Claire saw the shock in his face.
His pupils dilated, eyebrows shot up,8Please respect copyright.PENANAxvYXkPjKSK
like he’d just seen something that shouldn’t exist in this world.8Please respect copyright.PENANAmsbFEyUS9H
A mix of disbelief and worry twisted his expression—8Please respect copyright.PENANAGDshIF7D45
even his mouth twitched a little.
But she didn’t care what he saw.8Please respect copyright.PENANAF2wv2OoPZl
Claire’s heartbeat was still pounding from the quake.8Please respect copyright.PENANAKH6TYbRpUP
There was only one thing left in her mind:8Please respect copyright.PENANAtH8RaeZaiQ
Get out.8Please respect copyright.PENANA530j0eNsxO
Now.
She shoved his hands off, pulled herself free from his arms.8Please respect copyright.PENANAutpmn3CDwN
It wasn’t graceful—8Please respect copyright.PENANARjHz5WWDPG
she practically crashed out of that embrace,8Please respect copyright.PENANApSkDw0QePP
her chest still rattling with leftover tremors.8Please respect copyright.PENANAdHvjJWUsQX
She didn’t care.
He said,
“Wait—”
It wasn’t loud.8Please respect copyright.PENANAMLqXO3aXDs
It was quiet, pleading, instinctive.8Please respect copyright.PENANAbl9NLRZKQL
But to Claire, it sounded like some pointless prayer.
Wait, my ass, she thought.
She was furious now.8Please respect copyright.PENANAaKZD13yV3e
She hadn’t come here to wait.8Please respect copyright.PENANArpPpiXASQD
She wasn’t someone to be protected.
She stormed to the door.
Grabbed the handle.8Please respect copyright.PENANAaeAFiNn8UI
Yanked hard.8Please respect copyright.PENANAid4rP835YJ
No finesse—just pure, animal panic.8Please respect copyright.PENANAd5sxCl7T8s
Like trying to tear open the edge of reality.
But it didn’t budge.
The door groaned—8Please respect copyright.PENANAU5MJHt8pki
a horrible creaking, like something was gummed up in the cracks.8Please respect copyright.PENANAnv5L96w3zS
Claire didn’t believe it.8Please respect copyright.PENANAynwi3wmzPk
Used her other hand.8Please respect copyright.PENANAB5wrvYUoUP
Pushed harder.
Every muscle in her body tensed.8Please respect copyright.PENANA10XNpsGj57
Shoulder against the door.8Please respect copyright.PENANAe59cFgoGPn
Feet braced.8Please respect copyright.PENANAVEYlkpZnPi
She looked like a beast caged for too long—8Please respect copyright.PENANAiaa9LPgH0i
and the only thing in her eyes was escape.
Still nothing.
She gritted her teeth.8Please respect copyright.PENANARLj5uwLszn
Her palms reddened.8Please respect copyright.PENANABVLFbgI7pK
Her arms shook.
She was about to lose it.
Then the officer came up beside her.8Please respect copyright.PENANApbglxqxh1u
He didn’t say a word.8Please respect copyright.PENANAm5dI09Nb1e
Just reached for the handle, adding his strength to hers.
They pulled—together.
Their breathing was all over the place,8Please respect copyright.PENANA6bhiDowwo8
but their rhythm began to sync,8Please respect copyright.PENANAQXNpP6Iayr
two struggling bodies tugging in perfect time.
Then, finally—
A ding.
A clear chime rang out from the alert bell above the door,8Please respect copyright.PENANARhP44agbsj
as if the universe had just issued permission to flee.
Claire could hear her own pulse echo in her ears.
The door opened.
Cold air blasted in—8Please respect copyright.PENANAER9P3IoXyj
like a beast breaking out of its cage.8Please respect copyright.PENANA3o75zO02u4
The world outside was chaotic,8Please respect copyright.PENANAw3Jxs8aLJZ
but it still felt better than the warped, rattling room behind her.
Claire didn’t stop to breathe.8Please respect copyright.PENANA4ymSFj6ij3
She ran.8Please respect copyright.PENANAMKRLEhfoV4
Didn’t even wait to steady her steps—8Please respect copyright.PENANAuLUfpjsmiJ
her whole body was moving on instinct,8Please respect copyright.PENANA5aAcNqrFbT
as if chasing something…8Please respect copyright.PENANAVM4KzsVT61
or escaping it.
The street was full of confused people.
Someone yelling into a phone.8Please respect copyright.PENANAHEHpbhlymM
Someone staring at shattered glass.8Please respect copyright.PENANAmy52kUAXxe
Someone gripping an umbrella, frozen in place.
Everyone trying to process what just happened—8Please respect copyright.PENANA6MSZyKuiIR
but all their thoughts were trapped at street level.
No one looked up.
Claire felt that old, familiar loneliness wrap around her again.8Please respect copyright.PENANA2gGg6YFA7U
Even if the sky split in half,8Please respect copyright.PENANAGinRO4PfmW
no one would see it.
Only she knew it was there.
She stopped.8Please respect copyright.PENANAKC0tr07siT
Tilted her head back.8Please respect copyright.PENANA1oLQwofsgS
Took a deep breath.8Please respect copyright.PENANA4Mc9jtYyYL
Closed her eyes.8Please respect copyright.PENANANVi9n3qeoa
And shifted into the Observer.
The tear in the sky was leaking something—8Please respect copyright.PENANAFeVyp1wQS7
slow as syrup.8Please respect copyright.PENANAX0hDimA3RO
Something was dripping out.
Not a natural phenomenon.8Please respect copyright.PENANAazqOnTIBj0
More like... something sick, pulling itself into shape.8Please respect copyright.PENANAn2ZWrCZmTm
Sluggish.8Please respect copyright.PENANAbDYc6VQvj7
Inevitable.
Vile purple.
Thick like vomit.8Please respect copyright.PENANADkQ4FBXRZY
A cursed color.8Please respect copyright.PENANAglyE0CECp7
She could almost smell it—8Please respect copyright.PENANAbgQu2ci9Nd
metal, rot, humidity, chaos.
Some of the syrup had already reached the ground.
It was corroding the street.8Please respect copyright.PENANAhQVbryfRuw
Smoke.8Please respect copyright.PENANAOqP9ozynx5
Sludge.8Please respect copyright.PENANAByDXbURkfH
Tentacle-like forms.
People screamed.8Please respect copyright.PENANA9uvKWZQp9f
Some still thought it was just a busted pipe.
One blob dangled just above Claire’s head.8Please respect copyright.PENANAuf1dT84bgM
Not quite touching the ground—8Please respect copyright.PENANA5XNn6FlSGS
it wavered in the air, like sniffing.8Please respect copyright.PENANAEx1tgs13K5
Like it had chosen her.
She felt its attention.8Please respect copyright.PENANAZ0tS2KdOhD
Knew it was watching.
She looked around.
The blue-eyed officer was also looking up—8Please respect copyright.PENANANpcMvSues2
trying to follow her gaze.8Please respect copyright.PENANAKlR490KGEw
Confused.
He saw nothing.
Claire moved.
She snatched the gun from his waist.8Please respect copyright.PENANA8WtKVW6UYX
Aimed it skyward.
Fast.8Please respect copyright.PENANAIh93AXTKiu
Silent.8Please respect copyright.PENANAcEnvAqpK0J
Her fingers moved like she'd rehearsed it a hundred times.
She felt him try to stop her,8Please respect copyright.PENANACyj3Euds37
but it was too late.
She was already in position.
“Wait—!”
His voice cracked with panic.
He hadn’t expected her to actually do it.
His eyes were wide with fear.
But Claire—8Please respect copyright.PENANAL35t1Ajhlr
Claire’s eyes were empty.
Just calm.8Please respect copyright.PENANA4e76YVCK3d
And decision.
Too late.
She already had the gun
8Please respect copyright.PENANAeOuMwYlz4w
She didn’t look back.
Just tightened her grip around the cold weight in her hand.8Please respect copyright.PENANAmVqWebR1Qp
She knew this feeling.8Please respect copyright.PENANA77W7VgR4TF
The weight of the gun.8Please respect copyright.PENANAjzDgLj6rzF
The click of the safety.8Please respect copyright.PENANAMsuyvVKeKu
Exactly where the catch was.
Bad in strength?8Please respect copyright.PENANAxe3gIKrMh6
Make it up in skill.
She’d long given up trying to win with brute force—8Please respect copyright.PENANAvEVbW4sd6D
but technique?8Please respect copyright.PENANAPzyAyL0M2w
Her technique never failed her.8Please respect copyright.PENANAXRd5yrfgbJ
Form, angle, purpose—everything precise.
She was, after all, the one Batman personally added to the emergency combat class.
Originally it was just a one-time workshop.8Please respect copyright.PENANA8slqISbIsR
Then Batman took one look at her and said,
“Add her.”
No one laughed.
Everyone knew what that meant.8Please respect copyright.PENANA8r9eof9zoT
It meant:8Please respect copyright.PENANAIPo7tU50mN
“You’re not good enough—8Please respect copyright.PENANAa9Kn1Y92xa
but you might need to fight first.”
Those sessions nearly killed her.
Especially the first few.8Please respect copyright.PENANAvuIRoX7vFn
Batman just stood there and said coldly,
“If you can’t get through this,8Please respect copyright.PENANA2rzLNlOZD4
this world isn’t yours to look at.”
She vomited on the mat.8Please respect copyright.PENANAy36bylItgD
Tore the skin off her palms.8Please respect copyright.PENANAHrtz63pwSk
Blacked out once from getting slammed too hard.
And Batman?8Please respect copyright.PENANACACINkkek7
Didn’t flinch.8Please respect copyright.PENANApI5jI5nLuJ
Just said,
“Get up. Again.”
She remembered thinking:
If I don’t get up, the world ends.
Her sparring partner?
Robin.
The kid had zero chill—8Please respect copyright.PENANAxCrNlUIBMS
but perfect accuracy.8Please respect copyright.PENANAsm7Ji62ddq
Each correction hit like a needle to her reflexes.
He also taught her how to handle guns.
How to tell the difference between a threat and a survival shot.8Please respect copyright.PENANAR09vKPI1fa
How to know when it’s time.
He once told her,
“If you’re going to shoot—don’t hesitate.”
Technically, Nightwing was supposed to be her trainer.8Please respect copyright.PENANAP7nKCHiM06
But an hour in, Batman barked,
“Switch. Robin.”
Nightwing had been too gentle.8Please respect copyright.PENANAK4IuBlMlvl
Too smiley.8Please respect copyright.PENANAVKFasybSUE
Too… encouraging.
Claire almost thought she was in barista orientation.
Robin later said Nightwing had
“too many hand gestures,8Please respect copyright.PENANAj4QJ55CptH
too much explaining,8Please respect copyright.PENANAB0eXTzsfoD
and a face that made people want to trust him.”
Batman stood in the back, deadpan.
“Robin.”
So now—
Safety off. Chamber loaded.
Her fingers flicked,8Please respect copyright.PENANARjp5M76RzK
metal clicked.8Please respect copyright.PENANArcf9koUBFw
A sharp ka-clack8Please respect copyright.PENANAnPMwGc7qQV
like her heart syncing into a new tempo.
The air thickened.8Please respect copyright.PENANA2faqcqlGOm
Noise faded.
Claire closed her eyes.
Raised the gun.
And fired at the sludge hanging from the sky.
BANG.8Please respect copyright.PENANAgYU6fvW5NZ