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sheer confusion.
    “Go,” Orion said. “Just—just go.”
    I held my ground. Shook my head. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not letting this island fall.”
    Within an instant, Orion wasn’t alone.
    Stone was beside him. Roadrunner was beside him. Ember and Vortex and the rest of the Resistance, all of them were beside him.
    Their powers were charged up.
    They were looking right at me, some with fear in their eyes, others with confusion. Others devoid of emotion completely.
    “Go!” Orion shouted.
    I didn’t go.
    I didn’t have a chance to.
    The Resistance all lifted their hands and fired their powers right at me.

11
    I threw myself out of the way of the collective blast from every single Resistance member.
    I saw the beams of power racing toward me. Flames. Water. Electricity. They filled the sky, made the air around me rumble. I couldn’t see the ULTRAs—the ULTRAs that were clearly under the control of something or someone—behind the energy.
    I just tried to fly away from them, to teleport away from the blasts of energy.
    But I still wasn’t strong enough to teleport.
    I gritted my teeth and watched as the energy surrounded me. I could heal from some things, sure. But hundreds of the most powerful blasts of energy imaginable? Yeah. I didn’t fancy picking up the pieces of my body when it covered the island.
    I stuck out my hands, as much as the magnetic force behind me tried to pull me back. I wasn’t being controlled by this bastard. I was strong enough to hold my ground. Strong enough to fight.
    I saw the energy getting closer and focused on all my anger. I focused on Saint, and the revenge I wanted to take out on him.
    I focused on Ellicia. On Damon. On the people I was fighting for, all along.
    I focused on my sister.
    My mom.
    I squeezed my eyes shut. The beams of energy were so close that I could feel their power just inches from my face.
    I held my position. Threw everything I had back at that energy.
    And then I felt a loosening in the air.
    I didn’t want to open my eyes. I didn’t want to see what’d happened just in case it wasn’t something I wanted to look at.
    But I did. And when I looked, I saw the energy wasn’t in front of me anymore.
    It was drifting upwards. All of the streams of fire, the beams of electricity, all of them were rising up into the sky, controlled by me.
    I looked at the Resistance, at the people I cared about. For a split second, I wondered if I’d have to get rid of them. I didn’t want to. They were my people; my family. But if they were fighting me, trying to take me down, then what was I supposed to do?
    I threw the energy beams up into the sky, right past the clouds and out of the Earth’s atmosphere.
    Then I teleported behind the Resistance and shot around the island.
    I could feel it, now. Feel the presence of someone trying to control me. The same person—ULTRA—controlling everyone else. Behind, I heard the whooshing of my fellow ULTRAs pursuing me. I watched more power fire past me, some of it singeing my flesh as it scratched my face, my torso.
    But I was getting closer to whoever was doing this. I was going to stop them.
    I could feel an energy coming from the very middle of the island. A transmission, almost, reaching out to me and to the rest of the Resistance, making them fight me. I flew toward it. Teleported, now I had my strength back. It still hurt. There was still some kind of static sound, and I figured this ULTRA must have some kind of block set up. Something stopping me using my full abilities.
    It wasn’t going to stop me for long.
    I stormed past the trees and appeared right in the middle of the island. When I got there, I saw a waterfall. I saw tropical birds flying around.
    Up above, I saw a guy.
    He was young. Probably my age, maybe a little older. He was dressed all in dark red. His eyes shone.
    When he looked at me, I felt like he was speaking to me. Like he was looking around my mind for a weakness, trying to get a grip on