There was a moment’s pause.

Wide-eyed, the Black Death’s mouth opened.

“Jane-”

With a wordless roar, Jane attacked.

She streaked forward, a burning golden comet, hurtling into the Black Death, driving him backwards, her fists pummelling him once, twice- then on the third time nothing, her hand striking thin air, the Black Death vanished, intangible. There was a bang, a shout and suddenly a fist slammed into the side of her head with the force of a sledgehammer, the Black Death teleported behind her, hitting again and again and again. But as he raised his hand Jane grabbed it, held it, straining against his superstrength, her eyes glowing, teeth bared. The Black Death struck again with his free hand, Jane leaning out of the blow and grabbing his other fist, struggling, their arms locked, pushing against each other, the air burning, the ground cracking beneath their feet – faces inches apart, mouths locked in identical bloody snarls…

Then Jane snapped her neck forward, her forehead crunching into the Black Death’s nose, and Heydrich cried out and fell back, rolling as he fell, driving both boots up and into Jane’s stomach, launching her back, tumbling skywards. He spun, screaming, a searing beam of green energy erupting from his eyes towards her, but Jane twisted and turned through the air, and with a ringing shout shot back, a torrential blast of golden light scorching from her hand, racing downwards, meeting the Black Death’s attack in mid-air-

There was a boom, a blinding shockwave and Heydrich hurtled back, a ball of black tumbling in the dirt. He threw out his hands, his fingers tearing tracks through the earth, dragging himself skidding to a halt, shaking, glaring across the barren plain as Jane landed, the gashes on his face healing – and before Jane could blink he shot forward, a silver blur, slamming into her at superspeed. His body turned to solid steel, he hit with the force of a bullet train, driving her back, pummelling her arms, her chest, her face with supersonic steel fists. He was everywhere, too fast to see, too fast to dodge, hitting Jane over and over as she tried to shield herself, push back against the relentless, pounding assault-

But then her eyes burned and in an instant light exploded around her, throwing the Black Death back, up into the air. Jane roared and fired, launching blast after blast up after him, bursts of golden energy crashing against his forcefield, cracking through the shield – then her hands came together and out, unleashing a single, relentless beam that seared upwards, towards the Black Death as he fled, the beam chasing as he flew, dodging and circling, barely missing, his eyes wild, his black coat smoking as he weaved desperately under and aside, up through the clouds, pursued by the scorching pillar of light-

And then Jane was streaking upwards after him, the cameras following, a meteor of gold, bursting through the clouds as the Black Death turned and flew towards her, a burning deluge of fire streaming from his hands, searing the very air. But Jane didn’t stop. She flew, up into the inferno, pulsing with golden light, a sunlit needle piercing through the flames, untouched, unstoppable, hurtling towards Heydrich. Once more, the two collided, and once more the Black Death fell, plummeting to earth, body whistling through the air, slamming into solid ground in a shower of broken stone, a giant crater, bigger than any normal man-

Because the Black Death was growing. Widening, shooting upwards, growing twenty, forty, eighty feet, a bellowing, colossal titan who pushed to his feet and lunged, punching a fist the size of a house towards the miniscule, flying Jane who strafed, rolling, streaking by an inch from the surface of his freight-train arm, cape fluttering behind her, a golden bullet hurtling towards Heydrich’s face. But instead of hitting she kept going, passing right through the giant head as if it was an illusion, the Black Death momentarily intangible, her eyes wide, suddenly careering towards solid rock-

At the last second Jane spun, bracing her knees as her feet slammed into the ground, the momentum of the impact spreading cracks through the bedrock, her legs bent, head turned, glaring up – as a giant fist, moving superhumanly fast, slammed down on top of her, smashing her a full foot down into the earth. The Black Death rumbled a thunderous roar and faster than lightning his ten‑foot fists struck down, blurring, pummelling, again and again and again, hammering Jane further and further down into a crater of dust and rock-

And as the cameras followed, as the world watched on in horror, the Black Death shrunk, his body shimmering, splitting into two, three, ten, twenty copies, panting, blinking into existence around the staggering Jane, a different power erupting from each – fire, lightning, lasers, sound, hails of stone and ice, streams of air and acid, the Black Death reborn two dozen times over, surrounding Jane on all sides, an unrelenting avalanche of energy and death, forcing Jane to her knees as she threw out her hands, the barrier of golden light around her wavering as the replications fired, over and over, without pause or mercy, pummelling her further and further down until there was nothing left to see, until her gold and white were gone, until all that remained was dust…

The cameras twisted their lenses. In hospitals, schools, factories, all around the world, people stood breathlessly, not daring to move, watching. Rich, poor, adults, children, Wally, Giselle, the President, her father – all looking on horrified as the Black Death’s copies stopped attacking, panting, collective shoulders heaving, staring into the blackened crater at the centre of their relentless assault, the billowing cloud of dust, where surely nothing could have endured, nothing could have survived… For a second, it was as if the entire world held their breath, held each other, the Black Deaths’ unified eyes bulging, victorious, manic-

And then inside the dust, something shone.

Her face bloodied, her outfit torn, her cape in tatters, burnt and scarred and bruised – but alive. Her legs braced, her arms locked, holding out her glowing barrier, her jaw clenched, her face furious and defiant – with golden fire burning in her eyes and through the mark on her cheek.

From the ashes, Jane rose.

She hurtled, blazing gold, slamming into the wall of Death, tearing through one, kicking another, spinning through the air and burying her fists in two more, the clones vanishing as she broke them, blasting one coming at her from behind, grabbing another as it lunged with bladed arms, throwing its body into its brethren. In an instant she braced, unleashing from her hands a shining golden beam, sweeping through the crowd of copies, vanquishing every one of them it hit, cutting through their ranks – until only one remained. Jane charged, roaring, light streaming from her hands-

Only to strike nothing as the pale figure vanished into the ground.

Jane skidded to a halt, rocks flying underneath her boots, panting, turning, eyes darting around the dust and stones and craters, the open desert expanse – empty save for the cliffs a hundred yards away, the inconsequential cameramen. She spun on the spot, teeth bared, glancing in every direction, ready for an attack – but she couldn’t see, the Black Death was invisible, maybe intangible, somewhere in the air or underground, she didn’t know…

So with a deep breath, she closed her eyes. And slowly, she began to glow.

Ripping, echoing, pulsing – wave after wave of energy pushing out, a surge of golden force, growing, growing, harder and harder, until the wind whipped around her and the very air throbbed with burning light. She rose, an inch from the ground, her body vibrating with pure power, a building torrent of energy flowing out in a perfect circle, a perfect sphere, roaring, a relentless, golden thrum-

And out of the corner of her eye, she saw him. An invisible shape, a void, straining towards her, pushing against the rushing light, a man with blades for arms against a hurricane – struggling with all his might but unable to get closer, unable to push forward through the waves of energy crashing around him, the billowing golden wind. Jane’s hands flew out and the Black Death was thrown back, his body suddenly visible, skittering through the dust, coming to a halt forty feet away. He looked up at her, hate and terror in his eyes, his face bruised, bloodied, glaring – Jane stepped forward, triumphant, preparing to launch-

And the Black Death’s fingers flew to his temple.