of the financial buildings. A sharp bloom of fire burst from Pyro Storm, rocketing toward Shadow Star. The hero managed to leap out of the way before he was burned to a crisp, climbing up the large antenna tower effortlessly. His shadow stretched out behind him, and as Nick watched, it reached out and grabbed Pyro Storm around the ankles, lifting him up and slamming him back onto the roof, cracking the cement underneath him.
It was vicious in ways Nick hadn’t seen before.
Yes, Pyro Storm was a villain, and yes, he was the archnemesis of Shadow Star, but it was always … not like this. They fought, but it rarely came to an all-out brawl. Pyro Storm would come up with some ridiculous scheme, Shadow Star would swoop in and save the day, and they’d go their separate ways. Hell, there were people who were sure the two were in on it together, that it was done for nothing more than attention. Usually, no one got hurt, no matter how harebrained Pyro Storm’s ideas got.
This was different. It looked like they were trying to hurt each other.
Or, rather, Pyro Storm was trying to hurt Shadow Star. All Shadow Star was doing was reacting. He was on the defensive.
Every time Pyro Storm lashed out, Shadow Star would move away quickly, knocking the villain off his feet again and again. Their mouths were moving like they were shouting at each other, but they were too far away to be heard.
Then Shadow Star turned his head toward the Action News chopper, and the camera zoomed in on his mask-covered face, his mouth the only thing visible.
He smiled.
Nick felt a chill race down his spine.
Pyro Storm brought his hands up and pointed them at Shadow Star. A swirl of fire grew in his hands. Shadow Star moved slowly. A ball of fire shot toward him, and a shadow rose up from the rooftop. It was shredded as the fire burst through it, but it caused the fireball to be deflected toward the helicopter. Rebecca Firestone shouted to pull up pull up pull up as Shadow Star tackled Pyro Storm. The ball of fire went underneath the helicopter, missing it by a few feet, trailing flame and smoke behind it.
Pyro Storm snarled and kicked his feet against Shadow Star’s chest, knocking him dangerously close to the edge of the roof. Before Shadow Star could recover, Pyro Storm swung his arm out in a flat arc, a wave of fire roaring toward Shadow Star and—
Shadow Star fell off the other side of the building.
Nick dropped the remote.
“Oh no,” Rebecca Firestone whispered.
“No,” Nick said. “No, no, no. It’s fine. He’s fine.”
Even Pyro Storm seemed stunned.
He walked slowly toward the edge of the building, his cape billowing around him. Any moment now, Nick knew with all his might that Shadow Star would reappear and everything would be fine. He hadn’t fallen, because he was a hero and heroes never fell.
“Come on,” Nick muttered. “Come on, come on, come on.”
Pyro Storm peered over the edge of the building.
The camera shook harshly when Rebecca Firestone shouted and Shadow Star launched himself up and over the edge of the roof, feet going into Pyro Storm’s face. Pyro Storm was knocked off his feet and Nick screamed, raising his hands above his head in triumph. Shadow Star landed on the roof, crouched, one hand flat on the ground, the other raised behind him.
Pyro Storm tried to get up, but Shadow Star was already moving, shadows crawling along the roof, wrapping themselves around Pyro Storm’s legs and arms, holding him down. Shadow Star stood above him as Pyro Storm snarled at him. Shadow Star squatted next to him, and though it couldn’t be heard what they were saying, Nick knew Shadow Star was most likely lecturing Pyro Storm on turning away from evil and using his powers for good. Pyro Storm was telling him that he would never do such a thing, that he was a villain, and would do villain things.
(Nick knew this because he’d written a similar scene in chapter 34 of This Is Where We Scorch the Earth. Fiction often imitated real life, after all.)
Then Shadow Star stood, waving his hand. The shadows holding Pyro Storm down dissipated. He held his hand out to help Pyro Storm to his feet, but the villain knocked it away. Shadow Star shook his head and took a step back as Pyro Storm pushed himself up.
They stood facing each other for a moment, before