"A hero's name. You're not worthy."
"Hero, villain. Two sides of the same coin. All that matters is whose side he's on. If you've seen what I have, your perspective might be different."
She clenched her prosthetic fist. "This is my perspective. You betrayed me, Ethan. And I'm going to kill you for it."
His leg blurred, kicking the rifle from her hand. It skidded across the rain-slicked rooftop. Never stopping, he drove a knee into her stomach, followed by an elbow to the back of her head. She slammed into the ground; dots flecking across her vision, the wind knocked from her lungs.
He knelt, seized a handful of her hair and yanked her head back. "Petty revenge. Is that all that's been driving you since that day? Do you see us when you close your eyes, Max? Natalie, with her blades and smiles? Mike, frozen in fear and self-loathing? Doing nothing while we cut you to little tiny pieces?"
She glared at him; teeth clamped together. "I see all of you. Every night. Your faces in the crosshairs of my sniper rifle."
He smashed her face into the ground. Pain exploded, turning her vision into a blurry haze. His voice distorted as her consciousness flickered.
"Do you know what I see every night, Max? Dead faces, protruding from the red sands of Mars. All the people I've killed in my years. Men, women. Children. Their eyes blackened by death; faces purple, tongues protruding. And in the distance is the gateway. The mouth of the demon, gaping wide and vomiting every sort of terror into the world. And I know. I know that my dark deeds are nothing in the face of the apocalypse to come."
She raised her face, blood dripping from her busted lip. "So, you're crazy. Welcome to the party."
Her bionic fist fired from her wrist with a popping sound. It struck him in the chest, sending him flying across the rooftop. He skidded until he hit the railing, where he groaned, arm drifting to his armored vest. He raised his other hand. Blue light sparked… then faded out. A surprised look flashed across his face.
She smiled, pushing back a lock of sodden hair as her fist glided back and snapped into her wrist. "Surprised? The Havens are prepared for your kind, Ethan. Whatever powers you had are useless now."
He grimaced, pushing himself to his feet. "I don't need powers to kill you, Max. You can't stop me. I still have a destiny beyond your silly grievances. You've been focused on what happened to you all of this time, but to me it was nothing. Inconsequential. I barely remember it."
"I'll jog your memory."
She ran forward and leaped, punching his injured shoulder with her metallic arm. He grunted, counterattacking with a jab to her clavicle. Something cracked. She ignored it, striking once, twice into the same spot, buckling him to one knee. Roaring, he seized her and hoisted, lifting her off the ground and hurling her through the air. She landed on her back, sliding across the slick surface. Snatching her handgun from the holster, she fired repeatedly.
Kilgore anticipated each shot, weaving and whirling to avoid the rounds as he advanced. When the magazine was spent, she leaped to her feet, using the gun as a club. He blocked a blow to the head, answered with a jab to her face, fist striking the metal plate underneath her eye with a ringing sound. She answered with a left cross to his jaw, staggering him. She followed with two quick blows to the head with the gun before he seized her wrist and twisted, forcing her to drop the weapon.
A kick to his injured leg nearly floored him. He grabbed the straps on her vest for support and slammed his head into her face. She stumbled backward, blurry-eyed and gasping from the pain of her broken nose. They both staggered, off balance. She swung her metal fist, half-blind. He caught it and pulled, hooking his other arm under her elbow. A wolfish smile flashed across his face.
Then he yanked her am down, tearing it off at the elbow joint with a terrible rending sound.
She cried out, feeling pain that she knew wasn't real. But she felt it anyway, falling to her knees and staring at her ruined arm. Artificial tendons and wires dangled like torn flesh, blue fluid dripped like blood.
He seized her by the throat, asphyxiating her. "Now tell me, what do you know about Merlin? Who else knows? Tell me, and you live. Time's running out."
"It's… just a name," she gasped. "Hacked from the search… Sergeant Chen ran. Data was… eliminated when she… wiped the system. Just… needed bait to get… you up here."
She gasped, coughing and wheezing when he released her. She didn't even see the kick coming until too late when it slammed against the side of her head. The lights flickered, the rain sparkled as she took an eternity to slam against the wet ground.
Cash made it to the elevator doors before pausing. He looked at the stairwell.
Don't do it. Whatever's going on is none of your concern. No trust anymore, remember? No partners.
The doors slid open. Cash stared at the beckoning sight of the elevator interior. His reflection stared back from the mirrored surface, guilt clearly visible on his face.
"Damn it!"
He turned and raced back up the stairs, cursing himself when he banged out of the rooftop door. The downpour was so heavy it made visibility difficult, but what he saw was enough. Kilgore held Happy's body in his arms and was on the verge of throwing her off the building when Cash spoke.
"Hey, asshole."
Kilgore paused, turning around.
Cash peered down the sights of his rifle. "I just realized you're worth a lot of money. And since you killed my payday, I think I'll take you instead. Now, I'm pretty sure no one cares if I bring you in dead or alive. So set her down and put your hands above your head."
Kilgore lifted Happy by the neck with one hand, dangling her body over the side of the building. "I have a better idea, friend. Make a choice: me or Maxine here. You put the gun down, and she lives. You shoot me, and I'm afraid your partner will have to pay for it."
Cash blinked water from his eyelashes. "She's not my partner, so I don't really care what you do with her. You're going down either way."
"Suit yourself." Kilgore made as if to drop her.
"No, wait!" Cash half-lowered the gun. "Pull her over."
Kilgore grinned, lifting her back over the guardrail and holding her in front of him. He peered around her body. "Now, drop the rifle, bounty hunter. In fact, throw it over the edge."
"How do I know you won't do the same to Happy?"
"We're at a standoff here. I don't think we have a choice, and personally, I have other things to do."
Cash hesitated, mind whirling. Finally, he nodded. "Fine. Set her down."
"Throw the rifle away."
Cash hurled it over the side of the building. Kilgore dropped Happy and ran across the rooftop, inhumanly fast despite his limp. By the time Cash pulled his sidearm and aimed, Kilgore leaped and cleared the railing, sailing across empty air before dropping into the glittering curtain of rain.
Cash ran and peered over the railing. Kilgore's body was barely visible, sprawled across the next rooftop, a distance of what looked like fifty feet away and a hundred feet lower than the Maximillian Tower.
To Cash's shock, Kilgore moved.
Cash aimed his handgun, trying to get a line of sight in the pouring rain. He was barely able to see Kilgore, who staggered toward the stairwell door. Cash fired multiple times, but with his vision obscured it was pointless. Kilgore entered the stairwell and vanished.
"Damnit!" Cash clapped a hand on his com. "Jinx. Kilgore is in the building next to the Maximillian Tower."
"Okay. So what?"
"So, you have to get him. He's weak and can barely move."
"Are you loco? I'm not tangling with that fool. We came here for Kirk Hamilton. Don't tell me you let him get away, Cash."
"Hamilton is dead."
"What?"