When the bullet fired,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkpvsyrMmqO
Claire shut her eyes tight.
In her vision, the bullet was like a single drop of water52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi52c53BohF
falling into a still pond—52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwo66WUubkL
no ripple,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ILhBiwgwi
no splash,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowLyNkJL2J
not even a sound.
Every expected outcome52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDlA0JSvEe3
felt like it had its throat clenched shut52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNtO7rhrq75
somewhere deeper,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG3vBs6TU8q
in a silence too dense to escape.
Claire's whole emotional system buckled.
“Fuck!”
It exploded out of her—52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvX0tGcYLSe
not anger,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9iFZ7hFgAi
but that particular kind of despair52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL0k1qbyEUH
that curls around the edge of your sanity52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡue0qJXRaer
and laughs.
She spun around,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBqkIFc4Lui
slammed the gun back into the hand of the blue-eyed officer52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEEHrFEwBBB
who was still standing there, staring at the sky like a broken antenna.
“Sorry. Yours.”
She stepped closer—52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3lDJYxqQeq
grabbed his shoulder without hesitation—52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsq4gPD9sX2
and leaned in.
“I know you're a plant.”
Her voice was low.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnZUS7LseM1
But not even slightly unsure.
“Tell Batman. Tell Nightwing. Tell Robin.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8UPCVpgnj5
They’re all in this city now.”
She spoke fast,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfAUlWhnCAL
like racing against something with teeth.
“Tell them I’ll reach out.”
Before he could say a word—52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBX9JywQ9zc
before those blue eyes could blink again—52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3UblKe1f69
Claire was already turning away.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrxSfGKaumH
Her body moved faster than her thoughts.
She ran.
Ten steps.
Then she came back.
Still breathless,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQI3jWvmBI
chest tight from the sprint.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPYahdnnp4Q
No more touching this time.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdP2Sooa0RU
Just her voice,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqpWcJXxeRx
sharp and slow:
“You help evacuate the civilians.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNSk00X9law
There’s something in the sky—52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhAp4cEPhU
invisible sludge.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRdJlBSEpeP
I don’t know what it is.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV0ENDcu0Gp
Please.”
She ran again.
This time it was the run of someone who’d decided.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQrImhcpEW
Like she’d grown wings on the soles of her feet.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf3iazX2DlG
Wings made of choice.
52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBxItUbwdZ8
The blue-eyed officer stood still.
The gun in his hand52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvveiwwMfbL
still warm from hers.
He didn’t move.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjrmHLthy0i
Didn’t speak.
Only his gaze—
still glued to the shape of her52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiAcKTF9fQa
as she disappeared down the street.
That figure.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtwK8kXE3pa
That little rabbit.
Running straight into a warzone.
Never once looking back.
52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqMHMgHrlAR
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.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvyagaPbp1U
