The fight did not start off well.

The Rhino was an armored jeep with a big stand up machine gun in the back. It was one of Alex's best toys. Spencer had seen it bring a whole town to its knees, and when it surged forward, Eyeball Evans on the gun, things seemed to be going according to plan.

Then a blue object whipped through the air, Spencer thought it was the same thing that tore the scroll, and sliced deep into the Rhino's hide. The vehicle lurched to a stop. Spencer had time to realize that the weapon was a boomerang before he noticed a broad shouldered girl descending rapidly. This girl had a sword, a big one. She hit the center of the Rhino, cleaving the entire thing in half, Eyeball leaping for his life.

"Foster Sauce!!" yelled another girl. Spencer thought it was the same girl who read the poem earlier. He was pretty sure the boomerang belonged to her.

Spencer decided he didn't care much for this girl.

It was also the moment he thought they might be in over their heads.

Not that the Bad Enders were done. Spencer's side tightened their circle. There was a long, loud hail of bullets. One of the Hunters yelped, and dove for cover. Spencer thought they might be facing five opponents instead of six.

But then other girls started arriving. From the sky.

The sky.

There was a shout above Spencer's head, "Talk to the hand!", whatever the hell that meant, and he looked up to see a Hunter plummeting toward his friends. She hit the ground with a huge hammer, and blue streaks, like lightning, scattered the Bad Enders.

Spencer realized that the flare had shown the other Hunters which town was being attacked, and they were converging on Broken Bear. Quickly. He further realized it was time to start thinking about the contingency. Spencer started to walk backwards, toward the edge of town, keeping an eye on the battle.

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"Hey, kid!" someone yelled, and it took a moment for Spencer to figure out they were talking to him.

He turned and saw a girl, much taller than he was, looking at him with a mixture of irritation and alarm. Spencer thought it was the girl who had cut the Rhino in half. He tried to change the expression on his face from evil mastermind to confused, frightened child.

It wasn't hard.

"What are you doing here? Everyone is supposed to be gone already! Do you want to die?" she shouted when he looked at her.

"No," he said, which was true.

"Find a safe place. Now!" she yelled.

"Yes, ma'am," he said, and scurried around a corner. Spencer thought he could hear her muttering something about a stupid kid before jumping away.

There was only one more moment when it seemed like the fight might turn in their favor. Blaze, arriving late to the party as usual, sped into town on her motorcycle, bright red hair flowing behind her. She fired her gun into the air, and managed to rally some of the Bad Enders around her.

It was the first time in his life that Spencer was happy to see Blaze.

Then Blaze, in the middle of a long howl, was was knocked from her bike in a big blue explosion. She must have been thrown thirty feet, and her motorcycle was a flaming, twisted mess.

Spencer looked to the right, and saw a girl in a long coat and dark glasses. She was just standing there. He knew it sounded crazy, but Spencer was pretty sure she'd just taken out Blaze with a blast from her eyes.

Her eyes.

Spencer had seen enough. The Enders were still putting up a scrap, but this fight had been decided, which meant it was time for Plan B.

The Hunters were focused on the big rig, and started to surround it. Clearly, they thought the device was inside.

Alex's folks were protecting the rig as best they could. They'd been instructed, by the big boss himself, not to let it fall into enemy hands under any circumstances. Spencer was sure they were terrified of letting him down.

Because they thought the device was inside too.

Except it wasn't.

Spencer had it.

He walked to the edge of town, nobody bothering to notice a single kid patiently moving away from a fire fight. He found a beat up sedan just where Alex said it would be. The keys were under the left tire.

Spencer got in, and started to drive.