“Eye to the ground,” Capricorn said. Still Tristan. He’d come back from the church. “Look at the landscape. Look at the cracks. Look where the city’s still standing. That’s going to be our battlefield. Try to keep a mental map in your head. Know where you’re going. Don’t run somewhere and find a chasm waiting for you.”

Titan Eve was starting to move. First one way, then the other.

We stood, we sat, we floated in the air. We watched. We did it together, though some of us were near-strangers.

I felt okay about Sveta. Mostly okay about Rain. Someone who carried all of their anxieties and stresses in private made for a hard read.

I didn’t feel okay about Tristan. I didn’t feel okay about Kenzie.

We’d needed this, everyone in a position to safely see, to take it in, and to come to terms with what we had to deal with. Titan Eve, seemingly getting more restless, minute by minute, as minutes passed.

Titan Oberon, out by the water, head craning around. Taller than any of the buildings around him.

More minutes passed, and I saw how some people were getting cold. I was counting the seconds until I interrupted our viewing to suggest we head back down when Titan Eve’s restlessness ceased.

She looked over at Titan Oberon.

“Shit,” Tattletale said.

When our phones rang, I felt only annoyance. We already know.

I checked anyway. Sure enough, we had orders. Almost immediate, following that look.

Titan Eve attempt to form a connection with Titan Oberon.

Priority one: Intervene.

Portals imminent.

It was Kenzie’s tech. Doorways, that would lead us to where we needed to go. I remained where I was, watching people, searching for signs. They ripped their way into existence around us and below us, while we stood above the treeline.

“Jumping,” Sveta called out, so nobody else would jump and bounce off of her.

One by one, people took the leap. I went to Chicken Little, giving him my hand, and carried Darlene too, for good measure. Carrying them to where I could drop them through.

Gibbet was one of the last to go through. I stayed because I wanted to look after everyone, ensuring nobody fell.

The hooded Deathchester cape leaped through. With her leaving this world to make her way elsewhere, her power ceased to hold up the pillars. They began to sink, one toppling.

I flew through, after my teams, really hoping someone had the guns I’d asked for.

Hoping above all else that I could do this, when I was far from the best person to the task. I didn’t feel equipped at all for the job, but priorities that high didn’t give a shit what I felt.