We reach the edge of the lawn across from the Statue of Liberty. At that point, Daniela straight up falls to her knees, unable to go any farther.
“Oh man, my head’s going to explode,” she moans. She curls up into a ball and massages her eyes with the heels of her hands.
“What’s wrong with her?” Sam asks me.
“I don’t know!”
Our eyes meet and we both realize something at the same time. Together, Sam and I turn towards Daniela.
“She’s getting a new Legacy!” Sam says.
I crouch down next to her. “Whatever’s happening to you, Daniela—let it happen! Let it out and—” I’m cut off as the Mogasaur swipes at Nine.
The impact is massive. The beast leaves a six-foot-deep hand-shaped indentation in the plaza’s concrete. At first, I think there’s no way Nine could’ve survived that. But then I see him, using his antigravity Legacy to run right up the muscled, black-veined forearm of the Mogasaur.
The monster roars, enraged, and swats at Nine with its other hand. Nine runs along to the underside of the creature’s forearm at just the right moment, avoiding the impact. He’s fast and he’s stuck to the Mogasaur, moving farther and farther up his arm like an annoying little bug. I’m not sure what he’s going to do when he gets to the beast’s head. If I had to guess, I’d bet Nine doesn’t know yet either.
“John!” someone shouts from behind me. “John! Release me!”
I turn around to see Five struggling across the grass on his knees. We’d left him there all tied up with the ropes we got from the coast guard boat. He doesn’t have his blade weapon or his ball bearing to change his skin to metal, so Five’s about as harmless as he’ll ever be.
“Oh, hell no,” Sam says, glancing at Five.
“I know what that thing is,” Five says, reaching us. He sits back on his knees, his hands bound in front of him, and looks up at me. “I know how to kill it. I can help you.”
“Tell me,” I say.
“Setrákus Ra calls it the Hunter,” Five says quickly. “He was building it while I was still on board the Anubis. It has Loric pendants in its eyes and can use them to sense the location of any Garde. There’s no retreat, we have to kill it.”
As Five speaks, Nine reaches the crux of the Hunter’s shoulder. The beast gives up on trying to swat him off. Now, it tilts its spiny head over and tries to swallow Nine whole. Nine responds by jabbing the broken end of one of the metal poles straight up into the roof of the monster’s mouth. The creature whips its head away and howls.
Next to me, Daniela moans. Sam kneels down next to her and rubs her back. “Come on, uh, do what John said,” Sam tries, but Daniela’s only response is to groan. He looks up at me. “We need to figure something out! If you guys have some new badass powers, now is the time to use them!”
“He needs to go for the eyes, John,” Five insists, ignoring everything but me. “Let me free. I can help you.”
“Why the hell should I trust you?” I ask.
Five’s expression darkens. I see him strain against his bonds, testing them. He looks up at me, and I can tell he’s making a concerted effort to control his anger.
“Because I could break out of these if I really wanted to,” Five answers me. “But I won’t. You saved my life, John, and no matter what you think, I’m not like him.”
I know exactly what Five’s talking about. Setrákus Ra and Pittacus Lore. Mercy followed by betrayal.
“I want to help,” Five growls. “Let me help.”
“Screw it,” Sam says, making the decision for me. He takes out Five’s wrist-mounted blade, extends it and slashes through Five’s bonds. “All hands on deck.”
I glance back at the monster. Nine jabs his remaining metal pole into the side of the beast’s neck over and over. I can see some black blood spilling out, but he’s definitely not doing much damage. Then, shrieking, the monster swats at him again. This time, he clips Nine a little, and he’s forced to retreat down the monster’s back.
Above the Hunter’s bellowing, I hear the familiar whup-whup-whup of helicopters. A pair of sleek Black Hawks just took off from the Brooklyn Bridge and are on their way. So, Agent Walker’s not totally useless after all.
“Can I have that back?” Five asks Sam, holding a hand out for his weapon.
“No,” I say, putting myself in between the two of them. “You said you could help. Go help.”
Five sighs. “Fine. I’ll do it the hard way.” He floats a few feet off the ground, then looks at me. “All right, John. Light me on fire.”
“What?”
“Light me on fire!” he shouts.
I don’t need much more convincing to hurt Five. I let my Lumen go and lob a small fireball at him. He lets it hit him and immediately his skin is covered in flames.
“Thanks,” he says, and streaks off towards the Hunter, our very own flaming missile.
I crouch down next to Daniela and press my hands against her head. I let my healing Legacy flow, hoping that will help ease her pain. It’s not really my healing Legacy, though, is it? It’s Ximic, and healing is just the one Legacy I’ve gotten really good at copying. It doesn’t help Daniela, but something does happen when the energy flows between us. Suddenly, I can sense exactly what’s happening inside her.
I can feel it too. A pressure behind the eyes. A heavy weight that feels like it’s trying to punch through my face.