The more he thought about it, the more his fingers twitched with nervous anxiety.

What if something had happened to her?

He knew he needed to stop thinking about it, though. One crisis at a time, he told himself, and for now, that crisis was stopping Ace Anarchy and protecting the world as they knew it.

He reached for the corner of the poster and swung it outward, revealing the narrow tunnel beyond.

Oscar whistled. Danna remained silent.

The three of them were alone this time, and it felt off balance to be without Nova, who had become a reliable fixture in their group, and Ruby, who had gone to keep watch over Max until they could be sure that Ace Anarchy couldn’t come after him. Though Ruby’s family had been instructed to remove all the mirrors from their house, he still worried that Nightmare might have other ways to figure out Max’s location. The last thing he wanted to do was underestimate her or any of the Anarchists.

Captain Chromium had wanted to come with them. Actually, he’d at first insisted that he go alone into the cathedral to face off against Ace and the others by himself. But his leadership was needed at headquarters, organizing the Renegades who had been pouring in from outside syndicates and preparing them for the counterattack that would soon be underway. Only after Adrian had reminded his dads that his team had already fought Ace Anarchy and won, and only after he’d given them a number of demonstrations of his Sentinel abilities, proving that he had, in fact, made himself into one of the most powerful prodigies of all time, and only after he pointed out that this plan required stealth, which was not a skill that Captain Chromium possessed, did Hugh and Simon reluctantly agree to let his team attempt this raid. They knew, as Adrian did, that taking Ace Anarchy by surprise was their best chance to neutralize him. To steal back the helmet. To defeat him, once and for all.

“I’ll check that the coast is clear,” said Danna. She transformed and the swarm disappeared into the shadows, their wings catching on the beam of Adrian’s flashlight.

Leaning on his cane, Oscar peered over at Adrian. “We are going to survive this, right?”

Adrian swallowed. “Of course. We’re Renegades.”

Oscar nodded. Neither of them bothered to point out that a lot of Renegades had not survived the battle at the arena.

“Good,” said Oscar, a little wistful. “Because I really want to see Ruby again after this.”

Adrian completely understood. He really wanted to see Nova again after this, too. There were far too many things left unsaid.

They waited in silence for what felt like an eternity but was probably only a few minutes. Finally Danna returned, or two of her butterflies did, dancing briefly around their heads before fluttering back through the passageway.

With his marker in one hand and the flashlight in the other, Adrian followed.

The catacombs were exactly as they had left them after the fight against Ace Anarchy. Bones and skulls littered the stone floor, making it nearly impossible to walk without disturbing the silence. Marble statues lay in pieces, sarcophagi were overturned, giant cracks ran through the church’s thick foundation.

They made their way, as stealthily as they could, through the catacomb’s chambers and up the narrow stone staircase. Before, this stairway had opened out onto the wasteland, surrounded by nothing but ruins and destruction. But now, as Adrian neared the uppermost landing, there was no light filtering down from an open sky. Only more shadows, and their footsteps echoing off thick stone walls.

Adrian’s breath caught as they stepped out into a small circular chamber. A second staircase continued upward, but two doorways opened on either side, each one flanked by statues of hooded figures. He had known from secondhand reports that Ace had rebuilt the cathedral, but he’d been picturing a jumbled structure. Broken stone and timbers barely held together with old mortar and rusted nails. He had expected something flimsy and precarious, ready to collapse at the slightest blow.

But the chamber around them seemed as ancient and solid as if it had stood there undisturbed for hundreds of years. The thick stone walls perfectly fitted together, with no sign that they’d recently been strewn across the wasteland. It was as if the Battle for Gatlon had never happened.

He cast an uncomfortable look at Oscar. The fact that Oscar hadn’t said anything was proof enough of his own surprise. In fact, the cathedral was as silent as the tombs below. Adrian knew the silence wouldn’t last. Soon, Captain Chromium and every Renegade who could still fight, including those who had arrived from outside syndicates, would attack the wasteland barrier with all the force they had. Adrian hoped this would create enough of a diversion and lead most, if not all, of the villains outside the cathedral while he, Oscar, and Danna attempted to find and neutralize Ace Anarchy.

But finding him might be a problem.

A few of Danna’s butterflies flitted toward the nave, the vast, central area of the church, so Adrian crept after her, listening for any signs of the villains.

As he paced beneath a gigantic stained-glass window that stretched all the way to the vaulted ceiling, Adrian was astounded to think that all this had been mere rubble before. How was a single prodigy capable of this, in such a short amount of time?

He moved toward the central aisle, set with wooden pews and iron candelabras and vast stone pillars on either side.

His gaze traveled down the long, wide aisle.

He froze.

There—at the far end of the nave, what felt like a mile away, dwarfed by the vast ceilings and monumental windows—stood Ace Anarchy. Waiting for them, his helmet glinting in the light of a hundred candles lit along the sides of the choir.

He was not alone. More than a dozen villains were at his sides.

And, a few steps in front of the altar, stood Nova.

Adrian’s blood ran cold. When had the villains found her? How long had she been a prisoner here, a hostage?

His vision sparked red, and before he knew what he was doing, Adrian was charging down the aisle. His right forearm began to glow. A ball of fire swirled around his left fist.

Danna screamed. “Sketch—no!”

Seconds later, a monarch butterfly danced in front of his face. Adrian batted it away.

The cyclone of wings appeared in front of him, then Danna herself, hands upheld. “Adrian, stop!”

Something hit the ground at Danna’s feet. Green vapor burst from the capsule. This, more than Danna’s plea, made Adrian skid to a halt. Danna gasped and swarmed again, her butterflies swirling upward. They were halfway to the vaulted ceilings when they began to converge.

Adrian stared, horrified, as the cloud of gold-and-black wings re-formed. Then they were Danna, and she was falling, forty feet from the ground. Her scream ricocheted through the nave.

Allowing his flame to smolder and vanish, Adrian leaped. He caught her midair and landed just beyond where the gaseous vapor was dissipating. The air smelled suddenly of sharp chemicals, burning the back of his throat.

Danna coughed and rolled out of his arms, landing crouched on one knee. “No,” she murmured, pressing a hand to her heart. “No.”

A bolt of black smoke blurred past them. Adrian lifted his head in time to see the smoke arrow strike Ace Anarchy in the face. He reeled back, coughing into his elbow. Another bolt followed, then another, as fast as Oscar could send them, each one striking one of the villains gathered at the far end of the nave.

Then Oscar cried out.

Adrian looked back to see that Oscar’s cane had been ripped from his hand. It took on a life of its own, striking the backs of Oscar’s knees, knocking him hard to the ground.

“Smokescreen, cover me!” Adrian yelled.

Oscar raised one hand to block another blow from the possessed cane, while his other palm extended toward Adrian. A drift of thick white fog started to roll down the aisle, filling up the pews, when Oscar yelped in pain and swatted at the back of his neck.

Oscar inspected his hand, something small and black clinging to his fingers.

Queen Bee cackled. “Serves you right for that little trick you played at the arena!”

Oscar met Adrian’s gaze. His expression was ferocious, but Adrian could still see the torment behind it. The bee must have had Agent N, just like the ones at the arena.

The last of the fog faded away.

Adrian ground his teeth. His fists tightened.

Danna grabbed his arm. “Adrian, think. It’s a trap.”

He tore his arm away and started to run again. Having been so close to the mist-missile and the cloud of Agent N, they probably thought he’d been neutralized, too.

They were wrong.

Nova hadn’t moved. She watched him charging for her, her face pale, a fear like he’d never seen before brimming in her eyes.

“Let her go!” he yelled, as another flame burst forth from his palm. Adrian prepared to lurch forward, to attack, to tear Ace Anarchy and his cohorts apart, if they’d done anything to hurt her—

He didn’t see the net until it was too late. Until his foot had crossed some invisible mark and, as one, the knot of ropes engulfed him. He stumbled and rolled a few times, entangling himself more.

Choking for air, he tried to rebound to his feet, but one leg was caught. He felt like a wild animal, ensnared in a hunter’s trap, and Danna’s words came back to him, further igniting his anger.

Igniting.

Recalling the first time he’d been caught in ropes like these, he snarled and clenched his left fist around the nearest rope. He summoned his flame, letting it burn as hot as it could.

The fire was an inferno, nearly engulfing Adrian’s entire body, by the time he realized that it wasn’t working. The ropes grew sticky, but they did not burn.

“Fire-resistant coating,” said Cyanide, drawing Adrian’s attention back to the villains. “We do try to learn from past mistakes.”

With sweat dripping down the back of his neck, Adrian maneuvered his right arm so he had a clear shot through the net. His skin lit up. He targeted Ace Anarchy, standing not far from Nova, and fired.

A series of pews flew up onto their sides, forming a wall between Adrian and the villains. The pews crashed back down to the floor, their splintered wooden seats leaving just enough space between them that there remained a narrow aisle down the nave’s center.