Right after he saw the fuse box, Phoenix saw the stone.

It was settled against a container, and under the Czech label was the English translation in much tinier print that he could only read when he got closer. Proton blaster. Handle with care. He crouched low, out of sight, and flew the stone into his hand while leaning away from the container, afraid the tiniest disturbance would set it off.

He shouldn't worry. If all the fighting and blasting hadn't made anything explode yet, nothing he did would do it now.

The stone was too big to hide in one hand, or in two. He knew he wasn't the person who could get this out of here safely. He ran to the fuse box and took note of exactly where Kate was. Then he broke the glass hiding the emergency equipment, took the flashlight, opened the fuse box, and used his telekinesis and a piece of glass to cut wires and flip switches.

The lights turned off. The outer hallways remained lit, but the shop itself was plunged into darkness. As Phoenix suspected, the lone skylight and glows from Novak's blasters gave off enough light to see a little, but everyone except him was caught off guard and disoriented.

Phoenix immediately threw the flashlight at Kate. It hit her arm and made her turn in his direction. She saw what he was holding, inhaled, and nodded.

He knew her superspeed had issues, she'd explained it to him, but all she needed to do was run it out of here. He tossed her the stone, and then she was gone.

..............................

Kate hated the Snakes.

She had some respect for them, though. They didn't have the history of extreme, irredeemable violence that most people in their positions had, and that she genuinely appreciated, but the rest of the respect was begrudging admiration for just how well they worked. They were some of the most talented enemies out there, and that wasn't a description she used lightly. They were always in step with the League, even a step ahead, but rarely a step behind.

Even now.

Not only was Amara a superhuman, but Crimson, Violet, and Azure were, too. If the trend continued, then so was the Black Snake. The intelligence specialists were going to have a fun time filing that new information.

Kate speed-ran until she was six hallway intersections away from the heart of the dealership, and then she turned right and stumbled to her knees. Navigating while the world was a blur was difficult, and though she'd at least gotten away without slamming into anything, the draining feeling still hit her when she stopped. Her legs felt like jelly. The vertigo was so strong that she almost threw up, but she settled for a single dry heave.

Her fingers tightened around the stone. Don't break it, she warned herself. She was already upset that everyone was taking part in a fight that she assured them wouldn't happen, and she wouldn't forgive herself if she damaged the stone that Phoenix found and trusted her with after he fell from a walkway. None of this was supposed to be his problem, and she was sorry.

Kate stood up, but the vertigo hit again, spinning her world. Her eyes widened at the floor; there were footsteps in the distance. She swallowed and tried to keep moving, because there was no point to her head start if she stalled and let someone catch up to her.

It was too late.

The footsteps stopped behind her. Kate straightened and turned around, meeting her followers' eyes with unflinching ease. Crimson extinguished the fire floating above his palm. He must've used it to see when the lights turned off, and she wished she'd noticed that. He'd no doubt watched her catch the stone and run off, and he grabbed Azure, and now, here they both were.

A hawk came barreling over their heads, turned into Ave mid-air, and he landed next to Kate. No one else joined them. Judging by the noise, the rest of the Snakes and the League team were still in the shop fight against each other and the dealers.

Kate watched Crimson and Azure, eyes narrowed. Two versus two. The odds were decent, as long as Crimson didn't set the building on fire.

Kate tossed the stone to Ave, and their game of hot potato began. She wrenched a pipe loose from the wall and flung it at Azure. He threw up his hand, and a swirling black smoke that was similar to Phoenix's blue appeared and knocked the pipe off its course.

The stone passed from hand to hand, from team to team. No one succeeded in running away with it because as soon as they caught it, someone would fight them for it. Kate wasn't ready to use her superspeed again. Her only plan was to take Crimson or Azure out, and then the other would be overwhelmed.

When the stone was once again in her hand, she chose her target and threw it with force.

Azure didn't react fast enough this time. The stone nailed him in the eye, rocking his head back, and then it rolled to the floor. Kate dove for it immediately, but her fingers closed around nothing but air.

She shot back to her feet, looking around wildly. Crimson and Ave were going at each other's throats, and Azure was stumbling around in front of her, a hand held over his blackening left eye. He looked as confused as she felt.

The realization hit them both at the same time.

Violet took the stone.

And she might have already gotten away.

"When I'm done with it," Azure said suddenly, "I promise, I'll give it back!"

Kate lunged for him at the same time he tried to dart past her, and they narrowly brushed each other's shoulders. She pivoted on her heel and almost closed her hand around his neck, but Crimson grabbed his wrist and pulled him further forward and out of her reach. Both Snakes went running back to the shop.

Kate followed them, Ave right behind, blood roaring in her ears.

.............................

The narrow escape from Kate left Azure breathless. His left eye was throbbing, and dark spots drifted along his vision. He could barely see as he ran, looking for Amara. He found her fighting the flying woman, and he grabbed her and pulled her away, leaving the agent baffled.

"Azure! What are you doing?" Jack asked from behind him.

Kate was hot on their heels.

"Violet!" Azure called out. He was panicking; they had to leave now.

Elle appeared in front of him. The stone was in her hand. Before she could say anything, he grabbed her arm, tightened his grip on Amara, shoved his shoulder back against Crimson, and teleported them all out of there.

......................

Phoenix stared as all four of the Snakes vanished in a swirling cloud of black. He'd noticed that Violet had the stone, but Azure had a black eye. The Snakes won, but the fight had not ended well for either side.

Kate took a deep, tired breath and tilted her head back, hands on her hips. Tara had just pushed the last of Novak's men into the rubble, so the only people left standing was the League team. After all the fighting and noise, there was finally silence, but Phoenix knew there was no peace. Only tension.

"Now what?" he asked quietly.

Ave nudged an unconscious guy with his shoe. "Now?" he repeated. "Nothing. We go back and tell Hazel we failed."

Phoenix swallowed. He could tell from their faces that, even with all the failures they'd had on the job, this one was unsettling.

Tara cleared her throat. "Did anyone else notice that Amara got shot and, you know, didn't die?"

"Or bleed," Phoenix pointed out.

"Maybe she's got rapid healing? Indestructible skin?"

No one answered, because no one knew. Ave leaned carefully against the remains of the walkway, eyes downcast at the mess on the floor. He tapped his foot against some rebar, sending sharp tings of noise echoing through the shop.

"The Snakes kept their powers a secret from us for years," he said finally, "and they just played all their cards to get the stone." He looked up at Kate. "Why would they do that?"

Kate, the only one who hadn't yet said a word, met his question with a shake of her head. "Did you hear what they were saying to each other?" she murmured, sitting down. "None of it made any damn sense. Azure even had the audacity to look me in the eye and say he would give the stone back."

Tara and Ave laughed a little at that, but the humor was short-lived. Everyone was silent again. Phoenix wanted to assure them that they did their best, and no one could have seen any of this coming, but this wasn't the time. They were worried because they had no idea what the consequences of this disaster would be. The Snakes may have revealed their powers, but their motivation for today and what they were going to do with the stone was still a complete mystery.

Kate stood, brushed debris and dirt off her clothes, and gestured to the hallway. "Let's go."

Phoenix glanced back at the awful state they were leaving the shop in as the other three left, and then he followed quietly.