"Are you sure you want to do this, Sparkles?" Alex asked from across the paper-strewn street.

He hefted up the shield Rafferty had seen before, the one that could somehow save up the Blue when she struck, and spit it back at her.

"Your record against me really isn't any good," he continued.

That was true.

Alex had shot her. Tortured her. Manipulated her. Gotten the better of her at every turn.

She probably should have been scared, and maybe part of her was. That nagging little bit in her gut. The part of her that didn't want this fight, didn't want it all. The part that was speeding up her heart and flooding her body with adrenaline. The part that was practically screaming at her to turn around and run all the way home.

But that part could scream all it wanted, because Katrin Roberts was the best Hunter Rafferty had ever seen, and she said that she was scared all the time. She also said she never let that get in the way during a fight, because that moment was the moment, and it was all that mattered.

This was that moment.

I live for this.

Rafferty St. John might have been scared. Of losing. Of dying. Of letting any more people get hurt for her mistakes.

Sparkles was just pissed, and fixing to cause a ruckus.

And that's why she was smiling.

She drew her sword with a big Blue flourish, and backed into a fighting stance.

"I'm excited. Are you excited? This is exciting," Alex said, tapping the shield, begging her to come forward.

Keep making jokes. Maybe I'm not the only one who's scared.

Rafferty looked at the shield. She'd been thinking about it a lot, and about the way Calamity J's arm had stopped working during their first fight. Calamity seemed to be unfinished, to have limits. Rafferty thought the shield might have limits too. She wanted to test those.

She jumped, turned in the air, and brought her blade down on the center of the shield with a force and precision she was pretty sure even Katrin would have admired.

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The shield splintered in a shower of sparks. Alex himself was launched backwards, and hit the ground skidding through colored paper.

Rafferty rushed forward and kicked him square in the chest as he sat up, sending him flying another ten feet.

"Pain is how we testify," Rafferty said.

As Alex struggled to his feet, Rafferty walked up and uncoiled an uppercut. It didn't quite land flush, bouncing off his upper chest before connecting with his chin. As such, it didn't knock him unconscious, only spun him around and forced him to his knees. She was glad. It meant she got to hit him again.

The fight was over, Rafferty decided. It might last another couple of minutes, but hey, she could do this for hours. Without his goons or his guns or his plans, Alex with Malice was just a guy. Rafferty was going to beat on him a little bit more, for Trevor's sake, and then drag his sorry butt back to Max to decide what to do with him.

She was just about to deliver a knee to his stupid, smug face when Alex pulled a gun. Rafferty immediately jumped and twisted, pulling her limbs in behind the protection of her chest plate. The shots flew harmlessly underneath, but it had given Alex time to roll and run.

Rafferty watched him disappear into one of the larger buildings. She ran after him, kicking in the door that had shut behind him. The building was made of glass, and full of plants. A greenhouse.

She looked around, but there were too many plants. She didn't know exactly where Alex was.

"You know, Rafferty," she heard Alex's voice call out. "I'm glad this day is finally here."

Rafferty was about to shout back at him, to tell him that after she finished, she was going to change her hair to the color of the bruises on his face, so he'd know exactly how badly she'd beaten him up.

She realized something that made her stop before she spoke.

Rafferty?

He calls me Sparkles.

How does he know my name?

"I mean, do you know how hard it has been not to kill you? I mean, that shot from the van, that had to be just right to avoid all your organs, and that road was bumpy. But hey, I'm an amazing shot, so I took it as a challenge. But shooting over top of you at the cliff, even missing you right now, that's working against muscle memory, and that's hard. And the ride I took on the end of your fist over the cliff? Scariest moment of my life. I mean, sure, we had the safety net rigged and everything, but we didn't really know how far I would fly."

Ignore him. He's just trying to get to you. On your toes. Be patient. Wait until you can see him, and then put him down.

"But Vincent said, Rafferty's worth it. Rafferty's the one. We have to wait for Rafferty. Between you me, I think he's quite taken with you."

Rafferty froze.

And someone emerged from behind a row of plants. Rafferty pivoted, ready to strike, but it wasn't Alex, it was Vincent.

For a moment, something deep inside her, something that hadn't processed Alex's words yet, or was choosing to ignore them, was relieved that Vincent was all right, and glad he was here to fight beside her.

But she looked down, and saw that Vincent had drawn his pistol.

It wasn't pointed at Alex.

It was pointed at her.

Rafferty couldn't move. She felt like she'd been poked full of holes, and everything that had ever been inside her was draining out.

She barely noticed when Alex stepped out and fired his gun twice. The first shot bounced off her chest plate. The second struck her lower thigh.

She did notice when she slid down to the floor. Her gaze never left Vincent's face.

She thought he looked sad.