The target file said Apex had pink highlights in her shoulder-length jet black hair. Maya knew it by heart — she had rewatched Chase’s fight against Apex and the Fifty several times over, etching the image of the woman who killed her grandfather into her mind.

The file was wrong. Though her outfit kept the same theme, she lost the pink highlights in her hair and makeup. Face to face, it put her age into perspective. She couldn’t believe she was so young. The file said they were around the same age, but with such a history, Maya couldn’t believe her to be so young. They could’ve been friends in another life.

But not this one. Not when she was a killer.

As the portal closed behind Apex, Avanti’s eyes shimmered pink and Maya drew her pistol. Exclaims of surprise exploded from the other spatial mages in the room. Apex held her hands out to her sides, and shards of silver light gathered around her arms, forming balls of energy in her palms.

Steelstorm.

“Get down!”

Maya tackled Avanti to the ground as Apex thrust forward, blasting a storm of shrapnel through the portal room, tearing holes in the ambient spatial mages. Flecks of blood painted the shelves as orange cloaks collapsed and fell, the violent metal silencing their cries.

Groaning in pain, Cavill clutched the shard of steel jutting from his chest as he slumped against a bookshelf, moving no more.

Maya rolled away from Avanti and kneeled to aim. Apex flicked a glowing silver hand. Their files said Steelstorm had light control over metal — sure enough, Maya’s pistol shimmered and fell apart in her grasp, screws clattering against the wooden stage.

Five seconds until Overdrive was back.

Avanti rose and extended her palms, chanting underneath her breath. “Thornak vellum, grithen ban…”

Apex stepped towards her, glaring with piercing eyes above a self-assured grin.

“Mordekai, vorst n’ threnn—”

No gun. No secondary backup pistol. Hand to hand combat wouldn’t bode well, either. Apex knew there was nothing she could do and charged forward another step, not a hint of fear in her posture. Everyone else in the room was dead. She wasn’t the one trapped or outnumbered; they were stuck with her.

Her eyes flashed crimson, and she lifted Avanti off of her feet like she weighed two pounds.

“Gholun drifts,” Avanti sputtered, gasping for air, the light in her eyes intensifying. “Nether wane, vorshen, krell, enthrall ag—”

Maya recognized The Beast’s form. She recognized the violent power of his explosive movement as Apex hoisted Avanti over her head and slammed her into the wood. Her chant became a mumble. Avanti’s eyes glassed over, though they still glowed with magic.

Apex let go and summoned the same transparent red knife into her hands, thrusting for Avanti’s heart. The glow in Avanti’s eyes pulsed. Maya’s sight deceived her — Avanti had actually shifted upwards, and Apex stabbed her in the ribs instead. The wood of the stage floor cracked and splintered, opening into a gaping mouth, swallowing Avanti whole and taking her with it.

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Since when did she have wooden powers?

She never did. Apex rose and glared at her, the only other standing person visible in the room. Avanti was an illusion mage. If anything, she was likely still laying invisible on the floor, or a few feet away.

“Right. You are an Illusion mage!” Apex’s smile intensified. “Okay, Avanti. If we’re playing hide and seek, let’s play a different game, too.”

Maya’s breath caught in her throat as Apex aimed a glowing ball of yellow energy.

“You have five seconds to reappear, or I will finish Agent Wolfe here and now,” Apex said.

Maya grit her teeth. “You won’t,” she barely muttered.

“Excuse me?”

“You won’t kill me. There’s too much heat — too much attention. How suspicious would it look to the SRB if the one Agent pursuing you mysteriously died on an investigative trip to Mage Country? I know you aren’t stupid enough to make that mistake.”

“The last thing I expected here was compliments.” Apex squinted at her like a predator sizing up cornered prey. “I underestimated you. Round of applause! You’re right. I’m not dumb enough to make that mistake, just like Avanti isn’t dumb enough to keep chanting her illusion spell, because she knows that I’ll hear her and find exactly where she is.”

Silence.

“That’s what I like to hear. I didn’t come to kill either of you, anyway, for the reason you described, Wolfe. Or, sorry, would you prefer Maya?”

Maya grit her teeth.

“What, you don’t like me calling you by name? It’s fine, really. You won’t hear it again. I’m not giving you another warning.” The joyous tone in her voice ceased, melting to an iron seriousness. “Clearly Sir Guardian couldn't convince you enough. Don't continue down this path. I’m going to make you disappear, Maya, and I’ll finish what I started with Mage Country, Avanti,” she raised her voice.

“Just like you’ve done to Watanabe?”

“Just like him. Watanabe knew his job. He broke the rule, he paid the price. You know your rule. Stop forcing Senior Agent Hale to buy you time for a futile effort. You don’t want to make John a widower.”

Maya jailed the urge to charge at her right now for saying his name. “I don’t care what you do to me. I don’t care what you do to her, to this country, to Hale, not even for what you do to John. I care about what you’ll do to the world,” she hissed. “I’ll bring you to justice even if everyone stands against me, because—”

“Because what? Because I killed your daddy? Your mommy? Brother? Sister? You already touted the whole ‘justice’ schtick, so you may as well go on with something else I’ve already heard.”

Maya fought back a tear, whether it was of the memory of her grandfather, or of the pure anger shuddering through her fists.

Apex released her energy blast, raising her chin to look down on her from afar. “You’re naive, Wolfe. Narrow sighted. Stubborn. Fuck around and find out what that will do for you and everyone you love. I dare you.”

And with that, Apex was gone in the blink of an eye. There was no telling how far she could get, with Gigabyte’s Overdrive, his super speed, and whatever else she had in her arsenal. Maya waited like a statue. Imminent death was still likely. Every muscle in her body remained tense until mages in light green cloaks dotted with white crosses flooded into the room. Avanti released her invisibility spell at Maya’s feet, lying in a pool of her own blood.

Medical mages descended on them like a flock of doves, swarming the wounded. One came from behind and held a soft glowing palm to Maya’s face, sapping her energy away. She fell unconscious, a final thought on her mind: Arise Health was next.

The final secrets and confirmations would come from the Takahara’s themselves, Haruki’s parents. If she could get more evidence on Arise Health’s direct intervention, their confession or denial would be damning.

Before that, they needed a plan against Apex’s powers — if such a plan existed at all.