Line #20 Awesome/Gone


1	Feel free to add your favourite awesome moments in the appropriate book period. Please explain why you think it qualifies.
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3	'''Warning''': Heavy spoilers below for the entire series. Do not read further if you don't want to be spoiled.
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5	----
6	!!''Gone''
7	* Mary stepping up to do the daycare with no help and no agenda was a Moment of Awesome in itself.
8	* Diana's [[DeadpanSnarker quips]] had this ongoing effect. It was kickass how her insults weren't only hilarious and well-timed, but true too and with context.
9	* The confrontation and battle of wits between Sam and Caine half-way through the book. They tore each other new ones like a boss, whilst delivering a WhamLine at the end.
10	-->'''Caine:''' ...And you are... Brother.
11	* Astrid swinging not only herself, but her four-year-old brother onto a balcony below them to hide from Drake. All while reciting the [[SurvivalMantra Hail Mary prayer.]]
12	** Followed immediately by [[BigDamnHeroes Sam coming to her rescue at the last second]], hurling Drake over the balcony at Clifftop. Sadly, Drake isn't killed by the fall.
13	* Sam outsmarting Howard and Orc by making them crash their speedboat, tearing off its propellers, and then throwing Orc into the Barrier.
14	* Lana saving Sam, Astrid, Quinn, Edilio and Little Pete while they were on the run by immediately getting them inside Hermit Jim's shack the moment she noticed they were in the area, before quickly dispatching the two coyotes that managed to get inside during the panic and were in the process of mauling Sam to death by [[ImprobableWeaponUser beating both coyotes over the head with a gold bar]], killing both of them.
15	** Lana immediately proceeds to use her [[HealingHands healing powers]] to save Sam from bleeding to death from his wounds, adding to the awesome.
16	* The first time that Sam uses his powers to protect his friends. Trapped in a burning shack by Pack Leader and the other mutated Coyotes, Sam steps forward and channels all of the frustration and rage inside him in order to unleash his killing light powers for the first time, utterly ''decimating'' the Coyote pack by burning holes through or setting fire to every Coyote he can hit and forcing the previously menacing Pack Leader and the other Coyotes to flee for their lives. Sam really TookALevelInBadass in that moment and it only escalated from there.
17	* One of the most shocking and nightmarish scenes in the book quickly turns into one of the most cathartic as a panicking Astrid nearly crushes Little Pete's UsefulNotes/GameBoy with the cement binding her hands. Little Pete immediately makes not only the cement binding Astrid's hands, but Sam's and every other starved and tortured mutant held in Coates, disappear. What follows is Caine and Diana immediately [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere running the fuck away]] and a unprepared Drake getting his arm burned so badly it nearly kills him by Sam's light powers.
18	* During the start of the final battle, [[LightEmUp Sam]] and [[GravityMaster Dekka]] absolutely [[CurbStompBattle tear apart the coyotes that were holding the preschoolers hostage]] by combining their powers. This leaves Drake with no option but to retreat and the surviving coyotes running away in terror.
19	** Brianna's help also proves invaluable, cockily running right into the middle of the coyote pack and luring them away from the children with food and towards their deaths at the hands of Dekka and Sam.
20	* Bringing down a entire church Caine Soren style.
21	** For context. The combined effort of Sam, Dekka, Quinn and Brianna completely destroys any leverage Caine had over Perdido Beach and shifting the tide of the conflict in favour of Sam and the others. Caine's response is to drive straight into the main plaza while the surviving coyote's charge at the defenceless kids and use his powers to collapse a corner of the church, trapping and nearly killing a large number of kids and teenagers that posed a threat, including Astrid, Little Pete and Dekka. Quickly turning things back in his favour and leaving Sam as the only real challenge to his power until Brianna shows up.
22	* Drake's [[CombatTentacles whip-hand]] is a definite mix of both this and NightmareFuel.
23	* When Caine seemingly has a clear shot to kill Sam, Brianna stops him by smacking him with a hammer, saving Sam.
24	* The dreaded poof scene at the end of the book. When Sam finally turns 15, he is taken out of the final battle and offered the choice of potentially leaving the FAYZ by an illusion in the form of his mother. He refuses to abandon his friends as they fight for their lives against the coyote pack and Drake, even after being pressured to by Caine, showing his willingness to protect the children of the FAYZ.
25	* There is no doubt that Sam and Caine's final battle, and the first outright fight between the two, is made of awesome. After a few shots are fired to test the waters, the two go all out with [[BeamOWar a epic clash of Sam's killing light and Caine's storm of telekinetically thrown rubble.]] Sam wins the clash and horrifically wounds Caine.
26	** Caine then retreats, but then proves that even when in extreme pain he is still incredibly cunning by luring Sam into a derelict house before bringing the whole building down on top of him. However, Caine's smug sense of victory is only met with the sight of a PillarOfLight as Sam blasts his way free of the rubble and quickly returns to the fight.
27
28	!!''Hunger''
29	* Despite that fact that he is being manipulated by the Gaiaphage, you have to admit that Caine's takeover of the power plant was absolutely effortless, with the only actual challenge coming from the brave resistance of Brittney.
30	* Jack standing up to Drake, of all people. If Diana and Caine hadn't stopped the fight, there was a good chance Jack could have ended Drake right there and then.
31	* Lana going to take on the Gaiaphage. Whether you think she was being stupid or not, you have to give her credit for being ballsy.
32	* Caine finally defying the Gaiaphage after Diana is attacked by Drake.
33	* Orc saving the lives of Hunter, Astrid and Little Pete by interrupting Hunter's lynching and tossing Zil across the street, nearly killing him.
34	* [[DreamWalker Orsay's power.]]
35	* Duck Zhang, a normal kid outside of the FAYZ circle of top dogs and upper echelons, stepping up during the book's climax and, with the help of Caine, performing a HeroicSacrifice to defeat the Gaiaphage and prevent it from creating an unstoppable form it could inhabit.
36	** This also serves as one of the few times that the [[GreaterScopeVillain The Gaiaphage]] is outplayed and defeated. The EldritchAbomination let its own hubris got the better of it, and as a result it is crippled and defeated by a kid whose powers it had no knowledge of and had dismissed as no threat.
37
38	!!''Lies''
39	* Side-character Ellen playing a big role in saving the town as it's in the process of being burned down, taking control of the situation the best she could and creating fire breaks using Orc, Dekka and Jack's powers and skills. She successfully contains a raging fire without the help of any working water or hoses.
40	** Edilio and, funnily enough, [[JerkAss Howard]] also deserve credit for spending the entire night saving as many lives as they can. This is done without the help of any superpowers.
41	*** Howard quickly follows this up by calling out both Astrid and Albert for acting like leaders, yet not doing anything to save lives or aid the wounded during the fire or in any other previous crisis scenarios. In a massive PetTheDog moment, he also calls them out for not treating Edilio well enough for everything he does.
42	* Newcomer Sanjit quickly proves himself to be this when he finds himself in a game of wits with Caine Soren and utterly trouncing him, smoothly lying during the conversation and blindsiding Caine's whole group by drugging their food.
43	* Regardless of your thoughts about Astrid, it's hard to deny that Edilio and Howard's refusal to follow her orders in front of everyone in town served as an excellent wake-up call that her desire to have control over everything was doing some serious damage - a fact Astrid later admits partly as a result of Edilio and Howard's deliberate inaction.
44	* Diana risking her life for people she didn't even know. She's come a long way from being a [[ManipulativeBastard Manipulative Bitch]] in ''Gone''.
45	* Astrid's and Nerezza's fight. This marks the first time Astrid gets physical and the result is a brutal, up-close fight where Astrid takes down and nearly chokes to death the physical avatar of a literal EldritchAbomination. All in order to [[MamaBear protect Little Pete]].
46	* Dekka [[OneManArmy singlehandedly demolishes the Human Crew]] during the climactic battle, demonstrating just how powerful she can be when pushed. She takes a shotgun blast to the leg mid-fight and doesn't even slow down, and she ''still'' has enough strength left after everything's over to save all the kids from Mary's attempted group suicide.
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48	!!''Plague''
49	* Howard's loyalty for Orc in this book defines the term.
50	* With Orc too drunk and off-balance to do anything and Astrid giving up (having been past the DespairEventHorizon at this point), Edilio is left with no choice but to single-handedly take out both Lance and Turk when they attempt to kill Little Pete. Showing off his BadassNormal skills he had been building up for four books, he takes out both of the loathsome Neo Nazis in a split second, shooting Lance in the face and Turk in the stomach. Although the resulting impact on Edilio's consciousness is heartbreaking, the act itself is still awesome and cathartic after everything the two had done up to that point.
51	* Sam coming up with a battle plan on the spot to escape Drake, kill the bugs that are attacking his group (Sam, Jack, Dekka and Toto), save Dekka's life, and attack the bugs terrorising Perdido Beach. The awesomeness of this moment is enhanced by the juxtaposition between the previous chapter's closing line (Brianna telling Caine "I'm disappointed. Situation like this? Sam would have come up with a plan.") and the chapter in question's opening line (Sam had come up with a plan.)
52	** Jack and Sam's combined effort to take out Drake's bugs is badass. It's great to see Jack step up and TakeALevelInBadass and Sam killing a monster bug from the inside is both gross and cool.
53	* Diana leaving Caine after being betrayed by him.
54	* Caine killing Lance. More because of who was dying than because of how it was done.
55	* Performing surgery on Dekka.
56	* Caine and Brianna [[EnemyMine teaming up to fight the bugs at Perdido Beach.]] They hate each other, and Caine is a terrible person, but they nonetheless work well together, and hold them off until the day can be saved.
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58	!!''Fear''
59	* Edilio unloading on Sam and Dekka after Sam accuses him of not having anyone he cares about. He does. It's the Artful Roger.
60	* Dekka finally calling out Brianna was pretty kickass.
61	* Caine's bubble finally bursting, whether [[BaseBreakingCharacter you're a fan or a hater,]] was either very compelling and moving (if you love him) or hilarious and relieving that someone at last managed to pick him apart (if you don't love him so much). Either way, full of awesome.
62	* Penny using her power was this combined with [[NightmareFuel horror]].
63	* "I miss Diana." Yes, Caine, you are lost without her. Thanks for acknowledging that.
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65	!!''Light''
66	* Sam kills Drake.
67	* Albert calls out filmmakers that think the graves in the middle of the town plaza are fake.
68	* A cop is about to report Edilio to immigration services, but when he recognizes Edilio, he instead calls for another four police cars for protection.
69	* Caine carrying and throwing a whole ass missile with his powers.
70	* Caine, of all people, is the recipient of Little Pete's consciousness, and he gets to save the world in the most badass manner possible.
71	* Brianna would have ended Gaia if it wasn't for a dud shell, even though she was fighting her alone and wounded, and she still went out fighting.
72	** Plus, they were both using super speed, so the entire battle took like six seconds.
73	* Not to mention Brianna's first encounter with Gaia that gave her her injuries in the first place, where she managed to defeat her in spite of Gaia having all of her powers plus everyone else's, saving many people who were around the lake when Gaia attacked.
74	** The fight starts with Gaia exulting in destroying the Lake and brutally murdering the children living there for fun, before Brianna comes up and knocks her over. She then proceeds to shoot her, effortlessly dodges Gaia's attacks and ''cuts off Gaia's leg''.

Context Awesome / Gone