Once the shockwave cleared and the boiling water cooled sufficiently, Mishi-pizhiw returned to the scene of the battle and looked sadly toward the floor of the lake. Bugz swam to the edge of the cave and looked down. She saw the lifeless Thunderbird, the last of her kind, petrified in ash. The bird lay with wings spread like an eagle on a coat of arms, still clutching the wreckage of the nuclear sub in its talons. Bugz bit her bottom lip.

Feng swam past her to assess the scene for himself. “I’m so sorry, Bugz,” he said over voice-com.

As Feng swam ahead of Bugz, she saw the back of his neck…a glowing orb flashed red. It took a second for Bugz to register what the light meant. She didn’t want to believe she’d seen it, or to accept the betrayal the red light represented, but it flashed again just the same. A tracking device. Feng had led them to her. It was all his fault. Her eyes filled with tears. Adrenaline shot to the ends of her nerves. She drew her obsidian sword.

“COWARD!” Bugz screamed. “You did this—you did all of this! And you never even had the courage to face me. You never had the courage to fight!”

“No, Bugz, I didn’t—”

Bugz cut Feng off mid-sentence. She decapitated him with a quick swing of her sword.

For a moment, she studied the shocked expression on Feng’s face as his head rotated slowly in the water. Bugz noted the Ø symbol still branded onto Feng’s arm. She shook her head.

Once a loser, always a loser.

Bugz turned and grabbed hold of Mishi-pizhiw. His powerful tail propelled them forward as they shot into the cave at great speed. Together, the pair hurtled headlong into the darkness.

CHAPTER 47

A young man staggered through the forest on a shadowy overcast night, holding his glowing phone in front of him to illuminate the darkness that surrounded him. He wore a trucker hat pulled low over his eyes, more for reassurance than subterfuge. No one is going to recognize me this far from civilization, he thought to himself. He wore the lumberjack plaid shirt and ripped jeans that were the signature of Clan:LESS members in the real world. On each of his biceps lay matching Ø tattoos. This was the Behemoth, who appeared much more unassuming in the real world than his name suggested.