"Are you sure?" Other Malcolm asks.

"You have control of my body, do you even need my permission?"

"I might. I haven't released this level of magic in more than a hundred years."

A minotaur charges forward only to be pummeled by a gorilla animus with a chip on his shoulder. A hunter on a skateboard rides past and shatters the demon's jaw with a set of spiked brass knuckles.

"Just do it!"

"Gladly." Other Malcolm rises high into the air, lifted by hot air currents. "My name is Linda Anastasia Kambebe, last woman of my line. You have killed and maimed for the last time, demons. My fire burns cleaner than the pits of Hell. Taste justice!"

Flames the size of basketballs ignite all around them. Dozens and then scores crackle to life at the behest of their magic. Below, minotaurs fight one another, most oblivious to the attack on their flank. Both Other Malcolm and Malcolm laugh, a harmonious sound of joy and exhilaration. They throw their body back like a dancer at the end of a performance and the flames rain down. Cleansing balls of fire carpet bomb the minotaurs blocking their way to the main building. Some of the demons are thrown back while others burst into flame. A third of their number are cut down and the rescue team wades in.

"Do you feel it, lovely boy? The power we can wield together?"

"I do, and it's glorious."

Something hits them in the stomach just before they hear the spitter rifle fire. The paralysis is instantaneous. Stunned by the tiny creature crawling around in their gut, they can't move, they can't keep themselves aloft. They are a ragdoll falling from the sky. Other Malcolm, Linda, thinks about all the years she lamented being trapped in a male descendant and never fully lending herself to the experience of being one. It all feels like a waste as they plummet to their death.

Maria snatches their limp body out of the air the moment before they hit the ground. She tosses him to Dyson as she flies past. Reece grabs their bleeding stomach. Healing light pours in as he pulls the parasitic round out.

"You were just waiting for a chance to put your hands on me, weren't you, handsome."

Dyson presses his lips against theirs, his tongue finding its way into their mouth.

"I... we..." Words elude Malcolm.

"Fight now. We can talk about this later." Dyson lowers them on to wobbly feet.

"Charger!" a soldier screams.

A piercing-covered white minotaur charges towards them. Its horns covered in fresh gore, the demon moves like a torpedo. The gorilla lands on the brute's back, knocking it off course. The two roll in the dirt before coming to their feet, trading blow after powerful blow. They take each other by the throat, powerful fingers squeezing.

Other Malcolm summons a flaming spear as they hobble to the fighting beasts, and pierce the monster's side. The minotaur cries out and the gorilla slams it to the ground. The fire of the flaming spear wreaks havoc across the demon's side. The gorilla chops its thick neck and the monster stops moving.

The woman on the skateboard lands beside them with a kickflip. "They've made it through, we just have to hold the line."

"Tenemus Lineam," Other Malcolm says.

"Tenemus Lineam," the two hunters reply in unison.

---

Elijah, Shaniqua, and the rubenesque contemporary, Amber, sneak up to the base of the central building. Dressed in barely fitting army fatigues and light tactical armor, Elijah might look like a soldier, but in his heart he's a father desperate to save his daughter.

"You have to calm down," Amber warns. "I can only mask your thoughts. Your emotions may still give us away."

Shaniqua grabs his hand and gently squeezes it. "We're going to save your Amelia."

"Or die trying." Elijah looks down at the pistol in his hand. Maria gave it to him before they left the safe house.

Bloody waters. Ripping current. Tentacles and dead bodies. Emily. Mateo. Fryga.

"Mr. Elijah, are you ready?" Amber places her hands against the bare wall.

"Yes. Yes, I am."

She draws the shape of a door with her outstretched fingers, including a doorknob. Then she knocks three times. On the third knock, the outline shimmers and the door swings open. Beyond is a foul smelling room. Shaniqua steps in first, looking left and right before gesturing for the others to follow. Elijah goes next, the air feeling like warm water as he moves through the doorway.

Amber steps over the threshold and the door slams shut behind them, leaving no sign that it had ever existed.

"I sense Axel is that way."

Elijah follows the two women, squinting into every corner for signs of danger. The hairs on his neck bristle each time they walk into a shadowy area. They reach the end of a wide hallway, an open door looks out onto a hall where naked bodies huddle together in chains. Voices argue just out of view.

"We should go out there and get some."

"Get some? We should let these bastards beat the shit out of each other and wait for the dust to settle."

"If we were going to leave, this would be the best time."

Amber mouths the name Axel.

"The robot man is right. We should grab some of this trim and motor out of here."

"I am no robot."

"You sure talk like one."

"Fuck it. Grab what you can carry and mount up."

Elijah, Shaniqua, and Amber take cover as a group of bikers scramble to do as instructed. The man with the red beard appears to be in charge.

"What about Harrison?" a guy asks as he throws a naked man over his shoulder.

"He's up there with those kids." Red-beard looks up. "Fuck him, he's on his own. Black Riders, roll out!"

The bikers exit through a large doorway as an explosion shakes the building.

"Amy is upstairs!"

Elijah steps out of the shadows and Amber shoves him against the wall.

"I've had enough!" The voice that rips through his head feels like spiders, tentacles, and dark lurking things.

The doorway and most of its wall crumbles, dust and brick cascade into the space. A skeletal figure appears, her presence sending a shiver of fear down Elijah's spine. Amber gestures for him to calm down, but each step the woman takes digs deeper and deeper into his fears. The tentacles slither over his skull, pulling at his tho-

Amber jabs him in the neck, the pain clearing the spiders from his mind.

"You humans are so bothersome," she whispers.

Amber steps out of hiding as the skeleton woman turns around. Blinding purple light washes through the space and body parts fly through the air. When Elijah and Shaniqua build up enough courage to look, they see Amber's body lying on the floor beside a dozen bloody naked corpses. Each one's heart has exploded out of their chests.

"Elijah, we need to hurry." Shaniqua gestures towards the steps leading up.

The two traverse the stairs as quickly as they can, reaching a bloody balcony at the top. Elijah tries not to identify the mess strewn about. Instead he focuses on the furniture, the broad shapes that have nothing to do with body parts. The dim lighting helps a lot. He registers the large couch and the table full of maps and strange symbols.

A small spider cage idles in the corner. Inside is the most important girl in his world.

"Daddy..." her voice shakes, heavy with traumas she can't unsee, "look out."

Elijah sees Harrison coming from the corner of his eye. He tries to defend himself, but the man blitz attacks him like an animal, slashing and punching. Shaniqua jumps on the traitor's back, driving him into the balcony railing. Elijah crawls to the cage and Amelia's outstretched hand.

"We saved you, you piece of shit!" Shaniqua shouts as the two wrestle.

"You should have let me die!" Harrison slams Shaniqua into the railing, and her grip loosens enough for him to slip out of her grasp. "I am a piece of shit, but I brought Argon the kids. I'll be spared when you all are bones or m... meat."

Elijah kisses his daughter's hand then stands up.

"Look, Mister. This isn't personal. I don't give a fuck about any of you. I'm looking out for myself."

"You killed Emily." Elijah is numb, his voice cold.

"That didn't have to happen. All she had to do was let us take the kids. That's all she had to do."

"You really are a piece of work." Shaniqua lunges for him and Harrison drives his knife into her gut.

"You people keep making me do this." He pushes her back and she falls over the railing, clutching her stomach.

The clicking of the gun hammer sounds cacophonous in Elijah's ear. He can't remember raising it, but he points the snub nosed revolver at Harrison's chest.

"You're a murderer and a monster." He takes a few steps towards the man, the gun shaking in his hand.

"I'm also a piece of shit, people like me survive and people like you-"

Harrison goes for the gun, but Elijah can't muster the strength to pull the trigger. He again sees the vision of Amelia in the sea of red with the dead floating towards her.

Emily. Mateo. Fryga. Himself.

When the man doesn't take the gun from him, Elijah looks up. Harrison is frozen in place, his hands shaking and his eyes staring at the floor. A brawny spiked hand grips his ankle, it pulls at him weakly. Most of the body is missing, but even transformed Fryga still looks like Fryga.

"Shoot... him... Daddy," she groans. Her grip slips and her hand goes limp.

Harrison laughs like a man who has finally lost his mind and lunges at Elijah. The gun fires twice and the traitor stumbles back, a hole in his chest. The same place Harrison had shot Emily. Still laughing, Harrison staggers down the stairs.

"Daddy."

Elijah drops the gun.

"Amy."

He yanks at the cage door and it jerks open. She jumps into his arms and he nearly loses it.

---

Harrison reaches the bottom of the steps where a swarm of rats await him. One, much larger than the rest with blood spilling from its stomach, hisses and they spill over the evil man, clawing and biting. They devour him, leaving nothing but bone behind.

---

Maria feels Argon's arrival like a hundred spiders skittering over her body. It takes every ounce of self control to fight the urge to claw at her flesh. She lands beside Malcolm and Dyson, the two twitching as they fight the same alien feeling.

The wind blows and Argon seems to materialize in the midst of the rescue force. One minute the soldiers are fighting a horde of minotaurs and the next she is there, in their heads, crawling along their skin. A sergeant turns to shoot her and his hands gain a mind of their own. He puts the gun against his own head and pulls the trigger.

"It's over," Argon shouts into everyone's mind. "I've won. I've taken New York, I've defeated another child of Uriel, and now I have the Heaven Sent. It is over and victory is mine!"

The national guard commander, a naturally stubborn man, shouts, "Take her down!"

"Don't!" Other Malcolm screams a moment after.

As the soldiers unleash a hail of bullets, Malcolm waves his hand and a dome of flame covers their little trio. Bullets collect in the air around Argon, a wall of deadly metal surrounded by a sheen of purple energy. The cerebroid chuckles as the soldiers fire until empty.

"Fools."

The bullets explode outward in a shrapnel laden explosion that mows down soldiers, minotaurs, and everything else in its path. Combatants lay in the blood soaked dirt, screaming, moaning, crying, dying. Only the fire saves Maria, Dyson, and Malcolm from sharing in their fate.

All the while, Argon stands defiant. Swaying from side to side like a drunkard about to swoon.

"She's still hurt from her fight with Seraph Dem," Maria whispers under her breath. "We can take her."

Calling on the light, Maria covers herself in a breastplate of silver. Flapping her wings of yellow light, she takes to the air. A spear of silver and divine energy manifests in each hand. Below, Dyson does the same. His blue halo glows brightly over his head, setting his afro ablaze in blue fire. In each hand appear blue and silver shorts swords.

Malcolm parts the dome of fire with a gesture, reshaping it to four football-shaped balls of flame.

"You can't win," Argon taunts. "Why stand and die?"

"Because we hold the line," Maria responds, pointing her spear at the general.

Argon twists, just as a distant crack shouts the telltale song of a sniper rifle. Something hits her face and she stumbles back. The presence in Maria's head vanishes, the spiders are gone. Argon glares in the direction of the shooter, holding her ruined mask to her face. Ichor spills down her arm and she shakes. Maria catches sight of one bulbous eye contorted with rage, as she circles over head.

An explosion of psychic energy strikes a building in the distance.

A gorilla bounds up from the wounded crowd, leaping high into the air and coming down with his fist clasped together like a hammer. Argon turns, but too slow to avoid the attack. The gorilla stops short, his fist swinging just over her head. His blood sprays out, showering an invisible shape surrounding the general. He rises into the air, screaming as a hole opens up in his back.

The invisible force makes itself known, a protection Amber had warned them about. A praying mantis made of psychic energy stands from a crouched position, tossing the gorilla away like a toy. At its center, Argon struggles with her mask. A second shot fires, bouncing harmlessly off the mantis. Argon and her monster take a step towards the distant building and the manifestation falters. Blood and dark green gas bubble out of the broken mask.

"Now!" Maria shouts, diving down.

The mantis returns, swiping a powerful blade for Maria's throat. Falling too fast, she parries with the spears and veers off. The mantis flickers and a ball of fire streaks by, grazing Argon's shoulder. Dyson closes the distance, slashing at the general's face, aiming for the mask. She rolls aside and the mantis' blade cuts a line in the dirt, taking Dyson's right hand in a spray of blood and dust.

He vanishes in a display of flaming blue hair and reappears thirty feet away. On his knees, he uses the light to grow back his missing limb. Maria doesn't need to see the blue flames go out to know it costs him most of his light.

There is no time to worry about their light or what will happen after they run out. Argon is on the ropes and this may be their only chance to stop her. Maria circles around, looking for an opening.

"I live in your heads," Argon says, fighting to her feet. "You thought to remove my mask and suffocate me. You thought you could succeed where Heaven's heroes have failed. You were foolish to-" the mantis appears, deflecting a third sniper shot.

She roars and the mantis strikes towards the building, its blade stretching impossibly far. Two miles proves to be nothing to the general. The building hiding the sniper topples, cut in half.

"Do you see? Do you?" Her triumphant laugh turns into a wet cough of gas and ichor.

Maria throws her spear, feeding it light to keep its aim true. The blade cuts through the mantis as it momentarily fades, and through Argon's chest to pinion her to the ground like a grotesque scarecrow. Two balls of fire hit her while she hangs helplessly. Her pained scream is disorienting.

We did it, Fryga.

"Maria!"

Instinct makes Maria bank left as the air is cleaved, the thunderclap knocking her towards the earth. She hits the ground and the mantis is right behind her, slashing and cutting. Maria tries to stay ahead of the manifestation, but it moves as fast as thought. Her wings are shattered and her breastplate is rent in two. Her leg is cut out from under her, but the killing blow meets a shield of flames.

"Get up. She's not dead yet," Other Malcolm says, her voice straining under the pressure of keeping the mantis' blows from getting through.

Maria tries to stand, but can't. Her legs are slick with blood. Argon burns on her spear, but the purple light of her eyes glow strong and bright. Her body is merely a vessel, it is her mind that will kill them.

"Now you know," Argon whispers in her ear. "Now you die."

The mantis stops its barrage, steps back and splits into three. Her sinister laugh is that of victory. They spread out, blades poised to strike.

"I didn't see that coming." Other Malcolm admits, expanding the fire shield.

"We're going to die here," Malcolm says as he looks across the battlefield at Dyson.

"At least we'll go fighting."

Maria clutches her last spear, kneeling in a pool of her own blood. Her light is nearly gone, but she continues to funnel it into the spears. She closes her eyes, hoping to feel Fryga, Heaven, something other than pain and regret. She senses neither...

But she does feel the warmth of the sun, light so pure the source seems right next to her. She opens her eyes and sees two figures standing atop the twisted central structure. A teenage boy and a little girl. Their hands touch as one of the mantis find a chink in Other Malcolm's defense. It cuts into his side as light swells and washes over the battlefield.

The light pouring into her soul burns hotter than anything Maria has ever felt. Consuming, devouring, energizing. She feels reborn.

Her wings return like plumes of sunlight. Scooping up Malcolm as he crumples, she rockets into the air. Throwing her second spear, Maria wills them both to burn with divine retribution. Both become shafts of light. Argon cries out and her three mantis take to the air as her body is struck and falls apart. Maria dodges the first and second with ease, the third stays hot on her rear. They converge on Maria and Malcolm as she sweeps low over the dust strewn field. Their blades extend and vanish all at once as Dyson stabs a shining blue longsword through Argon's skull.

There is a sudden pause as if the world stands still, then an explosion takes everyone.