Meridian dropped from his cables, planting a boot on a mutant’s chest. “Show-off. Try this.” He snap-kicked a grenade. It spun end over end, and Nakamura, acting on instinct, Leash-whipped the grenade mid-flight. It curved around a pillar and detonated directly in a fourth mutant’s face. “Longshot! +200! Style Multiplier x3!”

Kael fired a volley of energy bolts from his chest. Nakamura pirouetted, using the Leash to pull a heavy cargo container in front of her as a shield. The bolts ricocheted, punching through a Brute’s skull. “Mirror Match! +250!”

The Leash. It was a piece of forbidden tech—a energy whip grafted to her nervous system. With a flick of her wrist, she could yank an enemy toward her. With another, she could kick them into a spinning arc of slow-motion ragdoll physics. The hulk’s AI, a cheerful voice named “Lola,” piped up: “Skillshot available: ‘Gut Check.’ Launch an enemy into a ceiling fan for bonus points!”

A second mutant jumped from a catwalk. Nakamura flicked her wrist again, wrapping the Leash around its ankle, and slammed it into a third mutant. The two bodies crumpled. “Bowl-a-rama! +100!”

Meridian clapped her on the shoulder. “You just kicked a man into a planet-killer. That’s a new one. Gotta be worth a thousand points.”