Trey scoffed and snorted derisively. He wondered what was making Moon so sure that she had won when she had yet to see the faces of the other people Hadrian had brought.

"She is behind you." Trey said loudly.

Moon immediately thought of Sunshine and she turned around. The smile on her face didn’t just fall; it evaporated when she saw who was standing behind Hadrian. It was not Sunshine. It was the consequences of her recklessness.

Dominic and Leah stepped forward.

Moon froze. Her eyes darted between them, the gears in her head turning frantically. "Dominic? Leah? What are you doing here? Hadrian, be careful! These are the traitors who killed my mother! My poor, innocent mother. You need to kill them right now or Sunshine will never forgive you."

Leah let out a huff so loud it sounded like a physical blow. She was heaving, her chest rising and falling with a rage she had suppressed for years. Tears streamed down her face, but they weren’t tears of sadness. They were the tears of a storm about to break.

"Innocent?" Leah whispered, her voice shaking. "I have been waiting here for a long time for you to arrive. You have no idea how much I have longed to be reunited with you, Moon Raine." Her voice was soft, but deadly.

Dominic stood beside his wife, his eyes bloodshot and dark. He looked like a man who hadn’t slept in a decade. He wanted to reach out and snap Moon’s neck right there, but he held back. This wasn’t his moment. Not yet anyway. He had promised this to Leah, that she would get first shot at their enemy.

Leah stepped forward slowly, a devilish curved smile on her lips.

Moon backed away, her hands trembling. She turned to Hadrian. "Save me! They’re crazy! Whatever they told you is a lie! Sunshine! SUNI, HELP ME!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping her sister would come running to save her like she always did.

But all she heard was silence. No Sunshine. No rescue.

Hadrian was leaning against that car, unbothered. He had a phone in his hand and sounds of a game were coming from it. Moon’s eyes widened. What was he doing? Was now the time to play a silly game?

She turned around, thinking it was better to escape first. But armed guards had blocked her path. Trey shook his head and waved his hand forward. It seemed like he was telling her to go back.

It finally dawned on Moon: she had walked into a trap. The walls that looked like safety were actually the bars of a cage designed for her.

Panic clawed at her skin, her eyes widened. She turned to the Steward’s, fearful and regretful. In a desperate voice, while holding out her hands, Moon decided to beg and buy time for Sunshine to arrive. "Wait, we can work this out. I will apologize. I am sorry, okay. I am sorry. I didn’t mean to kill your daughter or cause the miscarriage. I am really sorry. I will compensate you, I will..."

Leah didn’t wait any longer. With a scream of pure, raw frustration, she summoned a ball of compressed air. It hit Moon in the chest like a cannonball, sending her flying backward across the pavement.

Moon gasped for air, crawling away, but Leah was faster. She didn’t use a weapon. She used her hands. She wrapped the very air itself around Moon’s throat, lifting her slightly off the ground.

"This is for my babies," Leah hissed. She raised her hand, lifting Moon from the ground. A gust slammed the woman against the stone wall of the reception building, rattling her bones.

Before Moon could recover, Dominic leaped forward, kicking her head as if he wanted to break her skull. He drove his fist into her stomach, sending her sprawling toward the front wheels of the car Hadrian was leaning against.

Hadrian raised one foot and kicked her back in Dominic’s direction. He unwrapped a lollipop, so unbothered by the violence.

Major Elio rushed in, flying over in an exo suit. "Stop! You will kill her!" He cried, gripping Dominic’s arm. But the man shook him off like twigs. "Hold him back." Elio bellowed to the other guards.

More rushed in, throwing themselves over Dominic, but they knew that with his strength, only Morris could hold him back. Of course, an exo suit and a tranquilizer could do the same. But these were not weapons they wanted to use on one of their own.

Major Elio was already on the radio, calling for Morris urgently.

Moon was still conscious, screaming as she scrambled backward, but Leah’s winds pinned her down. Every breath was stolen from her lungs as invisible currents pressed her into the dirt.

"You took my babies from me," Leah hissed, her voice trembling with fury. She whipped the air into a cyclone, lifting Moon and slamming her back down. Blood streaked across the ground.

Dominic threw off the guards that were holding him back as if they were twigs. Like an enraged bull, he dragged Moon by one leg across the ground and snapped her leg in half.

Moon let out gut wrenching screech which startled all the birds in the fortress.

On the bubble, the watchers applauded. Their excitement at the violence was palpable. They wanted to see more blood; more pain and hear more cries.

Major Elio cursed. "Pull him back and surround Moon, form a shield around that bitch."

Guards rushed in, while Hadrian laughed. Carson and Poncho arrived, loud and amused. It was as if they had come to watch a circus.

"Did I hear him order guards to form a shield around a bitch?" Poncho chuckled.

Hadrian offered them sweets and a front row to the show beside him. "Yup."

The crowd of superhumans was split in three. One group was pulling away Dominic. One was forming a shield around Leah, trying to take her down. Another was protecting Moon, but Leah’s storm tore through them, hurling bodies aside.

Meanwhile, Moon thrashed, her eyes bulging, her hands clawing at the invisible pressure around her neck. She tried to speak, to beg, but only a wet gurgle of blood came out. Slowly, her movements slowed. Her arms dropped. She went limp.

Leah let go finally, and Moon slumped to the ground like a discarded rag.

The aerokinetic stood over Moon, her enemy, chest heaving, eyes wet with rage. The weight of a year of grief finally broke her. Dominic stepped forward, wrapping his massive arms around his wife and lifting her up. He carried her away from the scene, not even glancing at the body on the floor.

This was just the beginning. They would be back for round two.

Just then, Hades flew over. He looked down at Moon’s still form and knelt, placing two fingers on her neck.

"Is she dead?" Hadrian asked.

"No," Hades answered, his voice cold and clinical. "There’s a pulse. Faint, but it’s there." He stood up and looked at the departing figures of the Stewards. "The Stewards have had their brief revenge. Now... it’s Sunshine’s turn to decide what to do with the trash."

He looked at the guards. "Patch and lock her up. Make sure she doesn’t die. We need her awake when my Sunshine returns. I am sure she will be taking her turn at the punching bag."