisingly natural on her, like she used to wear one often. “You did good, kid. You were there when I needed you most.”

  “Thanks for trusting me.” Dawson stared at his shoes in embarrassment.

  He had never been praised in a way he cared for so much before. His Audience awed. Remembering they were watching, he almost wanted to add something to get another laugh, but realized he cared a lot more for Hannah’s words than their ethereal cheers. Hannah was real.

  Racing to Rektor, Dawson ran up and down the villain’s body assisting Magnus with the flag binding effort. He cut a few strings with his hands to bring the binds so tight that Rektor’s skin changed color.

  By the time the two were satisfied with the restraints, Hannah was on her feet, hand placed gingerly on her head. Magnus turned his attention to Dawson’s remaining handcuffed wrist.

  “Allow me to assist you with that.” He pulled a pristine handkerchief out of thin air.

  The Live Studio Audience applauded politely. Magnus lowered it over Dawson’s wrist and tapped it with his index finger.

  “Now you see it…” Magnus lifted it up to reveal the handcuffs were now gone.

  The Audience gave a collective gasp.

  “Amazing.” Dawson was star-struck. “But where did they—There they are!” Dawson pointed to Magnus’ own wrist.

  Magnus looked down and gave a half frown like he had no idea they’d be there. Always the showman.

  “Now you still see them!” Magnus gave an elegant bow with the handcuffs spinning wildly around his arm. The Live Audience stood for a thunderous ovation.

  Dawson returned his attention to Hannah and ran up to her to see if she needed any assistance but she waved him away, steadying herself on her own. Looking between Magnus, Hannah, and Rektor, Dawson let out a sudden laugh.

  “I can’t believe we did all that. It was so rad! I can’t wait to tell everyone about it!”

  Dawson started making his way out, but neither Magnus or Hannah moved, both watching him expectantly. Dawson looked between them, feeling again like he was missing out on an inside joke.

  Magnus tossed his hat up. It flipped three times in midair, landing perfectly on his head. “Forgetting anything, Dawson?”

  Dawson squinted in confusion, then realized that his phone was still on the ring stand. Running back to the center of the room, it was laying on its side, having fallen in the mayhem. To his surprise, the stream was still going.

  The view count was in the hundreds of thousands.

  Comments and donations were flooding in, drowning his screen like advertisements on a seedy website.

  “Guys,” he called back to his team members. “I think HUE might be getting the PR boost it was looking for.”