Liz felt Max slam into her, and they both hit the floor of the diner as the deadly rain of glass fell all around them. Liz felt the shards pelt Max's back as he shielded her body with his own, and the sound of the explosion echoed in her ears. When it abated, Max shifted atop her and she heard slivers of glass slide off his back and tinkle to the ground beside them. There was more of the same sound from the front of the diner, and Liz realized that the remaining glass in the windows was dropping down and hitting the floor in pieces. And then there was another sound, outside. Footsteps. Liz looked up wildly and saw Rath step over the windowsill and into the diner, walking right through where there had been a window only moments before. The glass crunched under his boot as he stepped in, and as he raised his hand she felt Max ripped away from on top of her. "Max!" she screamed out, as he flew across the room, striking the far wall several feet above the floor, and then falling to his hands and knees before it.
Ava whimpered in fear behind her, and a moment later Tess flew over Liz's head...hitting the corner where the two walls met, then falling to the floor beside Max. Suddenly the air in front of them shimmered, and a glowing wall sprang up between them and the others, trapping them in the corner. Max stumbled to his feet and tried to push against the wall, to no effect. He stood back as far as he could get and held out his hand, and a brilliant green light shot from his fingertips; buffeting the wall.
Dismissing Max's attempts to escape his impromptu prison, Rath turned and leered at Isabel. Her eyes met his with fright, and with a jerk of his arm he tossed a bolt of energy at her. Isabel flinched, and managed to deflect the blast with a hastily constructed shield. The gold of his blast met the swirling red of her wall, and both bolts of energy dissipated into each other in a fiery orange maelstrom. Rath was aiming for another bolt when Liz felt a wave of heat and energy pass over her head from behind her, and another golden energy blast hit Rath. Liz turned and saw Michael run to Isabel's aid, leaving Ava alone in the back of the diner. Max continued to pound away at the wall with his powers in an attempt to break out, unsuccessfully.
Liz pushed herself up to her knees, and more glass fell out of her hair and onto the floor as she looked around wildly. Lonnie…where was Lonnie?
Liz's gaze came to rest on Ava, standing by the doorway that led to the kitchen. She stood there uncertainly, not sure what to do. When she met Liz's gaze, she started forward to help her from the floor. Liz watched as Ava took a step toward her in slow motion, and then her gaze focused behind her…on the woman with the tattoos and short cropped hair striding in from the back entrance. Liz reached out a hand to Ava, her mouth opening to give voice to an inarticulate cry of warning.
Ava saw Liz's warning, and spun around, terrified, and already knowing who she would see. Everything sped up again as Lonnie stepped forward and grabbed her viscously around the throat. Ava brought her hands up to her neck, trying hopelessly to free herself of Lonnie's vice-like grip. Lonnie snarled as she squeezed harder. "What?" she taunted. "What are you gonna do?"
Liz finally managed to push herself to her feet, and – wondering if she should go out for the football team – tackled her third person in as many days. She and Lonnie and Ava all went down in a tangled pile.
Across the room, Tess gradually regained consciousness, immediately aware of a humming sound seeming to come from all around her. Shaking her head groggily, she looked up and saw Max throwing everything he had into trying to break out from behind the wall that trapped them both in the corner. The power radiating from him was the source of the humming sound. Eyes bleary from the stun of hitting the wall, she looked down at her hands on the floor until there were only two of them. She looked up again and saw the melee going on out behind the wall. Michael and Isabel and Rath struggled at the front of the diner, and she looked toward the back just in time to see Liz taking Lonnie down to save Ava. Lonnie was on her feet again in a moment, and attacked Liz with a vengeance…her anger re-directed. Even from across the room, Tess could feel the energy in the air as Lonnie prepared to blast Liz into oblivion. Ava stood, tears streaming down her face and making her mascara run. "Lonnie, stop!" she screamed.
Lonnie paused a moment, and sneered at Ava. "What? What are you gonna do about it?" She glared at Ava menacingly, and the shorter girl dropped her gaze to the floor, backing down. Lonnie snorted contemptuously, and Tess watched as Liz started scrabbling to try to get up.
Tess stumbled to her feet. She was still hurt, but she had to try to get out of this cage…had to help…stop this from happening. She focused everything she had on the wall, adding her power to Max's. Barely coming out of his concentration, he glanced at her quickly, lit up in reflection from the blue of her powers, and they resumed their combined effort to break free.
Ava looked down at her friend, the only person who had helped her and listened to her, and searched within herself for courage. Straightening visibly, she spoke again…her voice low and calm. "Lonnie, stop." she said. "Don't make me do this."
Lonnie almost laughed. "You don't have the spine." she said, not even taking her gaze off of Liz, who looked up at her would-be killer, waiting for the blast that would end her life.
The energy built up in the air around them again, as Isabel drew back her arm, preparing to let loose a bolt of power that would fry Liz where she lay. Suddenly there was another pull of energy, and a flash of blue light struck Lonnie square in the chest, sending her soaring backward several feet, landing with a crash on a table and several chairs. Ava stood heaving, her arm outstretched, unbelieving of what she'd just done. Overcoming her shock, she rushed to Liz's side and helped her stand. Liz was breathing heavily. "You…You saved me!" she gasped.
Ava brushed her off. "We have to get out of here!" she exclaimed.
Liz protested, pulling away from Ava. "We can't, we have to help the others!"
Ava grabbed at Liz again, trying to pull her toward the kitchen. Why is everyone always dragging me around? Liz wondered in a daze. Ava was still shouting at her. "You don't understand…she's strong…much stronger than me. She'll kill us."
Liz tried to pull away again, looking around the diner madly, trying to decide who try to help first. Her gaze was drawn to the wrestling figures of Isabel, Rath and Michael at the front of the diner. Rath managed to pull free for a moment and struck Isabel solidly across the face, knocking her to the floor. Michael used the distraction to attack Rath, and they fought…mirror images grappling together, neither one able to gain the advantage.
Ava abruptly stopped tugging on her arm, and at the same moment Liz felt the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stand up as the level of static energy in the room rose rapidly. She looked over to where Lonnie had been thrown, and saw lights crackling and fizzing above the overturned table and chairs. Ava was terrified. "Oh, God…"
The air came to life around them, wavering and charged with barely restrained energy, and when Ava took hold of Liz's arm again an electric shock passed between them. With a crackle of sparks, Lonnie rose from the ground and trained merciless eyes on Ava.
Suddenly there was a boom from the corner, as Max and Tess succeeded in bursting through the barrier. It knocked a concussive blast into Michael and Rath, and they fell to the ground, still struggling. On the far side of the diner, Liz and Ava rocked on their feet, but Liz steadied them with her arm, and they kept their balance. Lonnie rode the wave of power like a surf board, maintaining her stability effortlessly…her directive even more urgent than a moment before. The energy in the room came to a crest, and Lonnie screamed in release as she readied to smite Ava down.
Stumbling out of the force field, everything suddenly went into slow motion for Tess. She saw Lonnie reach back, preparing to kill Ava, she saw Liz trying to shield Ava, trying to save her, she saw Max trying to pull Rath off of Michael, oblivious to what was about to happen. And she saw what had to be done. Suddenly, in that moment, everything was clear to her. She knew what she had to do. What she could become. How she could be more than she was designed to be.
Launching herself away from the struggle on the floor, she sprinted across the dining room, leaping over an overturned chair, and threw herself into Ava. She sent her duplicate sprawling across the floor, and sent Liz tumbling as well. As momentum carried her forward, she heard a flash; felt a searing heat, and then oblivion.
Liz watched the blast hit Tess square on, and as the blonde girl fell to the floor, lifeless, Liz cried out in horrified protest. Suddenly utter silence consumed the room, and even Michael and Rath let up on it for a moment as they all realized what had happened. Of them all, Lonnie was the only one with no shock on her face. Furious, she screamed in her wrath at having been thwarted.
Rath got to his feet, and evaded with a snarl a half-hearted attempt to drag him back by Michael. He seemed to be the most shocked of all of them. He looked at Lonnie in disbelieving astonishment. "What did you do?!" he yelled, obviously distraught. "We needed her!"
Lonnie stood stock still. "I know," she said in a low voice. A dangerous voice. "I couldn't stop her…she knew what she was doing."
Rath stumbled forward, away from Michael and Max, who were still stunned at Tess's death. "Lonnie," he said desperately, as if she didn't understand, "What are we gonna do? We needed her!"
"I know," Lonnie snapped again, her rage growing again with each moment. Rath seemed not to notice.
He continued to come forward, freaking out. "Lon! We have to have the balance! One of each person! Now we've gotta have Ava…but…but now there's three of us. There can only be two!"
"I know!" Lonnie shrieked, and threw everything she had at Rath. The blast hit him in the face, and Liz had just enough time to see his flesh boil and peel back from his skull before his body fell backward and landed on the floor with a thud; his agonized screams ringing in her ears. In shock, Liz realized that it was Rath she'd seen dying in her flash with Max…Rath, not Michael.
Lonnie took advantage of their horror at Rath's death and focused what little energy she had left on Isabel. With a wordless cry, Max rushed at Lonnie, going in low and hitting her in the midsection with his shoulder, lifting her up high and slamming her back down against the wall.
They had no more come to rest against the wall than she began to struggle like a caged beast, lashing out at him with teeth and nails and flailing limbs, and small bursts of her remaining power. Remembering her astounding physical strength, Michael ran over to help, shouting for Isabel to run. Isabel picked herself up off the floor yet again, and ran out of the dining room.
Seeing that Ava was okay, as Tess's duplicate groggily stood, Liz helped her up and they headed into the carnage to help repress Lonnie. She screamed in impotent rage as they restrained her, and she fought with the only weapon she still possessed. Summoning everything she had left, she created another blast of power, albeit a weak one compared to what she was capable of when she hadn't been expending continuously like this, and it sent Michael reeling back into the counter. Ava and Liz also fell away, both having already been stunned from catching the fringe of the blast that killed Tess. Max was left holding Lonnie alone.
Suddenly she stopped struggling, but Max thought it might be less because she was out of energy than because she was formulating a plan. Never taking his eyes off her, he used the breather to check on the others in his peripheral vision. Michael lay several feet away, sprawled amongst the bar stools, but he was breathing. Though his connection with Liz he could feel that she was okay…a little shocked and stunned from the blast she'd caught part of, but she was all right. Through her he could feel her concern for Ava's injuries, who was knocked out but alive. Tess…Tess was beyond his help, and had been from the moment she'd hit the floor.
In renewed anger, Max gripped Lonnie's wrists even more tightly, and shoved her again against the wall her back was to. Lonnie gasped, and then grinned lewdly at him. Max grimaced. It turned his stomach to see that expression on his sister's face. And suddenly he'd had it. He was fed up with being the kind and forgiving one. Tess was dead. Because of Lonnie. She had caused more pain and death and destruction in 3 days than Max had experienced in his entire life. Let go, he knew she would only continue to hunt them down, and she would never stop until Isabel was dead. He couldn't afford to take that chance.
Lonnie watched Max's face carefully, trying to pick up on what he was thinking. She could tell that he was coming to a decision about her. He could kill her…she knew that. But he was at the core Zan's genetic equal. Max was, in a way, her own brother. And she knew that he could never kill her, no matter the form he was in, or what life he had lived. She just had to appeal to his emotional side. She could bide her time…wait for another opportunity. And once Isabel was out of the way, they'd have to accept her. She was the only one who knew how to use the granilith to get back, and they'd need her to even be able to use it. One of each of them. She smiled at Max.
"What are you going to do?"
Max looked at her grimly, never relinquishing his hold on her. "I should kill you," he responded. "For everything you've done; everyone you've killed and betrayed, and for the trouble you'd continue to cause if I let you live."
"But I'm your sister, Max." Lonnie's smile got wider as she saw his confidence waver a bit. "You know it's true…and how can you kill your own sister?"
Max struggled with himself as he realized the truth in her statement. Genetically, she was his sister. In a way, as much his sister as Isabel was. Lonnie cheered inwardly as she saw the hesitation and confusion on his face. She had him now, and she knew it. He was so weak. He had always been weak.
Max came out of his introspection and saw the gloating look on Lonnie's face. Without a word, he knew what she was thinking. Knew also that if she got away, this would never end. Isabel's life would always be in jeopardy…as would be the lives of anyone else who got in her way. Max made up his mind, and his voice was grave and hard when he spoke again. "You're right, Vilandra, you are my sister." And he backed away from her, holding his hand out before him.
Lonnie's smile vanished immediately, as she realized she had underestimated him. "Why…why did you call me that?"
"Because just like Vilandra, you have betrayed and killed the people you professed to care about. Just like Vilandra, you put your own wants above the needs of those around you. Just like Vilandra, you are both willing and able to kill anyone who gets in your way to achieve what you want. And just like Vilandra, you don't care about a damn thing other than your own selfish vision."
Lonnie grew colder with each word Max spoke. She knew now he was serious, and that he could do it. She had to appeal to the human side of his nature. "Say you're right, Max…say I am like her. It makes sense; we have the same genetic structure, after all. But who are you to judge me? Who are you to say that I should die for being the way I am?"
Max's voice was steady when he answered her. "I'm the king."
He started to draw the energy from within himself that he would need to blast her, and Lonnie jumped him. Caught off guard, he fell back under her onslaught. She was a blur of fists and nails. Max tried in vain to push her off him, but her rage made her strong and she punched him twice in succession, snarling.
Liz saw that he was in trouble, and found that she didn't posses the strength anymore to stand up. She started crawling over to the struggling figures on the floor, wincing as the shards of glass on the floor dug into her palms and knees.
Reaching them, she managed to raise herself up on her knees and wrap her arms around Lonnie's waist, allowing momentum and gravity to pull them backward, dragging her off of Max. Lonnie bounced right back up like one of those inflatable clown punching bags that constantly rose back up after you knocked it down, and raised a fist to attack Max again.
"Lonnie!"
Lonnie paused in mid-swing, and looked over her shoulder to see Isabel standing in the doorway from the kitchen, where she had been listening to the whole exchange. She stood with her legs apart, her arms straight out in front of her, and Michael's "just in case" gun held tightly in her hands…her face a picture of barely restrained anger. Her aim never wavered as Lonnie's eyes met her own, and something unspoken passed between them. An acknowledgment of the different people they had become, even though they'd started out as the same person. On the floor, Michael had regained consciousness and was watching closely, as were Max and Liz. For an endless moment they were all frozen in a silent tableau, and then Lonnie leaped at Isabel in a snarling final gesture of defiance.
She never made it.
The sound of the gunshot ringing in his ears, Max got to his feet and looked from Liz to Isabel and Michael. They looked back at him, wide-eyed. Clearing his throat, he asked, "Are you guys okay?"
Michael nodded, using the counter to pull himself up. Isabel was still staring at Lonnie's body, but she nodded as well. Max looked at Liz. There were scrapes and cuts on all of them from the glass, but Liz's hands and knees also oozed blood. Even so, her large brown eyes met his and she nodded once, then turned and looked back at Ava. "She's still out, but I think she'll be okay," she said. Her gaze fell on Tess, then, and Max could sense her regret and confusion. He knew exactly how she felt.
As they tried to pull themselves together after the short, brutal battle, they all wondered…What do we do now?