When the bullet fired,38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhIy2sa10PO
Claire shut her eyes tight.
In her vision, the bullet was like a single drop of water38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS2GqwmJoU4
falling into a still pond—38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnUml4RMjXW
no ripple,38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZKhv6k32Rb
no splash,38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL3YiIZyPeg
not even a sound.
Every expected outcome38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHn3staFap4
felt like it had its throat clenched shut38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDC4sS9CM44
somewhere deeper,38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYXhT4oV3Za
in a silence too dense to escape.
Claire's whole emotional system buckled.
“Fuck!”
It exploded out of her—38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDsQYDVi1u
not anger,38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE658hi7CJq
but that particular kind of despair38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3g2mwfRZfJ
that curls around the edge of your sanity38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSARnKqIqWi
and laughs.
She spun around,38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZJQIik6snQ
slammed the gun back into the hand of the blue-eyed officer38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjkyYo3o54b
who was still standing there, staring at the sky like a broken antenna.
“Sorry. Yours.”
She stepped closer—38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡev6UdiVtAw
grabbed his shoulder without hesitation—38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqbOFJ2AkDl
and leaned in.
“I know you're a plant.”
Her voice was low.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh3Uo8LdB8r
But not even slightly unsure.
“Tell Batman. Tell Nightwing. Tell Robin.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhBGN5C1HAs
They’re all in this city now.”
She spoke fast,38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZS1Am2l3RE
like racing against something with teeth.
“Tell them I’ll reach out.”
Before he could say a word—38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡno47i5EmtM
before those blue eyes could blink again—38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3FR9jQohai
Claire was already turning away.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO7OVImVGn1
Her body moved faster than her thoughts.
She ran.
Ten steps.
Then she came back.
Still breathless,38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR2wHGmnUfY
chest tight from the sprint.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwdSirwJ0a3
No more touching this time.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDbs4E1RhB7
Just her voice,38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmkoysEU1qE
sharp and slow:
“You help evacuate the civilians.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡom2nZZSF40
There’s something in the sky—38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ydAzQUHO0
invisible sludge.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwfkEHM6gb1
I don’t know what it is.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu5eKHmKnwe
Please.”
She ran again.
This time it was the run of someone who’d decided.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwb6oecVofA
Like she’d grown wings on the soles of her feet.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhDJbKlMt4S
Wings made of choice.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmqHoVTV2ua
The blue-eyed officer stood still.
The gun in his hand38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaST4qgHIpH
still warm from hers.
He didn’t move.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmVZK4sREu4
Didn’t speak.
Only his gaze—
still glued to the shape of her38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWMPGrvZddv
as she disappeared down the street.
That figure.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxGXzHZZEFS
That little rabbit.
Running straight into a warzone.
Never once looking back.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCBe7Aq2ncM
How did it all happen?
Claire tried to remember. Her mind felt like a tangle of sticky wires, each one pulling her thoughts in a different direction. She forced herself to focus, to line up her memories like soldiers before a battle.
By the time she burst into the safehouse, she was running on instinct.
Footsteps echoed like drumbeats down the empty street. She didn’t wait for the mechanical lock to fully disengage—just threw her shoulder into the door and stumbled inside.
She grabbed the communicator and started speaking immediately, not even bothering to catch her breath.
"Purple... slime... I—I fired... didn’t work..."
Her voice trembled. She couldn’t help it. Panic had already made itself at home in her chest.
"It doesn’t react... not solid... or maybe it’s too fast—I don’t know..."
She clenched the device hard enough to crack it. Like maybe if she squeezed tightly enough, she could wrestle the situation back under control.
She kept talking as her hands moved on their own.
She was already yanking open drawers, stuffing every tool she could see into her bag—scissors, meters, pliers, anything. She didn’t know what she’d need. Just that she needed everything.
Then her left eye blurred. Wet.
Sweat? Tears? She didn’t cry easily. She blinked, but the world on that side of her face smeared like it was underwater.
She reached up, wiped it—
Blood.
It didn’t hurt. But her palm came away stained in a deep, purplish red—not ordinary red. Not anything ordinary.
She stared for half a second. Didn’t scream. Didn’t ask questions. Not because it was fine, but because she didn’t have time.
She wrapped her eye with gauze.
Fast. Clean. Like she’d rehearsed it in a hundred drills. Maybe it was unnecessary. Maybe it meant nothing. But she wasn’t going to let that blood keep running. Whatever it was, it had to stop now.
She sped through her report like a radio on the verge of overheating, pushing out information before the static took over.
And then she grabbed her bag and ran for the door.
No hesitation. No backup plan. Just one clear instinct: go back. There was still something she could do.
That’s when she ran into Nightwing.
He looked like a shadow had stepped inside—blue and black uniform drenched in sweat, breath sharp. They almost collided. Neither apologized.
His eyes searched her face. Not fear. Not shock. Something fuzzier, like confusion wrapped in suspicion. Maybe it was the makeshift eyepatch, Claire thought.
“We need to pick up Robin. He might’ve just arrived at the station,” she said.
It came out like a command. She wasn’t sure it was the right move. But standing still would be the worst.
“No,” Nightwing said. “Batman told me to get you as far away from that slime as possible. You can’t get touched.”
His voice was steady, but there was pressure underneath. He wasn’t issuing an order. He was protecting her. That wasn’t the Bat-family’s usual flavor—but she heard it.
“People touched it and just—vanished. It looked... horrifying,” he added, almost to convince himself this wasn’t just another nightmare.
He got them on the bike. Claire clutched the tools on her back like bricks pressing into her spine. They rode fast, like prey with fire nipping at their heels.
Too late.
The road was already gone.
They screeched to a stop in front of a scorched bridge that had collapsed into an abyss. Rubble, ash, nothing beyond. They said nothing.
They started climbing.
Higher floors. Higher and higher. Nowhere to go but up. It didn’t feel safe—just less terrible. With each floor, the air felt thicker. Like the purple slime had started to seep into time itself.
The comms were dead.
Batman, gone. Robin, gone. Only static now, buzzing like whispers around her ear. It wasn’t quiet. It was hollow.
Nightwing was unraveling. Claire could see it.
He usually cracked jokes, lightened the mood, said something dumb just to make people smile. But now—even his lips had gone quiet. His shoulders sagged. His eyes—fractured.
No more roads. Just stairs.
So they kept climbing. Even if nothing waited at the top.
From the rooftop, Claire looked down.
The city had no shape anymore. It looked like it had been swallowed, chewed up, then spat back out as sludge. She remembered a flower shop there. A man who walked his dog and always bought bagels. People. So many people.
Now, just a sea of purple sludge.
Thick. Silent. Cold.
Like someone turned the night sky upside down and poured it over the city.
She and Nightwing were the last two standing. No wind. No sound.
Claire rested her head on his lap.
He didn’t move. Didn’t push her away. She could feel it—he was tired. Heart-tired.
“Hey, Nightwing,” she murmured. “Do you believe me? If I fall asleep, I can reset everything. I’ll find a way. Everyone will be okay.”
Her voice was soft, almost unreal. But every word hit like a drumbeat.
“I believe you,” he said.
He forced a smile, just for her. Even now.
Even when he didn’t believe a word of it.
Because this kind of apocalypse wasn’t one you could stop. Not with gear, not with training. Not even with a Bat.
But he said it anyway. Because Claire needed to hear it.
“Look at me, Nightwing.”
He looked down. Into her one good eye.
“I’m not letting you die, Dick.”
It was the most honest thing she’d said in 296 days.
Not for anyone else. Not for the world.
Just because she meant it.
He stared, stunned.
But Claire had already closed her eye.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYDMU028gmi
