He paused at the fourth floor landing. Shiva’s mind buffeted him, commanding him to drop to his knees, to surrender. The pain was getting worse. The stabbing sensations inside him were growing sharper. Illusion, he told himself, illusion. But he had to finish this soon or he wouldn’t have anything left at all.

Kade went Inside, dove into Bruce Lee’s controls. He’d played the VR game Rangan had lifted this from, had played it enough times to know there was a library of special moves. He flipped through the controls. There. There. Yes. He queued up what he needed, the special move that had to happen at just the right time, and put the system on full auto. Then up the last flight he went.

Shiva turned, stared at the staircase from which Lane would emerge, clenching his augmented fists. He’d beat the boy into submission.

I won’t kill him unless I have to, he told himself.

Then Kade was there, limping up the stairs like a broken thing. Shiva shook his head. This would be no contest at all.

Breece readied himself as the Reverend Josiah Shepherd finished his prayer. The crowd was on their feet, swaying. The supporters – who’d each given five thousand dollars to Daniel Chandler’s gubernatorial campaign to be here – opened their eyes after Shepherd’s “Amen”.

“Now,” Reverend Shepherd was saying, “I want to introduce you to a friend of mine. The man who’s done so much already to help us put these demons, these unnatural, ungodly abominations, these Frankensteins in their place. The next governor of the great state of Texas, my dear friend Daniel Chandler!”

The crowd roared into applause, surging to their feet.

Breece smiled, and moved his finger to the screen of his slate.

Kade pulled himself up and onto the roof. A cool breeze caressed his burning skin. Stars twinkled up above. Thirty feet ahead, Shiva stood in his white robe, staring at him, his white hair streaming in the wind. Behind him, fires burned across the island, smoke rising from them.

Too far. Too far. Can’t feel him yet.

Kade pushed himself out from the staircase. Sharp stabbing pains came from inside. Shiva’s amplified thoughts buffeted him. He had to get closer.

He stepped twice, three times.

Then Shiva was charging him, a look of rage on his face. Kade’s eyes widened in fear, and Shiva’s clenched fist drove itself into his abdomen, sending unimaginable pain lancing through his body.

[Bruce_Lee: Special Move Succeeded! You Locked One! +10 Points!]

Kade looked down, found his own hands clenched around Shiva’s arm, locking them together. And now he could feel the man’s mind over this amplified chaos. Kade’s gaze went up. His eyes locked with Shiva’s, and he saw the look of horror there.