"Wow, Miku. You did great," Emmy says.

"It's a gift," she says proudly.

"Are you talking to me again?" Emmy asks her friend.

"I never stopped talking to you, Emmy."

"C'mon. For a while there I was as welcome as the plague."

"You tried to steal my friend's boyfriend. How should I be?"

"Yeah, I get it. But she tried to kill me."

"Yeah, a little, I guess."

"I understand if you're too mad to be my friend anymore. But I miss you. I don't have anyone to help me talk Marcus out of fixing me up."

"Fix you up with who?"

"Henry."

"The guy who has a name for every one of his body parts?"

"Yeah." They both make a sound of displeasure and laugh. Apparently Henry was a bad idea in Miku's mind as well.

After the first few times, Emmy felt better about us diving and was able to watch with her eyes open. Although, she still let out a little yelp when we reached the edge and fell over.

By the end of the night she is cheering us on. Most of us won our rounds except for Rio, whose mind seems to be on something else. He comes up to me and says that he saw onyx. Someone was climbing the mountain and wouldn't make it.

"I could go get them," he says.

"No, just let it be."

"He's only a few seconds away."

"It's not about the distance."

"This is c.r.a.p, Marcus. We can save him."

"So, every time, Rio? We have to have this discussion every time?"

"It's a matter of life and death and you don't even have the time to talk it over? What, too busy with your love life to do anything else?"

"I'm tired of having the same argument with you over and over again. This is ridiculous! You can't save a soul that was meant to die."

"You know what's ridiculous? You as a First Guardian," he says sarcastically as he jumps off the mountain.

"I'll go get him," Jay says and takes off.

"I'm so sick of this c.r.a.p. I don't make the rules. Why can't he understand that?"

"Why can't he save just this one person?" Emmy asks.

"Because that is against the rules. And even if it wasn't, it would never be just one person. Rio has to save everyone. That's how he got here in the first d.a.m.n place."

Just then I look up and realize that Miku has been standing there.

"I'm sorry. I just meant-"

"Whatever, Marcus. You're right. If my brother hadn't tried to save me, he would still be alive."

She takes off into the air.

Just then two angels land next us on the mountain. It was a guy with a girl in his arms- my girl.

"What are you doing here?" I ask her.

"This is Terrance. He's a Traveler and he was kind enough to give me a ride," she says pleasantly. Miku comes back at once when she realizes the angel on the Traveler's back is her friend.

"Mimi, I thought you were gonna meet me back at home," Miku says nervously. I turn and look at Emmy. I can tell she is scared but trying not to let it show. It can't be easy knowing that your life is in danger every second that a certain someone is around.

I had taken Ameana's wings and powers, but the girl was bad all by herself. She has had extensive training in self-defense. She has studied the human body and knows where to strike to inflict the most pain. And she has an air about her that says she is not to be toyed with.

"Meana, come on. Let's go get Snaps. I hear there's a good shop around here," Jay says.

"Maybe later. Hi, everyone," she says to the crowd. Everyone smiles politely but they were waiting for a show. Everyone knew about the showdown that had happened before between Meana and Emmy. Most just couldn't believe their luck: they were around for what they hoped would be round two.

They never would have let them actually fight. They are angels, after all. But I'm guessing they would let it go as far as they could before Omnis punished all of us. By then Emmy would be a wave of dust of the side of the mountain. And I couldn't allow that.

"h.e.l.lo, Emmy," Meana says nicely.

"Hi," she says in barely a whisper.

"Look, I didn't come to pick a fight or anything. I'm cool. I just came to dive," she says as she walks toward the edge of the mountain. I follow her.

"You can't jump-you have no wings."

"Well I guess you better give them back to me then," she says, daring me not to.

"I will not be forced into giving you what you have yet to earn."

"Well, I'll just have to leap and hope a net appears."

Then without wings or power of any kind, Ameana jumps off the side of the mountain. The crowd gasps loudly. I was already halfway down the mountain after her. I cut through the air with every ounce of power I have.

She was falling steadily a few feet below me. She looks like a bird after the hunter first shoots it down. In a matter of seconds she would land straight on the Port.

I will my wings to stay to my side. I don't care if I hit the Port. I would rather go faster than she and get there before she does. That way I could break her fall. The Port can only take one person at a time. I either save her or go instead of her. I could not, and would not, lose her.

Just when we are about even, I realize that that was as close to saving her as I was gonna get. We could be even but I would never pa.s.s her. The others dove in after us, but there is nothing they can do to help. The only one who can save her is me. But I'm not close enough.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the bird was no longer falling. She had tricked the hunter. She was taking flight. Ameana had sprouted wings and was pulling up. I am stunned. I am seconds from the Port when I come back to my senses and pull my wings out.

I fly up with such fury, I change the wind pattern on the mountain. It starts blowing out of control. I land on top and there stands Ameana, her wings gone.

"Guess my Snap is used up. Oh, well," she says simply.

"Get off the mountain," I say to everyone but Ameana. Everyone looks at each other.

"GET. OFF. NOW!!!" My voice causes the mountain to shake. Rocks fall off the side. Rio takes Emmy and everyone flies away immediately. It was just me and my second-in-command.

"What the h.e.l.l are you doing?" I ask.

"Did you think I was just gonna die for you? Did you think I wouldn't have a backup?"

"Back up? You call a Snap a backup? What if it was faulty?" I blare.

"Well, then, that would be perfect because then you could rescue me. I know you have a weakness for weaklings."

"What do you want from me?"

"I want you to stop wanting her."

"How do I do that?"

"You were supposed to choose me."

"I did! I choose you. What more can I do to make you understand that? You're the one I just risked my life for. You're the one I gave my Rah to."

"I know how you feel about her. Don't make me out to be crazy."

"You jumped off the mountain with no d.a.m.n wings. What do you call it, huh? What the h.e.l.l do you call this?"

"A promise that's been broken."

"What did I promise you?"

"It's what I promised myself. I said I'd never love anyone. Ever. But I broke that promise for you. And now...I can't even remember why."

"Get this straight: you are my second and you will not be this reckless again. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"You do anything that puts this team at risk again and I'll strip you of your wings permanently and leave you on earth. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

I walk over to the edge of the mountain.

"Will you take me home?" she asks.

"You found your way here. So find your own way back." I fly off the mountain, leaving her there.

I never would have left my girlfriend alone on the top of a mountain with no way to get back home. But right now she is my second in command, not the girl I love.

And I suspect the guy who left her on the mountain wasn't the guy she loved. He was just her boss and he had given orders. The only thing Ameana and I had in common at that moment was that both of us were in love with people we no longer liked.

CHAPTER TWELVE: TONY-TONE.

The next morning, I was going to cancel going to the concert. But I realized Jay would have killed me. So I let them go to the concert and I stay behind to go see Tony-Tone.

The moment Tony spots me, he takes off. I pull out my cell as I take off after him. The fact that he's running means he's done something; suddenly, having our only clue partying in a crowd a country away feels like a very bad idea.

"Rio, get Jay to take Emmy home. The rest of you get back here. Tony's up to something. Hurry!"

I hurl myself at Tony, we crash down to the ground. I strike him hard in his chest. He gasps.

"Okay, okay. This guy came in. He said he was a GW but there is a small chance he might have been a Runner working for Akon. I was gonna turn him down but he offered me three third-coats. That's a lot of money."

"I will put my hand through you and pull out that waste of s.p.a.ce called you heart right now if you don't tell me what you sold."

"Let's not get violent. There's a good chance I did nothing wrong," he says desperately.

"He paid you three third-coats and he doesn't even have wings! Where did you think he got them from?"

"Hey, like the humans say-don't ask, don't tell."

I pick him up off the floor with one hand and slam him into the nearby tree. I hold him there and reflect a quick flash.

"Please, no."

"Talk, rat."

"I sold him something I got from the market."

Hun's market is run by seamy Sellers who are always on the run from the council. They sell items that have been outlawed by both Omnis and the council. The founder of the Market was Hun Moorland. Hun was a ruthless terrorist with a background in chemistry and biology.

Hun was killed when the bomb he was making to blow up a building in the heart of downtown Tokyo accidentally went off in his face. Hun had made a deal with Atourum: in exchange for not burning for all eternity, he would invent things to help Atourum wage war against good.