Parian’s group was using the stuffed animals, but they were gas-damaged, and she was having to amputate limbs and sew them shut before discarding the excess cloth. Interesting that the gas didn’t really affect the stuffed animals as much as everything else.

But that group didn’t have a lot of mobility, and they were in the thick of the maggot-ridden area. The maggots crept up through the building and over the edges of the roof. Chastity, Foil, Roman, Juliette and Imp were killing the things, but for every two they killed, there was one more just appearing. That might have sounded doable, but they were constantly having to relocate and move, which made it a losing battle.

“I’m asking if you can manage, or if you need help!” I called down. “Others are struggling, but if you’re stuck here—”

“We’re managing,” Tristan said. He had a sheen of sweat to his face, and a bead of it had landed on his chestplate. This was at the same time his breath was fogging. “But if you could intercept anything and spare me having to—”

“Got it.”

I flew across the street, but I didn’t fly in a straight line path. The sections of building were floating, and they had different physics than they would have normally had in reality. I flew into the largest chunks, catching them with a half-dozen hands, and then shoved them hard before flying in another direction. By the time I reached the third chunk, the rooftop of a Chili Cricket’s fast food place was crashing into the side of a crack in reality.

There was a good chance he’d use another stomp to give himself more ammunition, but for the time being, I denied him his ammunition.

An arm motion and sudden movement from just about everyone who wasn’t in the computer room with Lookout grabbed at my attention.

A wall of gas, tearing my way.

Spinning to produce some external force that might repel the gas, I flew up and away.

A new gas. This gas was a lime green, but thinner, with a wet shimmer to it.

And every surface it touched was left slick with slime. Fires here and there were quenched, and the weight of the slime pulled at already damaged structures. The rumble of buildings falling joined the whistle of wind and the low rumble of the Titan’s movements.

I could feel Parian, Chastity, and Foil struggling. I flew straight to them.

Slime made the already sloping roof’s surface slick. The dolls, too, were fighting to stay upright.

I had to take evasive action as a plume of black smoke washed down the middle of the street. In my peripheral vision, I saw Oberon leap, gathering up energy around himself.

Another shockwave imminent?

We’re just running damage control. I know I have to go after Fume—after Titan Eve, but there’s no damn opportunities!