Seth thought he might be able to walk on his burned feet, though not far. Then he saw Leslie in the corner, still unconscious (if not dead). Seth began to crawl over to her, trying not to attract attention.

Natalie dropped back to the ground, curling her wings in tight to her body. She immediately rushed over to Nicole, who was slowly climbing to her feet.

Natalie stopped short. Nicole was getting to her feet too slowly. That’s when she saw her: Jak’s killer, lying right there by her sister. Amanda’s eyes were open and staring at Natalie. The villain smiled and lifted up the bottom of her shirt, revealing the knife that had spilled her best friend’s blood.

Natalie howled in frustration, so close to vengeance, but unable to do anything with her sister in the crossfire.

She needn’t have worried, though. The moment Nicole got to one knee she threw herself towards the girl, pushing off the ground with a little energy to try to negate the slow motion field. She still moved slowly, but faster than before, and was able to reach out one hand and touch the villain’s shoulder before she could react. Nicole pumped all of her energy, which wasn’t much, into that touch. It was enough. The villain slid twenty feet across the floor, surprise written over her face.

That was all Natalie needed. She wore a smile as cold as the grave as she took a deep breath.

Aaron thought briefly about killing the villain pinned beneath him, and damn near pulled the trigger. But then he thought of his departed cousin, and knew Jak wouldn’t want him to do that, wouldn’t want him to sink to that level.

Still…Aaron flipped the gun up in the air, caught it by the barrel, and smashed the handle into the side of Josh’s head.

He turned back to the fight just in time to see the girl who had murdered his cousin go sliding across the floor. For the first time since he’d arrived, life flowed back into his eyes, and he settled down cross-legged next to Josh to watch Amanda die.

Amanda had a split second to pray that her field could slow down fire.

Natalie’s wings shot out as a massive burst of liquid flame erupted out of her mouth. The fire raced toward the cowering villain, who smiled shakily as it hit her field and slowed down. The smile only lasted for a moment. While the fire may have been slowed down, the intense heat itself was not a physical force, and penetrated like a hot knife through butter. The villain melted like a candle, letting out such a terrible scream that Natalie would have nightmares about for weeks. Aaron was the only one who seemed to take pleasure in the way she died. By the time Natalie ran out of breath there was nothing left but a smoking puddle on the ground.

Natalie and Aaron were still, each lost in different thoughts. Aaron felt victorious, renewed, like he had done right by his cousin. Natalie felt sick, missing Jak all the more now that she didn’t have vengeance to occupy her thoughts. Slowly her skin began to lighten, and her wings curled back into her, the skin around her spine sealing itself back up. Her ponytail went out, her eyes dimmed. Natalie sank to her knees and wept silently.

Nicole went to go check on the other heroes. Nathan was getting to his feet, blood still drying on his cheeks from the sonic attack. He complained of a ringing in his ears, but that would go away after a couple weeks.

Crystal was back in human form by the time Nicole got around to her, and was nursing one shoulder. When she had hit the wall she had broken her left arm in two places; but she was alive, that was what mattered.

Teeny was still unconscious, but her pulse was good and her breathing steady. Nonetheless Nicole hurried outside to talk to the cops and get an ambulance in right away. Paramedics had come and gone, but the police promised that another team was already on their way.

Josh was the only villain left alive in the building. Seth had considered trying to get him away with Leslie, but knew that not only did he not have the strength to carry both of them, he wouldn’t survive another battle if the heroes caught him trying to escape. He had pulled Leslie out a back door (the employees’ entrance) and run right into a Salt Lake City swat team. One bellow, carefully manipulated so the sound wouldn’t be heard back in the bank, had knocked out most of the cops, and killed the rest. Seth, remorseless, spirited himself and Leslie away.

Aaron was the only one who walked out of the bank that day with a smile.