By all outside observation, Thebian Band and Rowena Logan were evenly matched. Rowena was arguably in the top 50 all time best shooters in the world, having been trained by one of the most talented and successful Enforcers of the past century. This was only enhanced by having state of the art equipment and the kind of familiarity with using it that only comes through experience and hours upon hours of practice. In constant motion, a steady stream of lead belched forth from her guns, each speeding with unerring accuracy towards the Boy in a desperate attempt to give him more orifices than he was born with.

Of course, the Boy was making that prospect as difficult as possible.

Band was also in constant motion, at speeds generally reserved for jungle cats and deer, and Rowena drew on hours of training and practice, anticipating his moves and firing a three-round burst and where she expected him to be. Her aim was true, but Band glanced at the incoming fire with eyes darkened by psionic power, and simply willed the bullets to slower speeds. He plucked one out of the air with casual aplomb and tossed it to the side with equal contempt; the other two clattered to the ground.

He returned the gesture with a volley of arrows that peppered the space about two feet behind Rowena, for she had already vacated the spot. He growled in frustration and leapt up to a concrete overhang, tracking her with the laser sight. The ground sprouted arrow after arrow, just behind Rowena, and she ducked behind a decaying pillar, taking the opportunity to reload.

"Can’t hide forever, little bird," he shouted, and drew one of his ‘special’ arrows. He let loose, and it slammed into the pillar and exploded with the force of a small block of C4 - just as it was designed to do. The pillar creaked in protest, then crumbled into fist-sized chunks.

Rowena was already beyond the pillar, heading in a circuitous route back towards the boy. Both Five-seveN’s were raised and belching fire. "Missed me."

Again, the bullets slammed against Band’s kinetic shield, throwing ripples of displaced air as they slogged through the psionic power. His reaction was almost automatic as his body contorted through a complex dance and the bullets whipped past him, harmlessly. His pupils bled out, and the remnants of the pillar came to sudden life, speeding towards Rowena’s back. She went into a sudden roll, and completely changed direction, so that the chunks splattered harmlessly on the rough terrain. Band performed a textbook round-off, loosing arrows as he descended. One lucky shot caught Rowena on her right arm, and she lost the grip on that weapon. She quickly rebounded and launched herself directly at the Boy, catching him off guard. Before he could recover, she’d gotten a grip on his bow and sent it flying.

"And now the dance truly begins, little bird," he whispered. As if by magic, a quarterstaff appeared in his hand, and he managed a solid blow on her upper arm that sent her sprawling. "Care to press your luck against a Shinobi?"

Rowena reached behind her and drew a broadsword in response, then flashed him a grin. "I hope you know how to two-step." She charged, sword held high, then dropped into a leg sweep that tossed Band to the ground. She followed through with a burst from her handgun that splattered harmlessly against the dirt, as Band has presence of mind to keep rolling.

He scrambled to his feet. "You’re a tricksy one, aren’t you? I have tricks of my own." He launched an attack of his own, feinted high, attacked low, and followed through with another chunk of concrete that Rowena managed to block when she swatted it with the flat of her blade. Rowena answered with a shot from her pistol that was intercepted by the kinetic shield. She followed with a roundhouse kick that glanced off of Band’s forehead and a slash that was deflected by his quarterstaff.

Band growled, shook off the kick and thrust with the quarterstaff, but at the last minute, he flicked the weapon, and a large blade sprang forth and sliced through Rowena’s midsection. She gasped in pain and surprise and worked her blade between his, then muscled his weapon to the ground. The Five-seveN came up and she jerked the trigger several times, but his body twisted this way and that; as before, the only thing the bullets harmed was dirt.

Rowena smiled.

Band frowned. "What? You’re good, but know I’ll just keep dodging you."

"No you won’t. For one, you’re tired, and my teacher always taught me that fighting psions really comes down to endurance - you guys are sprinters, not marathon runners. Take away all the fancy parlor tricks and all you have is a poorly-trained fighter with few backup skills. And for two: I was just waiting for your kinetic shield to go down."

That was when Band noticed that her position was slightly odd. She’d driven both of their weapons so the points were lodged in the dirt, but the hilt of her weapon was pointed at Band. He also noticed the small switch on her sword just as she flicked it, and a fine mist covered them both. The Boy quickly let loose his weapon and backed away a few steps, and on the third step, he realized it was becoming harder and harder to move.

"It’s a three-part compound. Separately, they’re pretty harmless, but it becomes like epoxy when you mix them all together." Rowena slowly raised her pistol, aiming at the Boy’s head. He struggled to free himself from the rapidly-hardening goop, but every movement only wrapped him tighter. "Dodge this."

Rowena froze as a shadow moved above her. She looked up and took in the intense green eyes, brown hair, tattoos and freckles. She also noted the object held in the girl’s right hand - the Shadownet node. The girl’s attitude was non-threatening, but full of promise, and the two stared at each other like two she-wolves passing in the night.

Rowena sheathed the sword, but the gun never wavered. The girl tossed Rowena the node. Rowena nodded, retrieved her other pistol, and rejoined the darkness.

#

Several thousand miles away, Brandon Logan pushed the "End Feed" button on the monitor. The remote operator would take care of the UAV and be paid handsomely for it.

"I remember telling you once that if you ever involved my child in one of your schemes I would drag you to a hell so loathsome that killing you would be a mercy," Koschei said. A servant refilled her wineglass with an exotic plum/apple wine concoction that she found rather interesting and tasteful, if a bit sweet. She had to give it to the man: Brandon Logan knew his wines.

"I also recall you saying that we do what we must to ensure our children prosper." Brandon shrugged. "It’s not that I don’t believe you, Ash, it’s just that you know I’m right. And for the record: Cathayan agrees with me."

Koschei’s eyes narrowed. "Cathayan was involved?"

"Yes, but believe you me, it took some convincing. Besides..." Brandon pulled out his PDA and consulted it for a moment, "...yes, that’s right, it was his idea for Caitlyn to retrieve the node."

"At least there’s one good moment I get out of this. Two, actually."

"What’s that?"

"I get ‘Tina back, and you get to explain this whole situation to your daughter."

Brandon sighed. "Yes, I do."