When the bullet fired,33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡECxenvylDZ
Claire shut her eyes tight.
In her vision, the bullet was like a single drop of water33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUYmhvhITIw
falling into a still pond—33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQPYpjrKTkb
no ripple,33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6eVIQbgM6o
no splash,33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn5LFqCmIHH
not even a sound.
Every expected outcome33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhwxA8CY5Mh
felt like it had its throat clenched shut33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCHDo7WvbEU
somewhere deeper,33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeNSTmXOF0u
in a silence too dense to escape.
Claire's whole emotional system buckled.
“Fuck!”
It exploded out of her—33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOgJVIOL6r1
not anger,33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyUBrwLlrnS
but that particular kind of despair33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS6X71pgyuQ
that curls around the edge of your sanity33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQKq0LvfNL
and laughs.
She spun around,33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKPAK0D7WIa
slammed the gun back into the hand of the blue-eyed officer33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTOI2njjKNE
who was still standing there, staring at the sky like a broken antenna.
“Sorry. Yours.”
She stepped closer—33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLZ8TUTjiB
grabbed his shoulder without hesitation—33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxEi3qxpme
and leaned in.
“I know you're a plant.”
Her voice was low.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHNOTLyVbcp
But not even slightly unsure.
“Tell Batman. Tell Nightwing. Tell Robin.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2bmwjpbFI4
They’re all in this city now.”
She spoke fast,33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYGINBlR1Yr
like racing against something with teeth.
“Tell them I’ll reach out.”
Before he could say a word—33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMZkwaZNzPi
before those blue eyes could blink again—33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxB3QUyUZwf
Claire was already turning away.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcTu71Hb0wU
Her body moved faster than her thoughts.
She ran.
Ten steps.
Then she came back.
Still breathless,33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJovotoAhQ
chest tight from the sprint.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT1jSXzxDrk
No more touching this time.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy6hg2HZmUr
Just her voice,33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9RovmJEl8w
sharp and slow:
“You help evacuate the civilians.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUDhkcv8Lma
There’s something in the sky—33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgSLzYdy1IS
invisible sludge.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkCEb3xH4vp
I don’t know what it is.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG2k6B0zvEc
Please.”
She ran again.
This time it was the run of someone who’d decided.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3p9RbB22U4
Like she’d grown wings on the soles of her feet.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9eR8MPCy32
Wings made of choice.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq3MQt922M5
The blue-eyed officer stood still.
The gun in his hand33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxAUiOAJJ3t
still warm from hers.
He didn’t move.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Efp526PIa
Didn’t speak.
Only his gaze—
still glued to the shape of her33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXwQ5EnWKYN
as she disappeared down the street.
That figure.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWLyNbHSwt0
That little rabbit.
Running straight into a warzone.
Never once looking back.
33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD8jOZNNy06
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.33Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgSSMjBRb1I
