No Surrender | Eddie Munson

Chapter Thirty-Two: Batman and Robin

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: BATMAN AND ROBIN

HUMAN — DODIE

I wanna pick you up and scoop you out
I want the secrets your secrets haven't found

TW// Implied mention of SA

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"I don't understand," Robin gasps as we quickly retreat back down the stairs, "you've seen this before?"

"Not exactly."

She huffs in exasperation, "Then what, 'exactly'?"

Offering a hand to help me down the stairs, Steve looks to Dustin. "All you need to know is it's bad."

"It's really bad."

"Like, end-of-the-human-race-as-we-know-it kind of bad."

When she doesn't get the response she wants, she turns to me. "And you know about this, how?"

"Um, Steve? Where's your Russian friend?"

No sooner has Erica spoken, an alarm blares. Outside, the hub is in a commotion. Two guards support the bleeding comms operator. It isn't long before they catch sight of us at the door.

"Go, go, go, go!"

We take another turn. This time, the door opens out onto the observation deck. There is no other exit. I have to curb the spinning in my head, racing down a set of stairs to the side until our path is blocked by the Gate ray.

"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!" Dustin pauses for air. "Holy shit!"

And I do something stupid. Monumentally stupid.

I reach forwards. The wintry energy rushes through me, surging and surging until my body erupts with a sudden heat. I direct it just in time and the shouts surrounding me drop away into complete silence.

My eyes close. I focus on the ice, on the trembling of my body, of the tingling in my feet — a warning to run. It grows stronger. My heart pounds against my ribs, fit to burst. Fight, flight or freeze. Just those three options. They are all that is left, the only choices. But I narrow it down until only the cold remains.

It swells, ringing in the air like screams.

An arm hooks around my waist just as I near the end of my attack, dragging me away. When I open my eyes, everyone in the room is still. Some lie  at our feet, some flattened against the railings like statues. The rest are gone.

Sprinting away as fast as I can, I do my best to force out another wave of fear as some guards start to pour into the room. It isn't as easy without my undivided attention.

A door slams behind us. It shakes with the weight of their attempts to break it down. My head is spinning but I join Steve in holding it shut, urging yet another pulse through my fingertips. The metal dampens it but not by much. Their struggles slow.

"Robin, a little help?"

"Guys, come on!"

"No!" I snap.

Steve easily agrees. Looking to the kids waiting by an open air vent, he yells out to them, "Go! Just go get some help, okay?" Dustin hesitates. "What are you doing? Go!"

Panting, he stares frantically at the three of us. "I won't forget you!"

"Go!"

It's too much. The door swings open and we are knocked to the floor. Blood drips onto the floor below me but I still shakily push myself up, coming face to face with at least half a dozen guards armed with guns.