{Earth}

The woman’s skull caved with a satisfying crack under the pressure of Matt’s thumbs. He clenched his jaw tight as he met his target’s bright green eyes.

Bleeding. Terrified. Filled with the certainty that death came to claim her. Her feet dangled off the metal in an uncontrollable fit. Reflexes responded to the negative stimulus of pain. The body twitched with the instinct to live.

Matt’s jaw clenched tighter as he squeezed the bones harder. Slowly. Countless bodies littered the site, surrounding them. Each killed by his bare hands, give or take a two-by-four. He singlehandedly dismantled the last Cult of Night compound. The bastards even posed as a group dedicated to the reconstruction of post-apocalyptic Columbus, Ohio.

Trash.

Justice Wendy ordered her Collectors to recruit boys aged five to eight. Any older than that and they wouldn’t meet her particular tastes.

Matt squeezed harder. The woman’s eyes rolled wildly. She choked on the bloody gasps in her throat. They—he. Just him. He always saved the leaders for last. Made them witness the fall of their empire built on a foundation of lies. Witness as he released their victims to safety. Set fire to it all.

But mostly, he wanted them to look into his eyes. See into his soul. See that there was nothing there to pity them.

Blood pooled from Wendy’s brunette hairline. Her eyes fluttered shut. Her body fell still.

Still, Matt crushed until his thumbs found gray matter. He threw her body from the tower of the hammerhead crane. Several stories high, the wind threatened to beat him down. It smelled of smoke. What little sun filtered through Earth’s Sphere promised to further freckle his otherwise fair skin not covered by his shorts and t-shirt.

His auburn fringe kept blowing in his face. He cut it this way for Lucy. She liked running her fingers through it. She also suggested it made him appear less threatening. Good for infiltration work. Like this job.

The wind captured the fire below, spread it across the site. Matt missed the way it reflected in her dark blue eyes. So empty. So beautiful. More than that, he missed their post-mission ritual. He smirked. She’d love sex on a crane. She’d make him hold her up and take her standing—

The comms device in his back pocket went off. Been a while.

“This is Ginger. Over.” Matt didn’t mind the appointed codename. Truthfully. He liked the crew running the planet and trusted them to keep the world on the straight and narrow. “Trust” and “like” felt foreign to him. But the Shadow earned it. With that thought, he gripped the pendant on his chain.

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Batman’s voice came on the line, “Hey, how fast can you join us on the train?”

“I’m in Ohio.”

The man’s warm, incredulous laughter filled the line. “Why?”

Matt chuckled and shook his head. “Celebrating. CoN is no more.”

“Congrats to you and the lady! Hell, congrats to all of us!”

He let the comment about Lucy go. No need to correct the guy. “Yup. That’s how we do it. Where’s the train?”

“Mexico.”

“Fuck.” Matt spied his white Chevrolet Malibu parked three blocks away. Little worse for wear given he drove it through the apocalypse. But he wouldn’t dream of dumping it—

“Sorry, but I need you right now.” Sagan Sterling grabbed his arm. Then peered around and absorbed the destruction. “Somebody had a party. Where’s Lucy?” She turned to him with those violet eyes open and full of respect.

“Long story, but she’s not here.” He glanced at her grip on his arm. “You need me for something?”

Sagan stepped off the crane and onto the train, dragging Matt with her. Xelan paneled the library car in rosewood, polished to a high shine. Books from Earth and Cinder filled every shelf. Cozy and warm.

He fixed a hard stare on the superpowered girl. “Hey, if you don’t mind, I’ll need my car.”

The short, blond woman beamed at him. “I wouldn’t part the two of you if it wasn’t important.” She pat him once on the back hard enough his eyes almost popped out. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you back to your precious baby.”

Chris reached out with a dark hand. “Hey, man.”

Matt clasped it and pulled the older veteran in for a quick hug. “What’s this all about?”

Batman glanced at the Seamswalker, and she nodded to him. “You go first.”

“Okay. We’re looking for Ross’ sister. Do you remember giving us some info on her before?”

Matt nodded.

“Okay, she’s still missing. I was wondering if you got any more information during your run-ins with the other compounds.”

“Yea, actually.” Both listeners perked up. “I know I told you they moved the girls to Utah. But after I razed that dump to the ground, we learned they evacuated them to Pennsylvania when Nox threatened to detonate the tantamount in that area. But here’s the thing…”

He gripped his chin and paced the car. “There were no females at the Pennsylvania compounds. None. We asked. Some zealot said their masters took them.”

“Icari?” Sagan frowned. “Why would they?”

Batman added, “Yea, and where would they take them?”

“We thought maybe those compounds ran a ring of sorts. Humans for alien pets.”

Sagan’s hand covered her parted lips. “Oh, no. No, they took her off-world.”

The Dark Knight put a hand on her shoulder. “Do not give up hope. We can still find her.”

She shook her head, looking forlorn. “Do you have any idea how big the Collective is? They don’t just call it ‘Vast’ to compensate.”

Chris folded his arms. “I’m not giving up.”

Matt stopped pacing. “They gave her a nacre first. That’s why they were sent to Utah. It enabled them to… endure more. Maybe Tumu can help find her.”

Sagan nodded, suddenly perked with positivity. “He’s coming back soon to change out Rayne’s guard. I can ask him to speak to you, Chris.”

“He usually visits Jack when he comes to the Two Worlds, so I’ll catch him then. Thanks, you two. You’ve been a big help.”

“Glad to hear it.” Matt smiled because he knew he should. But the look on Sagan’s face brought it down some. “What is it?”

“I need your particular expertise for a mission. It’ll be dangerous. And it’ll take you off-world—”

“I’ll do it.” He didn’t care what it entailed or where it took him. This was the opportunity he needed.

Finally. Matt could find Lucy.