On the waves above, aircraft carriers circled the area around which Mishi-pizhiw prepared to emerge. The helicopter gunners trained their weapons on the same spot. Alpha descended from one of the turrets on Castle Rock to watch the carnage up close. A hush fell over the Clan:LESS warriors. The calm before the storm. Even the rain stopped, and the sky began to clear.

Mishi-pizhiw shot straight up from the water and climbed a hundred feet in the air. At this height, he paused, appeared to defy gravity for a moment, and turned sideways before starting his descent. He planned to crash-land onto the ships beneath. The mega–Gatling guns fired, as did the helicopter gunships. Instantly, Bugz could see something was wrong. The guns were doing serious damage to Mishi-pizhiw’s diamond plating. Clan:LESS had upgraded their weapons in a major way.

Mishi-pizhiw writhed in pain. He landed heavily, destroying one of the aircraft carriers and a few smaller boats in the process, but he appeared badly hurt. As the craft sunk, Mishi-pizhiw slithered toward land. Bugz turned on his back and fired both of her guns at the wreckage behind her. A few moments later, hundreds of gamertags rose from the sunken vessels.

“Mishi-pizhiw, you’re going to make it through this.” Bugz’s voice cracked. In desperation, and remembering the teachings of the Sweat Lodge, Bugz beseeched the stones that littered the shore: “Grandmother, Grandfather.” The rocks began to shake. They rose as Bugz conducted them into a swirling symphony above her head. With a gesture of her hands, she lobbed them toward the helicopters. They flew slowly and bounced off harmlessly as energy cannons fired back at her. “The rock thing is going to take me some time to master,” she said to her few remaining viewers as she and Mishi-pizhiw reached the shore.

Bugz jumped down from Mishi-pizhiw and the pair tore off along the beach beneath Castle Rock. Helicopters flew over the treetops and fired on them. Bugz picked off the pilots one by one, but the gunners worked too fast. They pelted Mishi-pizhiw mercilessly. He shook furiously, transforming into his land form, and ran back along the beach and up the side of the mountain. He pounced on tanks along the way, throwing the wreckage down to the lake.

Bugz froze for a second as she watched the beast’s awesome beauty. The sight of Alpha slowly training his energy cannon on Mishi-pizhiw snapped her out of it.

“No!” She fired off several shots that knocked Alpha back. As Mishi-pizhiw turned to see what the commotion was about, helicopter gunfire crashed near Bugz and knocked her down.