“HE’S LYING!” YELLS Lamont. “This is the kind of game he plays!”
What the hell is happening? My palms are burning, but I’m not burned. My muscles are pulsing, but I’m not in pain. I feel strong and terrified at the same time. Out of nowhere, I have the power to fire lightning bolts from my hands. And now Shiwan Khan thinks I’m a long-lost relative? This is insane!
“You chose the wrong side!” says Khan, looking right at me. Right through me.
What’s he talking about? I feel pressure in my brain, like he’s trying to explode my skull from the inside. I can’t think. I can’t move. All I can see right now is Lamont in front of me, trying to protect me.
“Don’t touch her!” Lamont screams at Khan. “This is between you and me. Like always!”
I’m gasping, trying to catch my breath. Ten thousand years! That’s how long this battle has been boiling up. I’m just a little speck in that story.
Khan is totally focused on Lamont now. I can feel the hate. I can almost smell it.
“This is the last time you get in my way!” Khan roars back. His voice isn’t human. It sounds like it’s coming from a dark canyon, louder and deeper than any voice I’ve ever heard.
Khan unleashes a lightning bolt at Lamont’s head. Lamont puts his arm out and deflects it with a fireball. Am I really seeing this? It’s right out of a Shadow novel—except it’s real. Nonfiction. Happening right in front of my eyes. And I’m in the middle of it. My heart is racing and I can’t get enough air. I’m scared for Lamont—scared that this could be the end for him.
Khan raises both arms above his head and brings them down hard. This time lightning bolts shoot out of both hands. Lamont dodges one bolt but the second one hits him, knocking him to the ground. It stuns him for a second, but he gets back on his feet. Then he rushes at Khan, no fireballs now. Just his fists. He punches Khan with all he’s got. But his punch just bounces off. So Lamont tackles him, takes him to the ground. I can hear them grunting and struggling, like two bears in a cage. I hear the sound of bones cracking—but whose bones? Khan throws Lamont back like he’s tossing a doll.
“Lamont!” I shout. I reach for his arm. But he waves me off.
“Get away!” he yells. “Let me handle him.”
There is no way that’s going to happen. I’ve come this far, and I need to finish it, one way or the other.
“My fight too, remember?” I yell back at him.
Then I turn toward Khan. It may be stupid, but I don’t care.
“Do you hear me, you son of a bitch? I’m not going anywhere!”
Lamont stands up next to me so we’re shoulder to shoulder. I feel my energy flowing into him, like we’re one unit. One mind. One purpose. At the same instant, we push our hands out, palms forward. A ball of fire and lightning spins out in front of us, getting bigger and bigger. Khan throws a massive bolt at us.
“Now!” Lamont shouts.
We both whip our arms forward at the same time. The ball shoots forward like a rocket and hits Khan’s lightning bolt in midair, splitting it in two. It hits Khan right in the chest and he explodes in a huge ball of flame! The heat sears my skin. For a second, I’m totally blinded.
Then—it’s over.
When I open my eyes again, Khan is gone.
All that’s left is a pile of gray ash on the pavement.
It’s finished. Destroyed. Ashes to ashes.
All around Times Square, I can see TinGrins creeping out of their hiding spots. One by one, they drop their rifles and start running for their lives. They’re on their own now. Good luck.
Lamont reaches out and wraps his arms around me. He squeezes me tight and rocks me from side to side.
“It’s finished,” I say. “It’s finally done. We did it. We did it together!”
Then, suddenly, I feel sick.
Lamont tenses up and pulls back. We both look up. In the center of the square, the pile of ash starts to spin. It gets thicker and thicker and starts to rise up off the ground. In two seconds, it’s an actual tornado. Flashing lights and scraps of metal are whipping all around us. The funnel rises up until it’s ten stories tall. The sky goes black.
“Get down!” Margo is screaming from behind us. “Get down!” The wind is so loud, I can barely hear her.
Lamont shoves me down behind a cement barrier and I wrap my arms around it.
The twister lifts into the sky until there’s only a snaky coil touching the ground. At the top of the funnel, I can see blasts of lightning getting bigger and bigger, brighter and brighter. Suddenly, the whole sky explodes. The shock wave hits me—and everything goes black.