"Not quite, Burnout," he said. "This is between you and me. Let Nadja go."

Burnout's laughter rang through the room, turning Ryan's blood cold. "Between you and me, Mercury? It hasn't been between you and me since you killed the Kodiak."

Ryan remembered the bear shaman, Miranda held high over his head. He shifted on the balls of his feet, slowly inching his way into the dark room. Burnout didn't give much of a heat signature, so Ryan was going to have to rely on other means.

"Jane," he subvocalized.

"Copy," came the woman's voice in his ear.

"Position."

"He hasn't moved."

Ryan took a quick, silent step, and put one of the marble trees between him-and Burnout's location. "Jane, what's the count?"

"Another four minutes, but Ryan, when you blow it, you're going to have to be near the corner of the room where I can cover you with the sprinklers. Otherwise, you're going to take as much damage as he does, and I don't think I have to remind you that you are flesh and blood."

Ryan smiled in the darkness. "Don't worry about me. Just keep that oxygen rising."

There was a pause. "Ryan, you do realize that if shots are fired after the oxygen level gets high enough, the room will go ahead of schedule."

"I've already got it figured, Jane. Just be ready."

Burnout's modulated voice dropped into the room. "Mercury? Where are your friends? Don't tell me you actually did what I wanted. I would be so disappointed if you came to the party by yourself."

Ryan stepped out into the open. "I guess I'm just going to have to disappoint you, Burnout. It's just me."

There was another long laugh.

"Quicksilver! He's on the move. He's got you targeted, and he's making his way toward you, just on your two o'clock."

"Yes, Burnout. I'm here all alone, just like that night in Aztlan. It's just you and me. You think you're chill enough to take me?"

"My, my. What's that I see? Looks like a Vindicator minigun. That's some pretty heavy rock and roll, Mercury. And what a pity, I'm totally unarmed."

Ryan turned to his two o'clock, and Burnout's metal form drifted out of the shadows and into a patch of sunlight.

Grind sounded frustrated. "Frag those branches! I can't get a clean shot. Just another two meters, and he's mine."

Ryan looked at Burnout's ravaged frame, and whistled low. "You look pretty bad, Burnout."

Burnout smiled, and in the filtered light, it was the metal smile of some chromed grim reaper. "Yeah, I ain't so pretty as I was, Mercury. I guess I owe my new look to you."

Something clicked in Ryan's mind, and he knew what had been nagging. He was alone in the arboretum, but he wasn't using the Silent Way. He had been ignoring Dunkelzahn's teachings since losing the Heart, and he knew he wouldn't survive this unless he focused on his training. On who he was.

Ryan slowly knelt down on the floor, and laid the Vindicator on the warm marble. "Burnout, it doesn't have to come to this. You know I have you outgunned, and you know from our past encounters that even in a straight fight, I can give you a run for your nuyen. But this is foolishness. We don't have to fight."

Burnout smiled. "I know we don't have to, Mercury, but I want to. I want to feel your skull crack and collapse under my fingers. I've come a long way to watch you die."

Ryan held up his hands. "Listen. You stole something that doesn't belong to you, something you can't even understand. There's an easy way out of this where both of us leave this place alive. All you have to do is put the Dragon Heart on the ground and walk away."

Burnout cocked his head, as if he was listening to something inside his own skull. Then the smile returned. "Look at me, Mercury. You've left me with nothing. And for what? The Heart. You think I'm going to give up the only thing that makes all this worthwhile? Still, there is a way to end this easily."

"I'm listening."

"Why don't you lie down on the floor and let me kill you quickly. That way you won't have the shame of being beaten before you die. It would save you a lot of emotional distress." Then that scary laugh again.

Ryan shook his head. "So that's it, then. Neither one of us is going to give in."

Burnout went into a fighter's crouch. "That's it, Mercury. Let's dance, shall we?"

His movement was a blur, the fastest thing Ryan had ever seen. Burnout crossed the distance in the blink of an eye, and Ryan had just enough time to throw himself to the side as Burnout came rumbling at him like a tractor train out of control.

Except Burnout was in complete control. As Ryan leapt to the left, Burnout's right hand swung, open-handed, and caught Ryan across the chest.

The impact hit Ryan like a sledgehammer, and his body was lifted high into the air. Instinct made him roll with the fall.

Ryan came to his feet, a full three meters from where he'd been standing. His chest was on fire, and he magically channeled the pain away. When he could breathe again, he felt his ribcage, and realized that his body armor had been sliced to within a millimeter of the skin. Burnout was nowhere in sight.

"What the frag just happened?" Grind sounded completely confused. "One second he was in my sights, the next second he was gone. That fragger can move!"

"Position?" Ryan subvocalized.

"Wait a minute. Wait, I got him! Ryan, he's-"

"You still think you're a match for me, Mercury?"

Ryan spun to face the voice behind him, and just barely managed to deflect the high kick aimed for his head. The kick landed hard against his arm.

Ryan's left forearm went numb, and he rolled again, using the momentum of the kick to push himself out of harm's way. He staggered to his feet and forced himself to center.

Burnout was casually leaning against the trunk of the tree across the large center walkway.

Ryan stepped backward until his back was against a tree trunk. He could feel the cool ivy leaves rustling against his neck.

"You like how that feels, Mercury? To have your back against the proverbial wall?"

Ryan flexed his left arm, feeling the life come back in painful prickles. He smiled. "Not so much. The big difference is that I didn't put your back up against any wall, you did. You messed in business that didn't concern you and you thought you could get away with it."

"Just get him to move another half a meter, Quicksilver, and I've got the shot." Grind's voice was soft, full of concentration.

Jane broke in. "You got another minute and a half until lift off. Make whatever you're going to do count, 'cause if you're still standing at your present position when that room goes, I don't think even you could live through it."

The feeling in Ryan's arm was back to normal, and he smiled at Burnout. "I came in here to try and settle things without anyone getting hurt, especially the innocent woman you've got tied up. But I guess that time is through." Ryan forced his will to be calm, and felt the power channel down his arms to his hands.

"All right, Burnout. You want to dance, I'll dance with you." With that, Ryan threw out his hands, sending a battering ram of force straight at the cyberzombie.

Burnout tried to move, but even with his speed, he was way too late. The magical wall smashed into him, catching him in the chest and sending him flying. The marble tree he'd been leaning against cracked with a sound like thunder and tilted slightly to the side.

The cyberzombie rolled with the impact, turning his air time into a series of backward somersaults.

While Burnout was still in the air, Ryan moved. He leapt the first table of flowers in a graceful kicking motion. As Burnout hit the ground, catlike, with his feet under him, Ryan's foot smashed into the side of Burnout's head.

Ryan used the impact to drop himself back into a fighting stance, and Burnout fell with the sound of rending metal.