Mister Foley watched Ortega stand up in the snow. Ortega''s metal fist clenched tight as the outlaw eyed him. Foley knew little about the man beyond the fact that he had taken out Mister Deadman and that Miss Malone had asked him to keep a lookout for him.


    As a loyal Finger, he wouldn''t refuse the request of a Hand.


    The wind whirled around his fingers as he manipulated his whip and waited for Ortega to charge. The outlaw was just out of range, and unless he wanted to switch tactics, Mister Foley had to keep still. Ortega shook the snow off his body and slammed his metal arm down in the snow.


    "Step."


    Ortega disappeared in a flash of movement, throwing a snow cloud around him. Mister Foley turned, swinging his whip behind him on instinct alone. Mister Foley saw Ortega mid-stride as the outlaw swung his fist and lashed out with his whip.


    Crack.


    "Wind Whip!"


    The wind whip wrapped around Ortega, grabbing hold of his torso. Mister Foley used the wind inherent to the whip to manipulate the air around Ortega, pulling him closer and throwing him over in an arc through the air and to the ground.


    Mister Foley smiled as Ortega rolled through the snow again, falling out of his reach. The outlaw wasn''t smart enough to beat him. He had no idea how Mister Deadman had lost to such a weak opponent, but with his mastery of the wind, Mister Foley was unstoppable.


    "You might as well give up," Mister Foley said, drawing his whip around his fingers and forming a long lash. "You can''t even get close to me."


    "Step!"


    Ortega disappeared again, throwing up another volley of snow as he stood and charged at the same moment. The second he saw Ortega appear in front of him, Mister Foley lashed forward with his whip, bringing down his whip on his torso so that he could throw the man again.


    "I don''t need to get closer," Ortega said, pausing as the whip wrapped around him again.


    Crunch.


    Mister Foley wasn''t going to stop. He was already manipulating the air around the outlaw and pulling up with the whip, which is why he didn''t notice the sound of snow crunching behind him and didn''t hear the soft purr of the bearcat until it was on him.


    Whoosh.


    Claws came for his head, and only his attunement with the air around him prevented them from gouging his scalp. Mister Foley raised a free hand, letting go of his wind lasso and pooling aether in his palm. Wind twisted through his body as he sent out a repelling blast of air.


    "Wind Ball!"


    "Mrow!"


    A solid mass of rotating air slammed into the bearcat, sending it off balance but not flying away. Mister Foley surged forward from the pressure of his attack, catching himself on his hand on the ground as he took in sharp breaths. He forced himself on his feet, already mindful that Ortega was coming for him. He needed to reassert control.


    "Now, about that distance." Ortega stood before him, already bringing his arm up as Mister Foley''s eyes tracked up to him.


    Thump.


    A heavy weight slammed into Mister Foley''s chest, sending him flying. It felt like an anvil had slammed directly into his heart, and for a moment, he couldn''t breathe. Cold and cracking pain followed immediately after as he hit the ground, and Mister Foley gasped for breath as he lay in the snow.


    Ortega had surprised him. He hadn''t expected the bearcat to come for him while he was occupied with the outlaw. Honestly, who could expect such a thing? Mister Foley let out a cough, hacking up a line of red across the ground before he forced himself to stand with a burst of air.


    He wasn''t done yet.


    "You think you have me beat?" he yelled as he channeled more aether into his gate, forcing it open further and further as he fed it more energy. "You haven''t seen anything yet. I''ll show you what real power looks like, and then you''ll wish I held back."


    He called on the power deep within him as he opened the second level of his curse. The air around him raged and twisted as tornadoes formed around him. They rotated faster and faster, spinning around him like a wind wall, kicking up snow and dirt.


    He would show Ortega not to mess with him ever again.


    "Wind—"


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Thoop. Crack. Crackle.


    An odd cold sensation spread across Mister Foley''s body, followed by the sound of what might have been a gunshot. He looked down, mid-transformation, and realized that a line of ice was spreading across his body. His limbs refused to move as the ice crept over him. Soon, it had his entire body trapped, and his aether flow froze with it.


    Mister Foley guessed what was happening to him in an instant and realized it was too late. He scanned the horizon and saw two figures in the distance. One leaned on the top of a hill while the other stood next to it with a camera. ''Cold Shot'' and the reporter. Wen had chosen her side, and it was against Bibi. Mister Foley immediately began a new plan, channeling air across his skin as the ice cracked and grew over him.


    He might have lost, but he wasn''t going to die. Not here.


    The last thing Mister Foley saw was Wen standing in the distance and slinging her rifle over her shoulder as she approached. He didn''t know why she had betrayed them all, but he would remember it when he returned to report to Miss Malone. No one crossed the operation and lived to tell about it. That was Undertown''s motto. As a deep chill cut into Mister Foley''s chest, he knew he would get revenge. It might not be today or tomorrow, but Wen would have the entirety of Lord Bacia''s operation hunting her down once he got word back to Miss Malone.


    Those were his last thoughts, as the ice covered his entire body, and he became a statue of a coated man with long whiskers on the top of Diamond Peak.


    "What in the hell?" Alex looked over the frozen statue that had been Mister Foley before he tracked the line from the object that had hit him to the nearby hill.


    A shadowed figure stepped down from the hill, hands on the pistols at her hips as she approached. A second figure stood beside her, a camera in hand. They both wore the same grey coats that Mister Foley had worn, complete with goggles and masks to cover themselves from the cold.


    "I''m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, but who are you?" Alex asked, holding up his metal arm defensively as the person approached.


    "That''s a bit cruel, Alex," the woman said, her hands still on the guns at her hips. "You''ll still let me call you Alex, right?"


    "''Cold Shot?''" Alex squinted at her.


    As she came closer, he could recognize her a little more. However, when she took off her goggles and pulled down her scarf, that was enough. She didn''t look as emaciated as back on Tombstone, but she was definitely Li Wen, also known as the bounty hunter ''Cold Shot.''


    "We meet again." She shrugged, still holding the pistols. "I wish it was under better circumstances."


    "What kind of circumstances are we talking about?"


    Alex didn''t let down his guard. He knew Li Wen''s reputation and had a decent idea of what her curse could do. Mister Foley''s fate was just one indicator of how busted her power was. If he let himself get hit by one of her shots, he wasn''t sure even his magnetic ability to repel bullets would stop her.


    "I was brought here by the island''s owner," she said, nodding to the woman with the camera beside her. "So was she. We were supposed to track down a bearcat matriarch and bring it back for him so he could impress his father. Then he went and committed a few murders on us."


    Li Win eyed Scratches, who stood a little away from Alex, her hair still in hackles and ready to pounce. Alex nodded to Scratches, but the bearcat didn''t move in the slightest. She was as still as a statue as she leaned forward on all fours in the snow.


    "He a noble?"


    She nodded.


    "Sounds about right."


    "This leaves us with a problem," she said. "If we go against him, he''ll have us killed the second we get back to civilization. If he gets harmed at all, we''ll be put out, too. There''s not really a win scenario in all of this for us."


    "Sounds like you lost the second you accepted the job." Alex nodded. "When you throw in with people like that, it''s all or nothing."


    "There''s no going back, is there?" The woman next to Li Wen''s eyes went wide as the realization hit her. "We were never going to come back at all."


    "Yeah." Li Wen nodded. "The moment he murdered that captain, anyone who wasn''t immediately on his side was marked for death. That''s how nobles think."


    The woman let go of her camera, and it fell against her chest, the strap catching it from hitting the ground. She ripped off her goggles, revealing her dark skin as tears ran down it. Alex grimaced. Erth was a hard place for people without power, and the woman seemed normal.


    "So, what do you want me to do?" Alex asked.


    "Take us with you." Li Wen smiled, taking her hands off her guns and holding them up. "I just want to make sure Kali gets out of this alive and in one piece. Beyond that, I have no plans."


    Alex let his arm fall as he processed what she had just said. He looked over to Scratches, who had calmed down considerably, her back no longer arched, as she padded toward him in the snow. She sensed the fight was over, even if she remained silent for now.


    "You''re putting a lot of trust in me," Alex said, holding up his non-mechanized arm. "What makes you so sure I''ll help you out?"


    Li Wen snorted.


    "You can''t be serious." She shook her head. "I researched you after we met on Tombstone. I''ve been keeping tabs. You help people whether you like it or not. You don''t always make the best choices, but your heart is in the right place. That''s who you are, Alex."


    Alex frowned.


    "Let''s say I do that," he said, shaking his head. "What about this prince? What about the other people?"


    "He sent them after your friends while he fought an automaton," Wen said. "Are you concerned?"


    Alex thought for a moment. "How many are there?"


    "One for each of you that I know of," Li Wen said. "Add that to Bibi, who is fighting the automaton."


    "Jean and Sayed should be fine," Alex said, narrowing his eyes. "Erin should back up Gary, so unless the prince is powerful, that''ll be handled too."


    "Sounds like you found strong friends," Li Wen said.


    "I did," Alex said.


    He paused as he looked over them and back to the keep. They were wasting time at this point, and he knew it. He could trust Li Wen enough to stay true to her word. However, with the other bounty hunters, he wanted to hurry up at least and check on his friends. He was confident they were strong enough, but that didn''t mean they couldn''t be beaten.


    "Alright," he said, waving away any doubts. "You can come with us, and we''ll figure out the rest as we go. I assume you''ll all be safe if you stick to the Fringes for the rest of your life."


    "We can only hope." Li Wen nodded, slapping Kali on the back with a smile. "I take those chances as better than surviving Bibi''s graces."


    Together, they set off toward the south, Scratches now leading through the snow. As they walked, Alex took one last look at Mister Foley, still a statue frozen in ice. He couldn''t help feeling that the fight had been too easy, even with Li Wen''s interference.


    However, that was just luck in life sometimes.