Mishi-pizhiw rose again from the lake and snapped at the gunships. They dodged him once or twice, but with the mega–Gatling gun now out of commission, the creature had the upper hand. He snatched the first chopper like a cat grabbing a bird. Mishi-pizhiw tossed the crumpled mess at the horde and gamertags popped out of the wreckage. He made short work of the remaining helicopters as well, but a new group of gunners moved into position, reassembled the mega–Gatling gun and targeted him.

“Fire!” Alpha shouted.

They unloaded the gun on Mishi-pizhiw and he dove back into the waters.

“The girl!” Alpha shouted again.

Bugz lay still in the sand. Feng couldn’t tell if she’d been knocked out or had simply quit. The gunners took aim at her motionless figure. Adrenaline roared through Feng’s body. As the gun glowed, preparing to fire, Feng broke rank. He turned and ran toward the gunners, shoulder-checking them as hard as he could. A few stumbled to the ground, dislodging the gun from its support structure in the process. It fired randomly into the sky.

“Traitor!” Alpha pulled a laser gun and fired at Feng, who now sprinted away down the beach.

The entire Clan:LESS horde gave chase.

Mishi-pizhiw jumped from the lake and assumed his land form. He picked Feng up by his neck like a puppy and tossed him onto his own back. The giant panther sprinted down the beach toward Bugz, who stirred to life and hopped back on the Thunderbird. But the Thunderbird was near death. She jumped into the air only to stumble back to the beach. She couldn’t take flight. Time and time again she leapt, but never found lift—and the enemy was closing in. Mishi-pizhiw quickly overtook the Thunderbird and tossed both the bird and Bugz onto his back. The panther made three giant leaps, leaving massive pawprints in the beach as he went, and ran for the hills.

The Clan:LESS horde broke off their pursuit, though Feng could still hear them cursing him over voice-com and see Alpha’s livestream in his heads-up display. He watched as Alpha ordered all the Clan:LESS boats to assemble in the center of Lake of the Torches. Once the flotilla gathered, he regaled his crew with tales of their victory.

“Best part is, she won’t be coming back anytime soon,” Alpha shouted. “Not only did we find her power source, but, after today’s battle, it’s ours. We control the most powerful resource in the ’Verse! We must always win!”

His troops roared in approval. Feng cut the feed.

Miles away, on the back of a still sprinting Mishi-pizhiw, Feng smoothed the feathers of the catastrophically injured Thunderbird. Bugz looked on with tears in her eyes. Of all of Bugz’s creations, Feng realized, the bird and the cat were all that remained. He didn’t have much left either, not after deserting his clan.